~~Wishing~~~
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One Eyed Jacks!
- Thread starter ~~Wishing~~~
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I remember some time ago reading in a film book about the problems surrounding the making of the movie in which Brando, as the biggest star in Hollywood at the time, picked Kubrick to direct the film. The only meeting of probably the most pretentious control-freak actor ever and the most pretentious control-freak director ever is in itself an epic enough thought and apparently the fireworks were pretty much what you'd expect.
The original book and screenplay were just a standard bit of cowpoke horse-opera but both of them had visions of creating an epic statement about the human condition, the only trouble being they were completely different visions. So by the first day of shooting they'd both rewritten the screenplay and they had diverged so utterly there was no way forward without compromise. As compromise wasn't a word either person accepted the only solution was to lock them both in a trailer and let them bang out the screenplay page by page to agree on the new version while the crew and cast kicked their heels.
Every week the studio would come for a progress report only to be told Kubrick and Brando were still working on the screenplay, largely ignorant of the fact that they were spending whole days arguing over key plot points such as how many bullets the hero should have in his gunbelt. But amazingly after six months of obsessive arguing somehow they agreed on the screenplay and the film was just hours away from rolling when Brando suddenly decided to cast his 14 year old Tahitian girlfriend as the lead female role, even though she didn't speak a word of English.
Kubrick expressed the view that if she can't act and she can't speak English and she's 14, just what talent does she have that excites Brando so much? Brando got the hint and demanded he be kicked off the set. As a result Kubrick almost never worked again and only got back into the mainstream when he agreed to do Spartacus, but as for the film, nobody would touch it with a bargepole. As the movie had already cost a fortune and they didn't have a single frame shot the studio was reluctant to shelve it and so when someone suggested that Brando knew more about the film than anyone... so they gave it a whirl and the result is either a triumph if you like poetic films or a disaster if you like profit.
Brando somehow exceeded Kubrick on the excessive and unnecessary detail, spending weeks sitting by the sea waiting for the perfect wave, shooting every scene dozens of time etc etc. It was no wonder nobody would ever sanction him to direct again as nobody could afford to bankroll his unbelievable levels of self-indulgence. One famous story is of the drunk sequence at the start of the film. Brando hated how drunks in films were always badly done so in true method actor style he decided the only way to play a drunk well was to get bladdered. In fact he got so bladdered he couldn't direct the scene and the day's shooting had to be abandoned. He tried again the next day - spent twelve hours getting sozzled, all the time with a full crew sitting around waiting, then staggers on to the set, passes out, gets carted back to his trailer to sleep it off and do it all again the next day. Eventually after two weeks of this Karl Marlden persuaded him to pretend to be drunk. Anyhow, nice movie.
The original book and screenplay were just a standard bit of cowpoke horse-opera but both of them had visions of creating an epic statement about the human condition, the only trouble being they were completely different visions. So by the first day of shooting they'd both rewritten the screenplay and they had diverged so utterly there was no way forward without compromise. As compromise wasn't a word either person accepted the only solution was to lock them both in a trailer and let them bang out the screenplay page by page to agree on the new version while the crew and cast kicked their heels.
Every week the studio would come for a progress report only to be told Kubrick and Brando were still working on the screenplay, largely ignorant of the fact that they were spending whole days arguing over key plot points such as how many bullets the hero should have in his gunbelt. But amazingly after six months of obsessive arguing somehow they agreed on the screenplay and the film was just hours away from rolling when Brando suddenly decided to cast his 14 year old Tahitian girlfriend as the lead female role, even though she didn't speak a word of English.
Kubrick expressed the view that if she can't act and she can't speak English and she's 14, just what talent does she have that excites Brando so much? Brando got the hint and demanded he be kicked off the set. As a result Kubrick almost never worked again and only got back into the mainstream when he agreed to do Spartacus, but as for the film, nobody would touch it with a bargepole. As the movie had already cost a fortune and they didn't have a single frame shot the studio was reluctant to shelve it and so when someone suggested that Brando knew more about the film than anyone... so they gave it a whirl and the result is either a triumph if you like poetic films or a disaster if you like profit.
Brando somehow exceeded Kubrick on the excessive and unnecessary detail, spending weeks sitting by the sea waiting for the perfect wave, shooting every scene dozens of time etc etc. It was no wonder nobody would ever sanction him to direct again as nobody could afford to bankroll his unbelievable levels of self-indulgence. One famous story is of the drunk sequence at the start of the film. Brando hated how drunks in films were always badly done so in true method actor style he decided the only way to play a drunk well was to get bladdered. In fact he got so bladdered he couldn't direct the scene and the day's shooting had to be abandoned. He tried again the next day - spent twelve hours getting sozzled, all the time with a full crew sitting around waiting, then staggers on to the set, passes out, gets carted back to his trailer to sleep it off and do it all again the next day. Eventually after two weeks of this Karl Marlden persuaded him to pretend to be drunk. Anyhow, nice movie.
djmonsta200883
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There are a few clips somewhere on the net, but I’d love to see the whole film being directed by him. I’ve always enjoy watching his early movies such as ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, ‘The Man’ ‘On the Water front’, ‘Viva Zapata’ ‘Julius Caesar’, the last excellent one I love is ‘Last Tango in Paris’. He had such an exquisite mind! It’s a pity he didn’t find satisfaction in his movie career.