Mumbai, May 18: Actor Anupam Kher has a large portrait of Marlon Brando as Don Corleone in his office. ``It is the greatest movie role played by the greatest actor of our times,'' he says. The role resurrected Brando's career, after 10 years of mediocre parts and box office failures, and fetched him the 1972 Best Actor Oscar. Now top US film experts consider Brando's Don Corleone as the greatest movie character of all time. Others in the list include Humphrey Bogart as Fred Dobbs in the 1948 film, "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (ranked 2), Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara in "Gone With the Wind" (ranked 3), Sean Connery as James Bond in "Dr. No" (ranked 5) and Bogart as Rick Blaine in "Casablanca" (ranked 19).
Brando is listed by Time magazine as the outstanding actor of the 20th century. He had amazing natural talent which, nurtured by brilliant directors like Stanley Kramer and Elia Kazan, resulted in a series of outstanding films in the 1950s like "A Streetcar named Desire," "Viva Zapata," "Julius Caesar," "The Wild One" and "On the Waterfront" which fetched him his first Oscar.
Yet unhappy with Hollywood's star system and ruthlessness of studio bosses, Brando was forced to act in terrible films and acquired a reputation of notoriety and slackness which resulted in delays and over-budgeting.
Without a hit for nearly a decade, Brando was still able to prove he was the greatest thanks to "The Godfather" and the controversial, "Last Tango in Paris."
In retrospect, Brando's portrayal of Terry Malloy, the slow-witted, heroic prizefighter in "On the Waterfront" was as good as any other role he had essayed.

Director Elia Kazan spotted the awesome raw talent. Brando was full of innovations, which enhanced the film's impact.
How, then was the role of Don Corleone superior? For one, Brando had aged, there could be no youthful exuberance of `Waterfront' and his career had taken a disappointing plunge.

COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

Producers were unwilling to risk him in their films. He needed an extraordinary role and script. "The Godfather" provided both.

Earlier films on the Mafia like the Kirk Douglas starrer, "The Brotherhood" had not clicked. But novelist Mario Puzo was certain he had authored an outstanding book in "The Godfather."

Director Francis Ford Coppola concurred but the bosses at Paramount studios were adamant. No Brando, please! Coppola would not give up.

Brando, having read the book, was interested. In the presence of the director, he began to assume the character of Don Corleone.

In a magazine interview, Brando explained, ``I don't think the film is about the Mafia at all. It is about the corporate mind. Don Corleone is just another American business magnate who is trying to do the best he can for the group he represents. Corleone's tactics were no different from those used by General Motors against Ralph Nader, the consumer activist.'' This was a brilliant analysis.

There was not much difference between American big business and the Mafia. ``The former kills us all the time, with cars, pollution and cigarettes,'' argued Brando.

Brando identified himself so much with the role of Don Corleone, that he introduced several little touches, which increased the film's impact.