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Brando: A Life in Our Times
Marlon Brando might be the most influential actor in film history, a pioneer of a new method of theatrical self-presentation who changed the standards by which we judge performance. Brando traces the career of the actor from his birth in the mid-west to alcoholic parents, to his discovery of his talent at Stella Adler's acting school in New York from the early triumphs of A Streetcar Named Desire and On The Waterfront, to The Island of Dr. Moreau. This new biography, fully illustrated with 125 black and white photographs, sets the man and his films in context, drawing sharply observed connections between his life and developments in the motion picture industry, and in the social history of the last half of the 20th century. It is a rich, witty, and affectionate portrayal of one of the few, true icons of our age.
- GenresBiography
192 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1991
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About the author
Richard Schickel
99 books32 followersRichard Schickel is an important American film historian, journalist, author, filmmaker, screenwriter, documentarian, and film and literary critic.
Mr.Schickel is featured in For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism. In this 2009 documentary film he discusses early film critics in the 1960s, and how he and other young critics, rejected the moralizing opposition of Bosley Crowther of The New York Times who had railed against violent movies such as Bonnie and Clyde.
In addition to film, Schickel has also critiqued and documented cartoons, particularly Peanuts.
Schickel was a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1964. He has also lectured at Yale University and University of Southern California's School of Film and Television.
Mr.Schickel is featured in For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism. In this 2009 documentary film he discusses early film critics in the 1960s, and how he and other young critics, rejected the moralizing opposition of Bosley Crowther of The New York Times who had railed against violent movies such as Bonnie and Clyde.
In addition to film, Schickel has also critiqued and documented cartoons, particularly Peanuts.
Schickel was a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1964. He has also lectured at Yale University and University of Southern California's School of Film and Television.
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October 2, 2022
Brando - a Life in Our Times
by Richard Schickel
Published in 1991 Pavilion Books Limited London
ISBN 1 85145 0475
Brando, A Life of Our Times was written by Richard Schickel, a distinguished film critic and writer. In a letter addressed to Mr Brando, the author explains his angle for the book. It is to ‘breach biographical convention and cut through critical decorum,’ p 4. From this, I expected to read a biography of Marlon Brando but after reading, with great difficulty, half of the book I realised that it was an analysis of the film industry and the impact of its milieu on Brando.
Marlon Brando’s career began in 1944 with six years on Broadway before being ‘discovered’ by Hollywood where he stayed for another forty. His last stage role was in A Streetcar Named Desire, it was then filmed and released in 1951. Critic, William Redfield declared that ‘if you had not seen Brando’s original stage performance, then you had only seen the shadow of his greatness,’ p 63. Such was Marlon’s acclaim. This huge success was followed closely by his seminal role in The Wild One where he was stamped with his everlasting aura of – handsome, insolent, and seductive. In the same year he starred in the film, On The Waterfront. This won seven academy awards and his first Oscar which immediately assured him of stardom.
Mutiny on the Bounty was another blockbuster. Filmed in Tahiti where he met and married his third wife Tarita Teriipaia. Four years later Marlon bought Teti’aroa an atoll comprising 12 islets, just north of Tahiti. Although married only three times, he had many lovers and is father to nine children.
Of his 34 films The Godfather will long be remembered. It is the highest grossing film made (after Gone With the Wind). His interpretation of the starring role was a perfect fit. The Mob liked his portrayal and saw director, Frank Ford Coppala as paisano. They approved the film so long as the word, Mafia. was not used.
Brando, A Life of Our Times, starts and ends with the tragedy of Marlon’s son Christian, who murdered his sister’s lover. However, I don’t hear Brando’s voice, rather Schickel’s point of view of the movies Marlon starred in. There’s much informative detail about the goings on in the back lot, squabbles about makeup, costume, which for me takes away from Brando, the man. It was interesting to read about Brando’s political activism during the Civil Rights Movement of the 60s and the American Indian Movement of the 70s.
I found the last two chapters of the book to be the most enjoyable. In summing up, Richard Schickel says of Marlon Brando, that most people had no knowledge ‘. . . of what his career had meant to the history of his art,’ p 207.
As a post script: Marlon Brando’s autobiography is called Songs My Mother Taught Me.
by Richard Schickel
Published in 1991 Pavilion Books Limited London
ISBN 1 85145 0475
Brando, A Life of Our Times was written by Richard Schickel, a distinguished film critic and writer. In a letter addressed to Mr Brando, the author explains his angle for the book. It is to ‘breach biographical convention and cut through critical decorum,’ p 4. From this, I expected to read a biography of Marlon Brando but after reading, with great difficulty, half of the book I realised that it was an analysis of the film industry and the impact of its milieu on Brando.
