All posts tagged Marlon Brando

Screen tests for Rebel Without a Cause

Way before anyone had even heard of James Dean, Warner were toying around with the idea of making a film with the title Rebel Without a Cause. However, despite taking numerous shots at writing it out – and despite this 1947 Marlon Brando screen test – they never managed to come up with a satisfactory script – until Nicholas Ray took on the project in the mid 50s.

Here is a screen test from the Ray production in 1955 showing the chemistry between the principal actors (Dean, Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo) as they fool around in one of the scenes:

Meanwhile, Corey Allen who played Jim Stark’s rival, Buzz, seems reluctant to get out of his surly character in what is presumably a wardrobe test. Whilst Dean goofs about which each of the actors, Corey looks about as amused as the Queen at Christmas:

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REMEMBER TO COME ALONG TO OUR 1ST EVER

posted by Dixie Turner

I Could’ve Been Marlon Brando Instead of a Bum.

Marlon Brando (3/4/24 – 1/7/04)

Let us just say nothing for a moment. Let our eyes wander; let us merely regard…

Ok. So, Marlon Brando would’ve been 88 today. You’ve probably seen his career-making performance as Stanley in the Elia (East Of Eden, Splendor in the Grass) Kazan-directed production of Tennessee Williams’:

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) – also starring Vivien Leigh and Karl Malden

You’ve probably also seen:

On the Waterfront (1954) – also starring Rod Steiger, Karl Malden and Eva Marie Saint.

Perhaps you’ve even seen:

The Wild One (1953)

And Bertolucci’s:

Last Tango in Paris (1972)

And Coppola’s Mafia epic:

The Godfather (1972) – also starring every Italian-American actor known to Hollywood.

And, perhaps, if you’re a little bit hard-core, you’ve even seen:

Apocalypse Now (1979)

(And if you haven’t seen the making-of documentary, Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse, then get watching. It might put you off trying to make that massive-budget war movie you were thinking of shooting in the Congo with all those crazy friends of yours… A low-budget rom-com has less mental-health implications. Except, perhaps, for the audience.)

BUT, have you seen Brando, Magnani and Woodward in: