Editing Marlon Brando (section)

=== 1951–1954: Stardom and ''On the Waterfront'' ===
Brando brought his performance as [[Stanley Kowalski]] to the screen in Tennessee Williams' ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire (1951 film)|A Streetcar Named Desire]]'' (1951). It earned him his first [[Academy Award]] nomination in the [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor category]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Schulberg |first=Budd |author-link=Budd Schulberg |title=Marlon Brando: The King Who Would Be Man |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2005/03/brando200503 |url-status=live |work=The Hive |access-date=August 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623022810/http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2005/03/brando200503 |archive-date=June 23, 2017}}</ref> The role is regarded as one of Brando's greatest.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

[[File:Viva Zapata movie trailer screenshot (9).jpg|thumb|left|upright|Brando as [[Emiliano Zapata]] in ''Viva Zapata!'' (1952)]]
He was also nominated the next year for ''[[Viva Zapata!]]'' (1952), a fictionalized account of the life of Mexican revolutionary [[Emiliano Zapata]]. The film recounted Zapata's lower-class upbringing, his rise to power in the early 20th century, and death. The film was directed by [[Elia Kazan]] and co-starred [[Anthony Quinn]]. In the biopic ''Marlon Brando: The Wild One'', Sam Shaw says: "Secretly, before the picture started, he went to Mexico to the very town where Zapata lived and was born in and it was there that he studied the speech patterns of people, their behavior, movement."<ref name="Brando2016">Brando, M., Grobel, L., Popczyński, M., & Holland, S. (2016). ''Marlon Brando''. Heraclon International. Storybox. pl.</ref> Most critics focused on the actor rather than the film, with ''Time'' and ''Newsweek'' publishing rave reviews.<ref>Schoenwald, Jonathan M. (1996). [https://books.google.com/books?id=oXhRAQAAIAAJ&q=%22For+other+positive+reviews+see+also+Newsweek+,+4+February+1952+,+78+and+Time%22 "Rewriting revolution: the origins, production and reception of Viva Zapata"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123015119/https://books.google.com/books?id=oXhRAQAAIAAJ&q=%22For+other+positive+reviews+see+also+Newsweek+,+4+February+1952+,+78+and+Time%22&dq=%22For+other+positive+reviews+see+also+Newsweek+,+4+February+1952+,+78+and+Time%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjZ0I3O_qz0AhUbG80KHVxiDTwQ6AF6BAgCEAI |date=November 23, 2021 }}. ''Film History''. Vol. 8, No. 2. p. 129.</ref>

Years later, in his autobiography, Brando remarked: "Tony Quinn, whom I admired professionally and liked personally, played my brother, but he was extremely cold to me while we shot that picture. During our scenes together, I sensed a bitterness toward me, and if I suggested a drink after work, he either turned me down or else was sullen and said little. Only years later did I learn why."{{sfn|Brando|Lindsey|1994|p=171}} Brando explained that, to create on-screen tension between the two, "Gadg" (Kazan) had told Quinn – who had taken over the role of Stanley Kowalski from Brando on Broadway – that Brando had been unimpressed with his work. After achieving the desired effect, Kazan never told Quinn that he had misled him. It was only many years later, after comparing notes, that Brando and Quinn realized the deception.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

Brando's next film, ''[[Julius Caesar (1953 film)|Julius Caesar]]'' (1953), received highly favorable reviews. Brando portrayed [[Mark Antony]]. While most acknowledged Brando's talent, some critics felt Brando's "mumbling" and other idiosyncrasies betrayed a lack of acting fundamentals and, when his casting was announced, many remained dubious about his prospects for success. Directed by [[Joseph L. Mankiewicz]] and co-starring British stage actor [[John Gielgud]], Brando delivered an impressive performance, especially during Antony's noted "Friends, Romans, countrymen&nbsp;..." speech. Gielgud was so impressed that he offered Brando a full season at the Hammersmith Theatre, an offer he declined. In his biography on the actor, Stefan Kanfer writes, "Marlon's autobiography devotes one line to his work on that film: Among all those British professionals, 'for me to walk onto a movie set and play Mark Anthony was asinine'—yet another example of his persistent self-denigration, and wholly incorrect."{{sfn|Kanfer|2008|p=112}}