Marlon Brando’s career began in 1944 with six years on Broadway before being ‘discovered’ by Hollywood where he stayed for another forty. His last stage role was in A Streetcar Named Desire, it was then filmed and released in 1951. Critic, William Redfield declared that ‘if you had not seen Brando’s original stage performance, then you had only seen the shadow of his greatness,’ p 63. Such was Marlon’s acclaim. This huge success was followed closely by his seminal role in The Wild One where he was stamped with his everlasting aura of – handsome, insolent, and seductive. In the same year he starred in the film, On The Waterfront. This won seven academy awards and his first Oscar which immediately assured him of stardom.
Mutiny on the Bounty was another blockbuster. Filmed in Tahiti where he met and married his third wife Tarita Teriipaia. Four years later Marlon bought Teti’aroa an atoll comprising 12 islets, just north of Tahiti. Although married only three times, he had many lovers and is father to nine children.
Of his 34 films The Godfather will long be remembered. It is the highest grossing film made (after Gone With the Wind). His interpretation of the starring role was a perfect fit. The Mob liked his portrayal and saw director, Frank Ford Coppala as paisano. They approved the film so long as the word, Mafia. was not used.
Brando, A Life of Our Times, starts and ends with the tragedy of Marlon’s son Christian, who murdered his sister’s lover. However, I don’t hear Brando’s voice, rather Schickel’s point of view of the movies Marlon starred in. There’s much informative detail about the goings on in the back lot, squabbles about makeup, costume, which for me takes away from Brando, the man. It was interesting to read about Brando’s political activism during the Civil Rights Movement of the 60s and the American Indian Movement of the 70s.
I found the last two chapters of the book to be the most enjoyable. In summing up, Richard Schickel says of Marlon Brando, that most people had no knowledge ‘. . . of what his career had meant to the history of his art,’ p 207.
As a post script: Marlon Brando’s autobiography is called Songs My Mother Taught Me.
July 1, 2020
I was incredibly disappointed with this book. It is little more than a hymn of praise to white, middle class, American, male, baby boomers. If all those recent 'OK boomer' memes got together and wrote a book this would be it.
There is very little about Brando, there is a lot of sub-par film studies prose about his films. But that prose is very over wrought and over written. In common with several biographies I've read of C20th movie stars it turns out that, even in his bad films (which the author does admit there are a lot of) Brando was still a genius. I am not sure I will ever forgive the idea that having a very thin moustache in one film was a masterpiece of characterisation and made Brando stand out from the bland nonentity which was the rest of the film.
If you read this you'd come away with the notion that Brando was a lazy, not very bright, sulky, spoiled brat of an actor who could be brilliant if only the director would just let him have his way and set the pace at all times.
This may well be true, but there is very very little of Brando the man in this book. There are some lovely photos. There is a LOT about how Brando was the movie star for middle American males of the mid-century. It left me entirely underwhelmed.
It is also a book - or writer - in dire need of an editor. At the most basic level just deleting all instances of the word 'for' would have improved it immensely. Beginning sentences with the word was a verbal tic which annoyed me from early on in the book. When I find myself reading most of a book just to compose the review that I'm going to write rather than getting lost in the book itself I know I'm not going to come out with a positive response.
The book was written while Brando was still alive, which I suspect affected the writing a lot, but I don't honestly think that writing it after his death would have made much difference. I would like to see a biography of Brando - who I love to watch on screen - which deals with the man as a man and not as a film studies essay subject.
There is very little about Brando, there is a lot of sub-par film studies prose about his films. But that prose is very over wrought and over written. In common with several biographies I've read of C20th movie stars it turns out that, even in his bad films (which the author does admit there are a lot of) Brando was still a genius. I am not sure I will ever forgive the idea that having a very thin moustache in one film was a masterpiece of characterisation and made Brando stand out from the bland nonentity which was the rest of the film.
If you read this you'd come away with the notion that Brando was a lazy, not very bright, sulky, spoiled brat of an actor who could be brilliant if only the director would just let him have his way and set the pace at all times.
This may well be true, but there is very very little of Brando the man in this book. There are some lovely photos. There is a LOT about how Brando was the movie star for middle American males of the mid-century. It left me entirely underwhelmed.
It is also a book - or writer - in dire need of an editor. At the most basic level just deleting all instances of the word 'for' would have improved it immensely. Beginning sentences with the word was a verbal tic which annoyed me from early on in the book. When I find myself reading most of a book just to compose the review that I'm going to write rather than getting lost in the book itself I know I'm not going to come out with a positive response.
The book was written while Brando was still alive, which I suspect affected the writing a lot, but I don't honestly think that writing it after his death would have made much difference. I would like to see a biography of Brando - who I love to watch on screen - which deals with the man as a man and not as a film studies essay subject.
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