TCM EXAMINES MARLON BRANDO IN A NEW AND ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY, BRANDO, PREMIERING IN CANNES The new documentary features never-before-seen footage of the enigmatic and unparalleled screen icon, with a star-studded roster of interviews including; Martin Scorsese, Edward Norton, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Jane Fonda, Dennis Hopper, James Caan, Angie Dickinson, John Travolta, Jon Voight and many others. Film channel TCM (Turner Classic Movies) is proud to announce that their joint US and EMEA production, BRANDO, has been accepted by the Cannes Classic Selection and will be screened during the festival. This is the first time that a joint production between the company’s different territories has been accepted into the festival. Throughout its global operation TCM sees one of its key remits to keeping the heritage of classic Hollywood alive and relevant to contemporary audiences. The channel invests substantial funds into original production. The BRANDO documentary will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday 19th May and exclusively on film channel TCM UK on 23rd July at 9pm. The unmistakable voice, striking good looks, the eccentric personality – and the complex inner life they cloaked: TCM sifts through the mystery behind one of Hollywood’s most-respected and celebrated practitioners of the art and craft of acting in BRANDO, a new two-part documentary set to premiere in Cannes. Piecing together performances throughout the decades with unseen footage and a series of original, in-depth interviews featuring not only a host of his Hollywood peers but also family members and childhood friends, TCM, along with The Greif Company (Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool), have worked to unmask the man behind the exceptional talent, captivating persona and apathy (and frequent aversion) toward his profession, that was Marlon Brando. The film investigates the challenges he faced in almost every personal and working relationship throughout his life: the hatred toward his hard-to-please, womanizing father and the sadness for his alcoholic mother; the repeating pattern of determined pursuit of a woman who interested him and, once he captured her heart, the inexplicable distance and rejection that always followed; the disagreeable on-set behavior in the 1960s that led almost every major studio and prominent filmmaker to reject him until he staged a comeback with The Godfather (1972); and the rift he caused with the Academy when he sent a representative to reject his Best Actor win at the annual awards ceremony because of what he considered Hollywood’s persecution of Native Americans. But even when controversy reined, through it all, Brando’s outstanding talent and ability to mesmerize an audience was never questioned. “He is the marker. There’s ‘before Brando’ and ‘after Brando’,” says Martin Scorsese in the documentary. “And I think it’s time, especially for younger people, to go back and understand that, and see those pictures in the order in which they were made. Mainly because, I think, now they’re too hip to feel these emotions that were exploding on the screen with him. It’s about being human.” “Before Brando, actors acted. After Brando, they behaved,” Michael Winner, who directed him in The Nightcomers (1972) says in the film. “That is the difference – an extraordinary effect on the history of drama and the history of movies.” BRANDO highlights his performance in Broadway’s Truckline Café, which first gained him major recognition, and the phenomenon he later created with A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) that put him over the top. The film also explores the classical acting in Julius Caesar (1953) that silenced his critics who labeled him a “mumbler,” his awe-inspiring work in The Godfather and what was arguably his most intimate effort on screen in Last Tango in Paris (1972). BRANDO, in addition to documenting his efforts on behalf of Native-American causes, also studies his contributions to the Civil Rights Movement and support for the Black Panthers. In his later years, as he further lost interest in acting, his curiosity about other aspects of life only increased. The film features his efforts to develop Tahiti, including a tour of a school for marine biology he constructed that never opened its doors, as well as some of his inventions. **** TCM (Turner Classic Movies) currently seen in more than 75 million homes is a 24-hour film channel from Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a TimeWarner company. TCM launched in the US in 1994 and in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Africa in 1999 as part of the Time Warner group. TCM gives viewers the opportunity to escape to a world of film and enjoy a vast range of unforgettable movies, presenting the greatest motion pictures of all time from the largest film library in the world. Broadening the cinematic experience, viewers can enhance their enjoyment of the world’s most popular art form with exclusive documentaries, interviews with Hollywood insiders and a front row seat at global film events. It is available via cable, satellite and digital terrestrial throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East in six regional versions in eleven languages: English, Danish, Dutch, French, Greek, Hebrew, Polish, Spanish, German, Norwegian and Swedish. For information on TCM see www.tcmonline.co.uk For press releases/schedules/images see www.europe.turnerInfo.com CONTACTS: UK: Ann Rosen London Catherine Hayes London +44 (0)20 7693 1117 +44 (0)20 7693 0648 [email protected] [email protected] LIST OF INTERVIEWEES Below is a list of Marlon Brando’s Hollywood peers, family members and childhood friends interviewed for TCM’s original documentary, BRANDO: Celebrity Friends and Colleagues Ellen Adler Richard Bailey Ed Begley, Jr. Bernardo Bertolucci Andrew Bergman May Britt James Caan Angie Dickinson Robert Duvall George Englund Jane Fonda Frederic Forrest James Fox Gray Frederickson Dennis Hopper Quincy Jones Jay Kanter Martin Landau Cloris Leachman Sacheen Littlefeather Karl Malden Kevin McCarthy Russell Means Penelope Ann Miller Patt Morrison Edward Norton Al Pacino Arthur Penn Al Ruddy Maximilian Schell Maria Schneider Budd Schulberg Martin Scorsese Bobby Seale Henry Silva Harry Dean Stanton Gloria Stroock David Thomson John Travolta John Turturro Jon Voight Eli Wallach Michael Winner Childhood Friends Janet Aemisegger Ruth Buehrer Betty Gossell Carmelita Pope Frank Underbrink Family Miko Brando Prudence Brando Rebecca Brando Shane Brando Teihotu Brando Richa The BRANDO documentary will air at the Cannes Film Festival in the Cannes Classic Selection on th Saturday 19 May and the UK TV Premiere will be on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) in July 2007. For more information please contact: Ann Rosen - London Catherine Hayes +44 (0) 2076931117 [email protected] +44 (0)20 7693 0648 [email protected] MARLON BRANDO Vital Statistics Born: Marlon Brando Jr. on April 3, 1924, Omaha, Neb. Died: July 1, 2004, Los Angeles, California, of pulmonary fibrosis. Star Sign: Aries Height: 5’10” Wives and Family: • Actress Anna Kashfi (1957-1959, divorced); son, Christian Devi (acted briefly as Gary Brown). • Actress Movita Castenada (1960-1962, divorced; 1967, annulled); two children: son, Miko, and daughter, Rebecca (born after their divorce). • Daughter Liliane born out of wedlock to unnamed Tahitian woman. • Son Bobby born out of wedlock to unnamed Asian woman, acknowledged only by Christian. • Actress Tarita Tariipaia (1962-1972, divorced); three children: son, Simon Tehotu, daughter, Tarita Cheyenne, and adopted daughter Petra Barrett. • Daughter Ninna Priscilla and two other children born out of wedlock to former maid Christina Ruiz. • Biographers have suggested various other children born out of wedlock but never openly acknowledged by Brando. Legacy: Credited with introducing Method acting to the screen, his naturalistic performances combined raw sexuality and barely masked sensitivity. Brando was one of the key figures to introduce a new, more personal approach to acting in the ‘50s. Although he never considered himself a “method actor,” had studied with New York teacher Stealla Adler, who taught him to create impressively realistic performances by dredging up evocative past memories.. As the child of alcoholic parents, he had a lot of them. He started acting at an early age to pull his mother out of frequent drunken stupors. Following his actress sister, Jocelyn, to New York in 1943, he did impressive stage work in I Remember Mama and A Streetcar Named Desire before signing to make his film debut as a paraplegic veteran in The Men (1950). He won raves for his performance, but the film that