Brando Was Putting Everyone On

I thought that Brando gave a very colorful, if somewhat tongue-in-cheek performance. Sure, he hammed it up a lot, but Robert Lee Clayton was a memorable character.

Very well put, elwyn1932. While I'm a fan of Mr. Brando and consider him a genius, I don't believe everything he did in film was brilliant. His performance in The Missouri Breaks, however, made what could otherwise have been a run-of-the-mill, menacing killer for hire role into a humorous yet cold-blooded, memorable, one-of-a-kind character (that doesn't detract from the picture, imo). If that isn't genius...

Some people seem to think that Mr. Brando's performance in this movie showed his contempt for the film industry and disrespect for his co-stars, but all I see is someone trying very hard not to be bored. And in the process, he elevated the movie from quaint and forgettable to very entertaining and memorable enough to warrant postings on the imdb message board.

Someone, somewhere posted the address to Jack Nicholson's Rolling Stone article about Marlon Brando after his death, but I can't seem to find it anywhere. But here is an excerpt that shows some insight into Nicholson's thoughts about working with Mr. Brando:

For me, the toughest experience I ever had with Brando came during making The Missouri Breaks together. We talked about doing many projects together over the years, but that’s the only time it actually came together. I think Marlon probably had more fun shooting The Missouri Breaks than any movie he did. He liked all the guys in the movie. We were out in Montana. He lived out on the ranch where the movie was shot. He liked being close to nature. He was in his element.

I, on the other hand, was a mess. Somewhere deep in my subconscious was always this idea: “One day you’re going to be working with Marlon Brando, and you better be ready, Jack.”

It started off fine. In our first scene, he’s a killer, and I’m hiding out from him. Whatever feelings I had of being intimidated seemed to fit this scene. Then one night after that I made a big mistake: I watched some of Brando’s dailies. This was a scene where he’s sitting there with John McLiam. I watched nine or ten takes of this same scene. Each take was an art film in itself. I sat there stunned by the variety, the depth, the amount of silent articulation of what a scene meant. It was all there. It was one of the wildest things I ever put my eyes on.

The next day I woke up completely destroyed. The full catastrophe of it hit me overnight: “Holy *beep* who do you think you are, Jack? You’re in a movie with Marlon Brando!” I was totally annihilated by him. I thought, “What if they decide to hang me for being so crazy as to think I could be in the same country with this guy, much less in the same movie?” Our director, Arthur Penn, really had to nurse me back to health just to get me to continue on with the picture.

So I mean it when I say that if you can’t appreciate Brando, I wouldn’t know how to talk to you. If there’s anything obvious in life, this is it. Other actors don’t go around discussing who is the best actor in the world, because it’s obvious – Marlon Brando is.

(Btw, Nicholson equated Brando to Picasso and wrote, "some people are incapable of not being brilliant." I guess he's one of those fans that can mistake Brando passing gas for genius.)

Disagree. This is a key 70's Western. Brando and Nicholson both do some some great acting (as do all the cast), and certain scenes - Brando's death, and Nicholson confronting the rancher Braxton, are both moving and unsettling,

Unfortunately the DVD we have here in Australia (PAL) is a pretty bad transfer, esp. the interiors - grainy and slight (but noticeable) colour shifts. How is the picture quality on the NTSC US DVD? Best wishes from OZ.

So many people claim that Brando was the greatest actor, ever. They say that other actors consider him to be the greatest actor, ever.

I have never liked him; I don't think he was a good actor; I regard him as a pretentious blow-hard and a ham. I don't think that "On the Waterfront" shows us a genius Brando, I think it shows us what Brando was then and what he remained until he died -- a pretentious poseur. A good actor lets you forget that he is acting. Brando never, ever, managed that, at all. He was always posturing and acting the drama queen. I cannot think of one film I liked him in.

The only worse actor than Brando was his little supplicant, adoring, worshipful monkey, James Dean. When it came to being a pretentious, fake intellectual and a walking, talking exaggeration, Dean won the prize. The one thing he did that was really good was that he didn't bore film audiences for anywhere near the length of time that Brando did.

Meh.

This movie marks the beginning of Brando's 'take the money and run' final period. Soon they'd have to shoot him from the waist up because he didn't even bother to put on his pants.

Brando's last movie where he really became the character was 'Tango'.


A method actor becomes the character, if only for a brief time. Not once in this movie did I ever forget I was watching the real Brando as he really must have been in his decline, ordering fast food and ice cream at 3AM.







Absurdity: A Statement or belief inconsistent with my opinion.

Look, buddy, I love the Three Stooges movies, and I would choose them over Brando every time. That doesn't mean that I think they are great actors. I just like their movies.

You like Brando. Great.

But why defend his acting if you believe that "even when he phones it in, or *beep* around, it's something to talk about"? That's not a sign that you like his acting. You just like his personality.

[deleted]

Most of the actors are Irishmen,Great film...cannot be duplicated ever.