Kanfer adds that after a screening of the film, director John Huston commented: "Christ! It was like a furnace door opening—the heat came off the screen. I don't know another actor who could do that."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Marlon Brando|url=http://www.foundagrave.com/grave/marlon-brando/|website=Found a Grave|language=en-US|access-date=May 25, 2020|archive-date=November 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114145544/http://www.foundagrave.com/grave/marlon-brando/|url-status=live}}</ref> During the filming of ''Julius Caesar'', Brando learned that Elia Kazan had cooperated with congressional investigators, naming a whole string of "subversives" to the [[House Committee on Un-American Activities]] (HUAC). By all accounts, Brando was upset by his mentor's decision, but he worked with him again in ''On The Waterfront''. "None of us is perfect," he later wrote in his memoir, "and I think that Gadg has done injury to others, but mostly to himself."<ref name="Brando2016"/>

In 1953, Brando also starred in ''[[The Wild One]]'', riding his own [[Triumph Thunderbird]] 6T motorcycle. Triumph's importers were ambivalent at the exposure, as the subject matter was rowdy motorcycle gangs taking over a small town. The film was criticized for its perceived gratuitous violence at the time, with ''Time'' stating: "The effect of the movie is not to throw light on the public problem, but to shoot adrenaline through the moviegoer's veins."<ref>[[Kittredge, William]]; [[Steven Krauzer|Krauzer, Steven M.]] (1979). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=BfgaAQAAIAAJ&q=%22but+to+shoot+adrenaline+through+the+moviegoer%27s+veins.%22 Stories Into Film] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123013617/https://books.google.com/books?id=BfgaAQAAIAAJ&q=%22but+to+shoot+adrenaline+through+the+moviegoer%27s+veins.%22 |date=November 23, 2021 }}''. Harper and Row. p.&nbsp;112. {{ISBN|9780060906382}}.</ref> Brando allegedly did not see eye to eye with the Hungarian director [[László Benedek]] and did not get on with costar [[Lee Marvin]].{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

To Brando's expressed puzzlement, the movie inspired teen rebellion and made him a role model to the nascent rock-and-roll generation and future stars such as [[James Dean]] and [[Elvis Presley]]. After the movie's release, the sales of [[leather jacket]]s and motorcycles skyrocketed.<ref>Klein, Amanda Ann (2011). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=H_3kDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA113 American Film Cylces: Reframing Genres, Screening Social Problems, & Defining Subcultures] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123013613/https://books.google.com/books?id=H_3kDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA113 |date=November 23, 2021 }}''. p.&nbsp;113. {{ISBN|978-0-292-72680-2}}.</ref> Reflecting on the movie in his autobiography, Brando concluded that it had not aged very well but said "More than most parts I've played in the movies or onstage, I related to Johnny, and because of this, I believe I played him as more sensitive and sympathetic than the script envisioned. There's a line in the picture where he snarls, 'Nobody tells me what to do.' That's exactly how I've felt all my life."{{sfn|Brando|Lindsey|1994|p=178}}

Later that same year, Brando co-starred with fellow [[Actors Studio|Studio]] member [[William Redfield (actor)|William Redfield]] in a summer stock production of [[George Bernard Shaw]]'s ''[[Arms and the Man]]''.<ref>Variety staff (July 8, 1953). "Brando Picks Barn Trek (At Nominal $125 Wage) to Give Jobs to Friends". ''Variety''. pp.&nbsp;[https://archive.org/details/variety191-1953-07/page/n55/mode/2up?q=%22brando+picks+barn+trek%22 1], [https://archive.org/details/variety191-1953-07/page/n69/mode/2up?q=%22brando+picks%22 14]. Retrieved November 22, 2021.</ref><ref>Dias (July 15, 1953). [https://archive.org/details/variety191-1953-07/page/n187/mode/2up Legitimate – Straw Hat Reviews: Arms and the Man]. ''Variety'' . p.&nbsp;58. Retrieved November 22, 2021.</ref>