clearly carved his niche on screen was A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), in which his animalistic Stanley Kowalski menaced faded Southern belle Blanche DuBois. -moreAlthough his naturalistic delivery was often derided as mere mumbling and his casual dress led to jokes about the “torn t-shirt” school of acting, he demonstrated his versatility as Marc Antony in MGM’s all-star version of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (1953). The ‘50s were Brando’s golden years, capped by an Oscar win for On the Waterfront (1954). By the ‘60s, however, indulgent on-set behavior (particularly during the filming of 1962’s Mutiny on the Bounty) and off-screen excesses led to complaints that he was squandering his talent. He bounced back when young director Francis Ford Coppola fought to cast him as mafioso Vito Coreleone in The Godfather (1972). Although the studio made him test for the role, Brando went after the character with his old enthusiasm, delivering an acclaimed performance that brought him his second Oscar. He alienated the Hollywood establishment by sending a representative to decline the award as a protest against Hollywood’s stereotyping of Native Americans, but the notoriety kept him at the top of boxoffice polls. At the same time, Brando was rapidly losing interest in acting. After a highly autobiographical performance in Last Tango in Paris (1972) and a record-setting paycheck for a glorified cameo in Superman (1978), he gradually withdrew from performing. His few returns to the screen were news, but equally newsworthy were his battles with weight and family problems. At the time of his death, he had recorded the voice of Mrs. Sour, a candy factory owner, for the animated feature Big Bug Man (2006). (Excerpted from Leading Men: The 50 Most Unforgettable Actors of the Studio Era, published by Turner Classic Movies 2006.) The BRANDO documentary will air at the Cannes Film Festival in the Cannes Classic Selection on Saturday 19th May and the UK TV Premiere will be on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) in July 2007. For more information please contact: TCM UK: Ann Rosen Catherine Hayes London London +44 (0) 2076931117 +44 (0) 2076930648 [email protected] [email protected] ESSENTIAL FILMS AND AWARDS Essential Performances 1. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) Warner Bros. The role of Stanley Kowalski had made Marlon Brando a national phenomenon when he played it on Broadway; in the film version, his naturalistic, graceful and surprisingly funny performance as a lout who destroys his sister-in-law (Vivien Leigh) revolutionized acting and made him an icon. 2. On the Waterfront (1954) Columbia In another legendary performance, Brando captures all the frustration underlying the moral awakening of a boxer-turned-longshoreman who risks his life to give evidence against the mob. 3. The Godfather (1972) Paramount After years of box office drought, Brando shot back to the top with his acclaimed performance as Don Vito Coreleone, fathering young co-stars Al Pacino, James Caan and Robert Duvall as surely as he had influenced their off-screen development as actors. 4. Last Tango in Paris (1972) United Artists In this intense battle of the sexes, Brando drew so heavily on his own life experiences -- particularly in an improvised speech about his character’s mother that he would later call his performance “embarrassing”; critics called it brilliant. 5. Apocalypse Now (1979) Zoetrope/United Artists Director Frances Coppola, who courted Brando for the role of renegade Green Beret Willard Kurtz in his Vietnam War epic, was shocked when he arrived on set weighing more than 250 pounds, then let him improvise his final scene in a performance that, for all its good qualities, points to the excesses of Brando’s later years. Academy Awards® • Won for Best Actor for On the Waterfront in 1955. • Won for Best Actor for The Godfather in 1973 (award refused). • Nominated for Best Actor for A Streetcar Named Desire in 1952 (lost to Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen). • Nominated for Best Actor for Viva Zapata! in 1953 (lost to Gary Cooper in High Noon). • Nominated for Best Actor for Julius Caesar in 1954 (lost to William Holden in Stalag 17). • Nominated for Best Actor for Sayonara in 1958 (lost to Alec Guinness in The Bridge Over the River Kwai). • Nominated for Best Actor for Last Tango in Paris in 1974 (lost to Jack Lemmon in Save the Tiger). • Nominated for Best Supporting Actor for A Dry White Season in 1990 (lost to Denzel Washington in Glory). The BRANDO documentary will air at the Cannes Film Festival in the Cannes Classic Selection on th Saturday 19 May and the UK TV Premiere will be on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) in July 2007. (Excerpted from Leading Men: The 50 Most Unforgettable Actors of the Studio Era, published by Turner Classic Movies 2006.) For more information please contact: Ann Rosen London +44 (0) 2076931117 [email protected] Catherine Hayes London +44 (0) 2076930648 [email protected] MARLON BRANDO Behind the Scenes • Marlon Brando’s early screen successes set a new standard of acting for future generations. Among the many actors who followed in his footsteps as a sensitive rebel were Paul Newman, James Dean (who even copied aspects of Brando’s personal life), Steve McQueen and Warren Beatty. Years later, Jack Nicholson would say, “We are all Brando’s children.” • Contrary to his later claims, Brando did not improvise parts of the taxi scene with Rod Steiger in On the Waterfront (1954). When he tried to ad lib during the shooting, director Elia Kazan stopped him. • Brando married both actresses who played Fletcher Christian’s love interest in different versions of Mutiny on the Bounty. He first met Movita Castenada, who had acted opposite Clark Gable in 1935, while doing research in Mexico for Viva Zapata! (1952), starting an off and on relationship that would last for years. He met Tarita Teriipaia, his co-star in the 1962 remake, during casting for that film. Theirs was an equally lengthy and tortuous relationship. • Brando sent a woman identified as Sacheen Littlefeather to refuse his Oscar® for The Godfather (1972). Although reporters claimed she was actually a Mexican actress named Maria Cruz, she actually was part Apache and had adopted the name Littlefeather working in the Native American rights movement. She and Brando were not, as some suggested, lovers. She was mobbed in the parking lot afterwards, investigated by the FBI and eventually needed therapy to get over the controversy. • In many of his later appearances, Brando refused to learn lines, depending on cue cards and a special hearing aid that fed him lines. He claimed this kept his performances fresh since real people rarely have memorized what they’re going to say from moment to moment. • Long before he ballooned to 300 pounds in later years, Brando was notorious for his excessive eating habits, often requiring that his costumes be let out during filming. For a late night snack, he often drove to L.A.’s Pink’s hot dog stand and ate six of them. When his wife Movita suspected the staff of raiding the refrigerator at night, she had a padlock put on it. When she found the padlock broken and more food missing, one of the servants explained that it had been Brando who was responsible. (Excerpted from Leading Men: The 50 Most Unforgettable Actors of the Studio Era, published by Turner Classic Movies 2006.) The BRANDO documentary will air at the Cannes Film Festival in the Cannes Classic Selection on th Saturday 19 May and the UK TV Premiere will be on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) in July 2007. For more information please contact: TCM UK: Ann Rosen Catherine Hayes London London +44 (0) 2076931117 +44 (0) 2076930648 [email protected] [email protected] MARLON BRANDO Filmography The Men, 1950 A Streetcar Named Desire, 1951 Viva Zapata!, 1952 Julius Caesar, 1953 The Wild One, 1953 On the Waterfront, 1954 Désirée, 1954 Guys and Dolls, 1955 The Teahouse of the August Moon, 1956 Sayonara, 1957 The Young Lions, 1958 The Fugitive Kind, 1960 One-Eyed Jacks, 1961 Mutiny on the Bounty, 1962 The Ugly American, 1963 Bedtime Story, 1964 Morituri, 1965 The Chase, 1966 The Appaloosa, 1966 A Countess from Hong Kong, 1967 Reflections in a Golden Eye, 1967 Candy, 1968 The Night of the Following Day, 1969 Burn!, 1969 The Nightcomers, 1971 The Godfather, 1972 Last Tango in Paris, 1972 The Missouri Breaks, 1976 Superman, 1978 Apocalypse Now, 1979 The Formula, 1980 A Dry White Season, 1989 The Freshman, 1990 Christopher Columbus: The Discovery, 1992 Don Juan DeMarco, 1995 The Island of Dr. Moreau, 1996 The Brave, 1997 Free Money, 1998 The Score, 2001 The BRANDO documentary will air at the Cannes Film Festival in the Cannes Classic Selection on Saturday 19th May and the UK TV Premiere will be on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) in July 2007. For more information please contact: TCM UK: Ann Rosen Catherine Hayes London London +44 (0) 2076931117 +44 (0) 2076930648 [email protected] [email protected] MARLON BRANDO Movie Quotes “Hey, STELLA!” — Stanley Kowalski, A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) “Now just remember what Huey Long said — that every man’s a king — and I’m the king around here, and you don’t forget it.” —A Streetcar Named Desire Girl: “What’re you rebelling against, Johnny?” Johnny: “Whaddya got?” — Johnny Strabler, The Wild One (1953) “Nobody tells me what to do. You keep needlin’ me, if I want to, I’m gonna take this joint apart and you’re not gonna know what hit you.” —The Wild One “It wasn’t him, Charley, it was you. Remember that night in the Garden you came down to my dressing room and you said, ‘Kid, this ain’t your night. We’re going for the price on Wilson.’ You remember that? ‘This ain’t your night!’ My night! I coulda taken Wilson apart! So what happens? He gets the title shot outdoors on the ballpark and what do I get? A one-way ticket to Palooka-ville! You was my brother, Charley, you shoulda looked out for me a little bit. You shoulda taken care of me just a little bit so I wouldn’t have to take them dives for the short-end money. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let’s face it. It was you, Charley.” — Terry Malloy, On the Waterfront (1954) “Hey, you wanna hear my philosophy of life? Do it to him before he does it to you.” —On the Waterfront “I am not putting the knock on dolls. It’s just that they are something to have around only when they come in handy ... like cough drops.” — Sky Masterson, Guys and Dolls (1955) “Do you spend time with your family? Good. Because a man that doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man.” — Don Vito Corleone, The Godfather (1972) “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.” —The Godfather “I spent my whole life trying not to be careless. Women and children can be careless. But not men.” — The Godfather “Someday — and that day may never come — I’ll call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, accept this justice as gift on my daughter’s wedding day.” —The Godfather “I never wanted this for you. I work my whole life — I don’t apologize — to take care of my family, and I refused to be a fool, dancing on the string held by all those big shots. I don’t apologize — that’s my life — but I thought that, that when it was your time, that you would be the one to hold the string. Senator Corleone; Governor Corleone. Well, it wasn’t enough time, Michael. It wasn’t enough time.” —The Godfather -more- “Get the butter.” — Paul, Last Tango in Paris (1972) “I’ve seen horrors. Horrors that you’ve seen. But you have no right to call me a murderer. You have a right to kill me.” — Col. Walter E. Kurtz, Apocalypse Now (1979) “You’re an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks, to collect a bill.” —Apocalypse Now “I worry that my son might not understand what I’ve tried to be. And if I were to be killed, Willard, I would want someone to go to my home and tell my son everything. Everything I did, everything you saw, because there’s nothing that I detest more than the stench of lies. And if you understand me, Willard, you will do this for me.” —Apocalypse Now “The horror. The horror.” —Apocalypse Now “This is no fantasy, no careless product of wild imagination.” — Jor-El, Superman (1978) “So, this is college. I didn’t miss nothin’.” — Carmine Sabatini, The Freshman (1990) “This kid is going to do a flamenco number on Bill’s head until it looks like a tortilla, and it’s going to be on your watch.” — Jack Michler, Don Juan DeMarco (1995) “I have seen the devil in my microscope, and I have chained him.” — Dr. Moreau, The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996) The BRANDO documentary will air at the Cannes Film Festival in the Cannes Classic Selection on th Saturday 19 May and the UK TV Premiere will be on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) in July 2007. For more information please contact: TCM UK: Ann Rosen Catherine Hayes London London +44 (0) 2076931117 +44 (0) 2076930648 [email protected] [email protected] LESLIE GREIF Executive Producer Born in Hollywood, California, Leslie