Book Review: “Marlon Brando” by Patricia Bosworth

Categorized | Gary Karbon, books, movies

Book Review: “Marlon Brando” by Patricia Bosworth

Posted on 13 April 2008 by Gary Karbon

Just like in Einstein's universe light beams bend while passing around large celestial objects, Marlo Brando was also a giant of American drama, bending all the rules and changing everyone that came into contact with him.

He was a combustible original. He more than anybody else defined what it meant to be an “American male hero” in the post-WW2 era.

Without his volatile acting paradigm and personal example there probably would not be a James Dean, Robert De Niro, or Al Pacino, or perhaps even a Johnny Depp.

When the Omaha, Nebraska born Brando picked up his bags at age nineteen, hit the road from his hometown Libertyville, Illinois and arrived in New York City in “faded dungarees and sporting a red fedora,” he was not even sure if he wanted to be an actor.

Yes, his raw talent was obvious from every school production he took part in while growing up. And true, he thought he was going to “knock everyone dead” in the Big Apple sooner or later. Nobody ever accused Brando of being modest for sure.

But acting? That was a slow evolution, according to Marlon Brando, an excellent biography by Patricia Bosworth.

Bosworth lays out the voyage that took the cocky 19 yr old kid from north of Chicago to the zenith of Tinseltown and then back and down to the turbulent waters of self-doubt and vacillation in vivid colors and exquisite anecdotal details.

Thanks to Bosworth, we follow how a group of dedicated actors shaped by the method acting as thought by Stella Adler at her Actors Studio has changed the whole landscape of American drama; how there really is a before- and after-Brando school acting thanks to the far reaching impact of Brando masterpieces like The Wild One, On The Waterfront, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Godfather, Last Tango in Paris, and Apocalypse Now.

After finishing the book, we realize the tremendous importance his father Marlon Brando Sr. played in his life.

Almost a century after the invention of psychoanalysis by Freud it now feels perhaps a bit lame and corny to say this but it was true in Brando's case: throughout his life he suffered from not being able to express the anger he felt towards his father.

His whole career was driven on by his desperate need to prove himself to the old man who believed the Junior would never be able to add up to anything in life. Boy, was the Senior wrong!

Marlon Brando practically worshiped his mother but his relationship with the Senior certainly took its toll on him until the day his father died in 1965.

Equally important to Brando was his childhood friend Wally Cox with whom he remained close. Especially after becoming more successful and famous than he'd ever dream, Brando took refuge in the comfort and security of his old friends like Wally and the tranquility of his Tahitian estate.

Camille Paglia, quoted by Bosworth, provides the best summary of Brando's impact on American and world cinema:

“Marlon Brando, mumbling, muttering, flashing with barbaric energy, freed theatrical emotion from its enslavement by words.”

“Brando brought American nature to American acting, and he brought the American personality to the world... Brando, the wild, sexy rebel, all mute and surly bad attitude, prefigured the great art form of the Sixties generation: rock and roll.”

Marlon rocks to high heaven in Bosworth's autobiography. Highly recommended.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Share and Enjoy: