Brando at the peak of acting power?

Press, 20 December 1978, Page 15

Brando at the peak of acting power?

Burt Reynolds tells the story — and swears it’s true. "1 was at the airport and a woman mistook me for Marlon Brando. I dissuaded her. but she kept coming back, insisting I was Brando. Finally, I blew my top. ‘Listen, lady,’ I growled, ‘Can’t you get it through your thick head that I AM NOT Marlon Brando.’ ” “A broad smile crossed her face. She turned to her husband and said, ‘See, 1 told you it was him.’ ” At the age of fiftythree, at the peak of his powers as an actor, Brando still carries with him the stigma of the fiery, outspoken maverick. How much of that image is a remnant of the publicity which welcomed him to Hollywood, reinforced by roles like Stanley Kowalski in “A Streetcar Named Desire.” and the rampaging biker in “The Wild One,” may never be known. . But according to those who worked with him in “Superman," the movie, a .Warner Bros. release, today's Brando is a quietly professional, co-operative actor whose level of performance — not his tem--erament — creates an electric atmosphere on the set. It was the production troika of Alexander Salkind, Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler who made .headlines by casting Brando, as Jor-El, Superman’s father and the leading scientist of the planet Krypton, who dispatches his infant son to Earth before his own world explodes into cold dust. Executive Producer Ilya Salkind was asked, at the time, if Brando’s signing was aimed at publicity. “Any motion picture producer who avoids good publicity is in the wrong

business,” he replied candidly. “But. the truth is that the character of JorEl sets the tone and style of this picture. We knew we had to have a fine actor in the role. ‘We were fortunate to get the best in the world.” Director Richard Donner’s reasoning was more personal. During their first meeting to discuss the script, Brando asked bluntly, “Why me?” “I can’t speak for anyone else,” replied the director, who took on “Superman" fresh from the chilling suspense of “The Omen.” “But as far as I’m concerned, no matter what I do in the future — good or bad — I can always say, ‘I directed Brando’.” Later, Donner observed: “It’s his sense of humour that gets through to you. He has a wit and a verve for life that’s contagious.” Brando’s candid humour extends to his own public image. “I’m aware that the publicity I received when I first came to Hollywood made me look pretty stupid,” he says. “I was the hot-copy who scratched himself in public and spat in the potted palms. People became conditioned to the publicity. When they met me, they said to themselves, ‘I hope he isn’t going to be rude or uncouth. I hope he isn’t going to kick me in the rear end’.” “Once you get that kind of reputation, everything you do or say can be misinterpreted to suit what people already think of you.” The experience, admits Brando, led to a search for privacy and finally to Tetiaroa, an atoll twentyfive miles south of Tahiti which he purchased while making “Mutiny on the Bountv” and which be

came his home. There, his “Superman” salary has been invested in two pet projects — an experiment in sea farming, aimed at increasing the world’s food supply, and a television series in the style of “Roots,” dealing with the plight of American Indians.

He insists that he is not averse — as most people assume — to publicity. “It’s simply that I try to separate legitimate professional promotion from revolting personalised notoriety,” he points out. “If people are interested in my acting or my ideas, I’m flattered. But I despise being worshipped, idolized, hated, or attacked for reasons that are totally inappropriate to what I am,”

What he is, many critics agree, is an actor who becomes passionately involved in every role he plays. The first day of “Superman” filming was devoted to an emotional monologue. in which Brando agonized at the thought that he would never again see his infant son. It was greeted with stunned silence, moist eyes and then spontaneous applause. “It was an incredible performance.” said Donner afterward. “He did it in one take.”

Occasionally, when Brando plays a challenging scene, he will take a pair of earplugs from his pocket and wear them. He knows that the technique has been misinterpreted as a gesture of disdain for his directors and other actors. But he explains: “Acting is an illusion. In order to carry it off, an actor must have complete concentration. Before I go into a scene, I study it,

almost psychoanalyze it, discuss it with the director, then rehearse it.” “When actual shooting commences, I sometimes put the plugs to shut out the extraneous noises that inevitably prick at one’s concentration.” It is a rational and intelligent approach — from a rational and intelligent man. “Superman” stars Marlon Brando, Gene Hack-

man and Christopher Reeve. Also starring are Margot Kidder, Ned Beatty, Jackie Cooper, Glenn Ford. Trevor Howard, Valerie Perrine, Maria Schell, Terence Stamp, Phyllis Thaxter and Susannah York. An Alexander Salkind presentation of a Richard Donner film, “Superman” was directed by Richard Donner from a story by Mario Puzo. The screen-

play was by Puzo, David and Leslie Newman, and Robert Benton. Tom Mankiewicz was creative consultant. Ilya Salkind was executive producer and Pierre Spengler was producer. John Williams composed and conducted the music. “Superman,” an Alexander and Ilya Salkind production, is being distributed by Warner Bros., a Warner Communications Company.