Greif has established a reputation for producing, directing and writing motion pictures and television in virtually every genre and for every audience’s taste. ThinkFilm’s Funny Money, which he co-wrote, produced and directed, was released in January ’07 to critical acclaim and stars Chevy Chase, Penelope Ann Miller, Armand Assante and Robert Loggia. Greif made his feature film-directing debut with the offbeat noir mystery Keys to Tulsa, which he also produced. The illustrious cast included Eric Stoltz, James Spader, James Coburn, Cameron Diaz, and Mary Tyler Moore. He also produced New Line Pictures' Bayou cop drama Heaven's Prisoners, starring Alec Baldwin and Meet Wally Sparks staring Rodney Dangerfield. Greif created the breakout reality show Gene Simmons Family Jewels for A&E and is currently in production on Lovebites, an innovative microseries for TBS written by Paul Reiser, which he is directing and executive producing. Greif has served as executive producer on many TV movies, most recently TNT’s Word of Honor with Don Johnson, which he also wrote. Other recent TV projects include Lifetime’s Baby for Sale with Dana Delaney, TNT’s Monday Night Mayhem, which starred John Turturro as Howard Cosell, and The Maddening, staring Burt Reynolds. He co-created and executive produced CBS’s Walker, Texas Ranger, which became one of CBS’s highest rated shows, running for 204 episodes. It is still being seen around the world today in syndication. His production company, The Greif Company, has also made a name for itself in the non-fiction field, having completed more than 90 episodes of Lifetime’s Intimate Portrait series, A&E’s Biography and Headliners & Legends as well as Opening the Tombs of the Golden Mummies for Fox. Last year, Greif executive produced the critically acclaimed documentary Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool for Turner Classic Movies. MINI FREEDMAN Writer/Producer Brando is Mimi Freedman’s second film for Turner Classic Movies. In 2005 she wrote, produced and directed TCM’s critically acclaimed Steve McQueen : The Essence of Cool. Mimi found a filmmaking niche for herself in the field of Hollywood history after receiving her masters degree in Film History, Theory and Criticism from UCLA. Since then she has created more than fifty non-fiction films, television specials and series episodes for A&E Biography, Lifetime Intimate Portrait and AMC's Backstory and Hollywood Fashion Machine. Her credits range from AMC’s Small Steps, Big Strides: The Black Experience in Hollywood to NBC’s Fifty Years of NBC Late Night. Other past projects include the Jewish Image Award-winning Backstory: Gentleman's Agreement and the A&E Biography Charlie Sheen: Born To Be Wild, which received a Prism Award for its accurate portrayal of drug and alcohol addiction. Mimi started her career in the opera business, working as a director and stage manager before making the transition to film and television. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Michigan. The BRANDO documentary will air at the Cannes Film Festival in the Cannes Classic Selection on th Saturday 19 May and the UK TV Premiere will be on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) in July 2007. For more information please contact: TCM UK: Ann Rosen Catherine Hayes London London +44 (0) 2076931117 +44 (0) 2076930648 [email protected] [email protected] CREDITS Title: brando. Format: Two-part documentary for television Network: Turner Classic Movies (TCM) Premiere: World Premiere May 19th at Cannes Film Festival, UK TV Premiere July 2007 Produced by Leslie Greif Written by Mimi Freedman Producers Mimi Freedman Joanne Rubino Editor Bryan Richert Music Composed by Andrea Morricone Executive Producer for Turner Classic Movies Tom Brown Supervising Producer for Turner Classic Movies Melissa Roller Consultant David Thomson Music Consultant Quincy Jones Associate Producer Darroch Greer Director of Photography Randy Krehbiel Lighting Consultant Bill Butler The BRANDO documentary will air at the Cannes Film Festival in the Cannes Classic Selection on th Saturday 19 May and the UK TV Premiere will be on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) in July 2007. For more information please contact: Ann Rosen Catherine Hayes London London +44 (0) 2076931117 +44 (0) 2076930648 [email protected] [email protected]
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