The Film Junkie

I love Marlon Brando, I really do, but he takes weird to a whole new level in his role as Robert E. Lee Clayton, a Scottish/Native American “regulator” sent to ‘deal’ with the problem of horse thieves.  Jack Nicholson, Randy Quaid, Harry Dean Stanton, Frederic Forrest and their cronies are the horse thieves who are working on a way to steal the horses of the RCMP when Clayton comes to town.

Nicholson takes up with the daughter (Kathleen Lloyd) of the man who hired Clayton which inspires even more wrath and also distances him from his friends.  One by one they are knocked off by the sadistic and severly odd Clayton.

It is a strange thing to see actors like Nicholson and Brando performing with one another.  Brando is such an unpredictable force while Nicholson is the epitome of masculine energy.  It works well, however, because the horse thieves are so clearly freaked out by Clayton which just inspires him to become even stranger.  The scene in the bathtub is probably the best between those two, Nicholson with his passion and anger and Brando with his bubbles.

This is not an easy film to watch, but is pays off in the great performances.  Brando, for better or worse, redefines himself yet again in this bizarre undertaking and you can’t take your eyes off of him.

Grade: B+

Oh Brando the rebel, what a glorious bastard and what a performance of bizarre over and under acting in one fell swoop.

The story is about the Black Rebel Motorcyle Club who comes to a small town and has a rumble with the Beetles (led by hyperactive Lee Marvin) while fighting against the authority structure.  Brando falls for a waitress (Mary Murphy) and engages in one of the most violent make-out sessions in movie history.

The film seems to hinge on the idea that badasses are misunderstood and really doesn’t reach for more than that.  It is not terribly well written and other than Marvin and Brando, the acting is lame and uninteresting.

Who knew the potential that was laying underneath that scowl?

Grade: C+

A year before he caught the world’s attention in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, Marlon Brando starred in this film about war veterans faced with life as a paraplegia. 

The film is a little too factual and devoted to the idea of raising awareness and understanding than about having well drawn characters or plot, but Brando makes the best of the what he is given.  He plays the role with the passion and intensity that would come to characterize him throughout history, even if it is a little rough around the edges.  It is strange to see Brando is such a confining role, being such a physical actor, but it also proves the power of his talent.

The soul of this film is Teresa Wright (1942’s ‘Mrs. Miniver’) as Brando’s girlfriend.  She shows the real pain of someone trying to love one who doesn’t want to be loved and the pressure that the spouse of a paraplegic is under to make it seem as though nothing as changed despite the hard truth.  Wright is understated in the wake of Brando, but without her supportive and touching performance the romance of this story would make no sense.

All in all, this is an important film that could have been better orchestrated, but nonetheless gives a voice to a crucial issue.

Grade: B