In 1954, Brando starred in ''[[On the Waterfront]]'', a [[crime drama film]] about union violence and corruption among [[longshoremen]]. The film was directed by Elia Kazan and written by [[Budd Schulberg]]; it also starred [[Karl Malden]], [[Lee J. Cobb]], [[Rod Steiger]] and, in her film debut, [[Eva Marie Saint]]. When initially offered the role, Brando—still stung by Kazan's testimony to HUAC—demurred and the part of Terry Malloy nearly went to [[Frank Sinatra]]. According to biographer Stefan Kanfer, the director believed that Sinatra, who grew up in [[Hoboken]] (where the film takes place and was shot), would work as Malloy, but eventually producer [[Sam Spiegel]] wooed Brando to the part, signing him for $100,000. "Kazan made no protest because, he subsequently confessed, 'I always preferred Brando to anybody.'"{{sfn|Kanfer|2008|p=125}}

[[File:Eva marie saint marlon brando waterfront 10.jpg|thumb|[[Eva Marie Saint]] and Brando in ''[[On the Waterfront]]'' (1954)]]
Brando won the Oscar for his role as Irish-American stevedore Terry Malloy in ''[[On the Waterfront]]''. His performance, spurred on by his rapport with Eva Marie Saint and Kazan's direction, was praised as a ''tour de force''. For the scene in which Terry laments his failings, saying ''I coulda been a contender'', he convinced Kazan that the scripted scene was unrealistic. Schulberg's script had Brando acting the entire scene with his character being held at gunpoint by his brother Charlie, played by [[Rod Steiger]]. Brando insisted on gently pushing away the gun, saying that Terry would never believe that his brother would pull the trigger and doubting that he could continue his speech while fearing a gun on him. Kazan let Brando improvise and later expressed deep admiration for Brando's instinctive understanding, saying:

{{blockquote|what was extraordinary about his performance, I feel, is the contrast of the tough-guy front and the extreme delicacy and gentle cast of his behavior. What other actor, when his brother draws a pistol to force him to do something shameful, would put his hand on the gun and push it away with the gentleness of a caress? Who else could read "Oh, Charlie!" in a tone of reproach that is so loving and so melancholy and suggests the terrific depth of pain?&nbsp;... If there is a better performance by a man in the [[history of film]] in America, I don't know what it is.{{sfn|Girgus|1998|p=175}}}}

Upon its release, ''On the Waterfront'' received glowing reviews from critics and was a commercial success, earning an estimated $4.2&nbsp;million in rentals at the North American box office in 1954.<ref>'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1954', ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' (January 5, 1955)</ref> In his July 29, 1954, review, ''[[The New York Times]]'' critic [[A. H. Weiler]] praised the film, calling it "an uncommonly powerful, exciting, and imaginative use of the screen by gifted professionals."<ref>[[A. H. Weiler|Weiler, A. H.]] [https://www.nytimes.com/1954/07/29/movies/19540729waterfront.html "Movie Review: 'On the Waterfront'."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150918232855/http://www.nytimes.com/1954/07/29/movies/19540729waterfront.html |date=September 18, 2015 }} ''[[The New York Times]]'', July 29, 1954.</ref> Film critic [[Roger Ebert]] lauded the film retrospectively, stating that Brando and Kazan changed acting in American films forever and adding it to his "Great Movies" list.<ref>Khairy, Wael. [https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-on-the-waterfront-1954 "Review: On the Waterfront'(1954)."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140314131915/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-on-the-waterfront-1954 |date=March 14, 2014 }} ''Roger Ebert.com'', March 21, 1999. Retrieved April 5, 2015.</ref> In his autobiography, Brando was typically dismissive of his performance: "On the day Gadg showed me the complete picture, I was so depressed by my performance I got up and left the screening room&nbsp;... I thought I was a huge failure."{{sfn|Brando|Lindsey|1994|p=199}} After Brando won the Academy Award for Best Actor, the statue was stolen. Much later, it turned up at a London auction house, which contacted the actor and informed him of its whereabouts.{{sfn|Brando|Lindsey|1994|p=201–202}}