MovieChat Forums > The Chase (1966) Discussion > Brando knew how to take a beating

Brando knew how to take a beating

posted 18 years ago by richard-III
10 replies | jump to latest

As in the classic climax of On The Waterfront, Marlon Brando again had to feel knuckles hitting him and feet kicking him. And he's great at it.
Both film scenes really made my blood boil - there's something in the way he acts, not really resisting the unreasonabe violence of strike breakers and bigots but undergoing it... while fighting back at the same time.
It has a double edge to it, his acting here.

"When there is no more room in the Oven,
the Bread will walk the Earth."

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Erumpent 15 years ago

I though about "On the Waterfront" too when I was watching this...

"Now I'm here by myself, uh, talking to myself. That, that's Chaos Theory."

[–] kidjay83 12 years ago

I read somewhere that brando went limp for the fight scene to make it look more authentic
"Every child is an artist. The problem is how tou remain an artist once he grows up"-Pablo Picasso

[–] movies789 10 years ago

Although Brando remains the most overrated actor of all time, his fight scenes were pretty good. After James Cagney, I'd say Brando was one of the best screen fighters ever. His two fights in One-Eyed Jacks (against Timothy Carey & Slim Pickins) were among the best ever filmed.

[–] liscarkat-2 8 years ago

Brando the most overrated actor of all time? Sorry, but he has to take second place to James Dean. So much ado about next-to-nothing.

[–] movies789 8 years ago

Ah, yes - Dean. I stand corrected. 😀

[–] bobo-29 9 years ago

He got a real working over in The Wild One too ("My old man used to hit harder than that..") Brando and Montgomery Clift (Here to Eternity, Young Lions, even The Misfits by a horse) had getting the crap beat out of them down to an art form.

[–] activista 8 years ago

For real---that scene was brutal and realistic as hell---you actually dang near hurt just watching him get beat down---that's how impressive the scene is.

[–] ecarle (14979) 3 years ago

Rumor has it that Brando -- the real man -- had had a brief affair during the film with the wife/girlfriend of one of the actors who beats him up on screen. And that actor (Richard Bradford) KNEW it.

So some of the punches Brando took...were real.

[–] ecarle (14979) 3 years ago

Brando the most overrated actor of all time? Sorry, but he has to take second place to James Dean. So much ado about next-to-nothing.

---

With only three movies on his resume -- two made before he was dead and released after -- James Dean became a legend as soon as he crashed that car and died way too young -- 24, I think?

But I think later generations of film watchers have come to realize -- on the basis of "Rebel Without a Cause" alone -- that Dean's working methods were pretty overwrought and "whack." A fifties generation was inspired by "Rebel Without a Cause," but today it looks overdone and ridiculous and Dean's "You're TEARIN me APARRRT!" just looks like psychotic, infantile whining.

So...yeah.

He seemed to calm down and do some more thoughtful work in "Giant," so maybe he would have improved. But he never got to demonstrate that.

Overrated.