10 movies that defined the mad genius of Marlon Brando

Unfortunately, that was only one side of the method man, and the other was a handful. The longer Brando’s career wore on, the more he gained headlines for his misbehaviour, disinterest, and apathy than his performance, with memorable work growing fewer and farther between as the years progressed.

It’s a well-known saying that the lines between genius and madness are so blurred they often become indistinguishable, and the following ten movies epitomise why Brando was the embodiment of both.

10 movies that define Marlon Brando’s legacy:

10. The Score (Frank Oz, 2001)

Having spent his professional life worshipping the ground that Brando walked on, Robert De Niro got the chance to realise his dreams when he co-starred with his favourite actor in Frank Oz’s crime caper.

However, he wasn’t expecting to end up directing his idol, but Brando’s disdain for the filmmaker who was supposed to be calling the shots forced his hand. Denigrating Oz as ‘Miss Piggy’ thanks to his association with The Muppets, the veteran would regularly refuse direction.

As a result, De Niro was forced to step in and helm several scenes in what became the last theatrically release of Brando’s career, and even at that, he would occasionally need to be shot from the waist up because he wouldn’t acquiesce to the simple demand of wearing trousers.

9. Big Bug Man (Bob Bendetson, unreleased)

The Score may have been the last movie of Brando’s that audiences got to see, but his final contribution to the world of feature-length cinema came in an animated film that was never released.

For reasons known only to him, Brando had always harboured a dream to voice a female character in an animated flick, with director Bob Bendetson happy to oblige by taking recording equipment to the actor’s home so that the ailing icon could record his dialogue as Mrs Sour.

Never one to do things by half, Brando prepared – despite requiring an oxygen mask to breathe – by wearing a dress, a full face of makeup, and a wig. Big Bug Man never saw the light of day, but at least he put the effort in for a turn that was captured a month prior to his death in July 2004.

8. One-Eyed Jacks (Marlon Brando, 1961)

Not many first-time directors would feel confident to step up to the plate and take the reins on a story that had passed through the hands of Sam Peckinpah and Stanley Kubrick, but Brando was never lacking in self-assuredness.

He wanted to make One-Eyed Jacks come hell or high water, and once he realised Peckinpah wasn’t the right fit for the movie he’d envisioned in his mind, Brando fired him and decided to direct it himself in what would be the one and only behind-the-camera credit of his career.

This being Brando, the film went vastly over budget and three months over schedule, with One-Eyed Jacks not releasing until three years after the first day of shooting. Still, it was a remarkably assured debut, one that blew away no less of a storied cinephile than Martin Scorsese.

7. Superman (Richard Donner, 1978)

Securing one of the most lucrative contracts in cinema history would be enough for most actors to show up on set ready to work, but not Brando, who did everything to try and weasel his way out of appearing on-camera in Superman.

Not even a guaranteed paycheque of $3.7million in addition to 11.75% of the box office profits was enough to convince the star that the role of Jor-El would necessitate an actual human being who looked like the guy who was getting paid all that money.

After unsuccessfully pitching a voice-only role that would portray the title hero’s father as either a green suitcase or a bagel, he grudgingly agreed to do the job. Not that he bothered to learn his lines, though, with Superman requiring cue cards to be placed around the set so Brando could recite the dialogue.

6. Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)

There wasn’t much about Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now that went according to plan, so if anything, Brando turning up vastly overweight and entirely unprepared was in keeping with the running theme of the production.

Once again, he’d negotiated himself a tasty deal to head into the jungle, landing $2m upfront for a month on set, in addition to 10% of the distributor’s theatrical profits and 10% of the money from TV sales and once again, he couldn’t have been less enthusiastic.

The ending had to be rewritten because Brando was too portly to do justice to the script, and he was cloaked in shadow to downplay his expanded girth. He’s excellent in what amounts to a glorified cameo, but it was yet another example of the double-edged sword he constantly presented.

5. Last Tango in Paris (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1972)

The year after he won his second Oscar for ‘Best Actor’ in The Godfather, Brando cemented himself as Hollywood’s comeback king when he made the shortlist for the second year running thanks to Bernardo Bertolucci’s controversial erotic drama.

He might have been reading his lines from cue cards placed strategically around the set, but Brando was intoxicating as the enigmatic Paul, reiterating to those who’d written him off that his triumphant return to prominence in The Godfather may not have been a flash in the pan.

And yet, by his own admission, Brando had absolutely no idea what Last Tango in Paris was supposed to be about. He didn’t have a clue what Bertolucci was trying to say or what his character meant, but it was a testament to his talent that it was impossible to tell.

4. Mutiny on the Bounty (Lewis Milestone, 1962)

Thanks largely to Brando’s best attempts to sabotage the production, Mutiny on the Bounty was the most expensive movie in history when it hit cinemas in November 1962, where it promptly ended its run in cinemas as a catastrophic box office bomb.

Richard Harris likened the experience of working so closely with Brando to a nightmare, and he was hardly alone in that regard. The leading man was constantly late to set, ordered on-the-spot rewrites of scenes he didn’t like, and if his demands weren’t met, he’d just stand there doing nothing while the camera rolled.

The film still landed on the Oscars shortlist for ‘Best Picture’, but that was almost in spite of Brando, not because of him. Nobody came out on the other end smelling of roses, with his reputation for causing trouble gaining almost as much attention as the picture.

3. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)

One of the most iconic characters in cinema history, Brando became Vito Corleone long before a single frame of The Godfather had even been shot, proving that when he was motivated, there were few better at immersing themselves in a character.

Francis Ford Coppola was understandably “scared shitless” at making such a major name go through an audition process, but Brando’s star had fallen to such an extent by the early 1970s that he had to prove himself worthy of being cast, just like any other actor.

The studio didn’t want him, but when he turned up for his screentest, slapped shoe polish onto his hair and slicked it back, stuffed cotton balls into his cheeks and rolled up his collar, the figurehead of the Corleone crime family was born right in front of Coppola’s eyes, instantly making Brando the one and only contender for the part.

2. The Island of Dr Moreau (John Frankenheimer, 1996)

The worst thing any director could have done during the latter stages of Brando’s career was fail to keep him on a short leash, which is why The Island of Dr Moreau ended up as one of the most infamous productions in Hollywood history.

Once Richard Stanley had been replaced by John Frankenheimer, Brando basically went into business for himself. He’d either refuse to learn his lines, have them fed through an earpiece, or go off-script and say whatever he wanted, and that was when he wasn’t refusing to come out of his trailer.

Tension simmered between the star, director, and Val Kilmer, leading to a performance that was somehow ridiculously exaggerated and extravagant but also incredibly lazy and completely phoned-in, encapsulating the perils of Brando’s veteran stage in a microcosm.

1. On the Waterfront (Elia Kazan, 1954)

Finally winning his first Oscar for ‘Best Actor’ on his fourth consecutive nomination, there’s a strong argument to be made that Brando’s portrayal of Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront is the single most influential performance in the history of American cinema.

Everybody knew he was a generational talent, but it was Elia Kazan’s searing crime drama where he became transcendental, with every actor to ever cite Brando as an influence – and there are many – owing a massive debut of gratitude to On the Waterfront.

It was a showcase for the actor and his method approach that fundamentally altered the landscape of the industry, and things have never been the same since. Brando firing on all cylinders is about as mercurial as it gets, and it’s a turn that he arguably never topped.

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