The iconic film Marlon Brando wanted to make with Stanley Kubrick
Marlon Brando and Stanley Kubrick are among the most recognisable names in the world of cinema. Although they never got a proper opportunity to work together, the two came very close to a highly anticipated collaboration in the 1960s, but Kubrick eventually left the project because of frequent ego clashes.
The history of this particular project is extensive, starting with The Twilight Zone creator Rod Sterling’s rejected adaptation of Charles Neider’s novel – The Authentic Death of Hendry Jones. Producer Frank P. Rosenberg also hired Sam Peckinpah – who has always been an inspiration for aspiring filmmakers – to handle the screenplay, but he was fired as well.
While the screenplay went through multiple revisions and passed from one writer to the next, Marlon Brando had a very specific vision for the project. He wanted Stanley Kubrick to helm the adaptation because Brando felt that Kubrick had a unique understanding of human psychology which would elevate the film.
“Stanley is unusually perceptive, and delicately attuned to people,” Brando once said of Kubrick, heaping praise on the filmmaker. “He has an adroit intellect, and is a creative thinker—not a repeater, not a fact-gatherer. He digests what he learns and brings to a new project an original point of view and a reserved passion.”
When it seemed like everything was in place, and a Brando-Kubrick collaboration finally appeared to be on the table, the plans collapsed. Just two weeks before the production was set to begin, Kubrick withdrew from the project and said that he was leaving “with deep regret because of my respect and admiration for one of the world’s foremost artists.”
Although Brando and Kubrick had worked on the screenplay together, Kubrick began to distance himself from the project, which would eventually be known as One-Eyed Jacks. At the time, it was reported that Kubrick was fired, but it was later revealed that the acclaimed filmmaker had multiple creative differences with the iconic actor.
In an exclusive interview, Kubrick explained: “When I left Brando’s picture, it still didn’t have a finished script. It had just become obvious to me that Brando wanted to direct the movie. I was just sort of playing wingman for Brando, to see that nobody shot him down.”
