Marlon Brandon once pitched Christopher Walken a bizarre variety dance show
If you’re talking about iconic eccentric Hollywood actors, Marlon Brando has to be in the conversation. As well as one of the greatest stars of the 20th century, finding international fame for his portrayal of Don Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola’s iconic 1972 film The Godfather, Brando was a curious soul who produced endless behind-the-scenes stories which have now made their way into the books of cinema history.
Observed by Time magazine as the “actor of the century”, it is partly in the star’s eccentricities and particular conflict between distaining and delighting in his acting profession that has made him such a monolithic thespian. Such behaviours include tying his Nightcomers co-star Stephanie Beacham to a bed whilst he went for lunch to suggesting that his character in Richard Donner’s Superman should look like a giant green doughnut.
Such aforementioned stories continued throughout Brando’s career, heightening a little in the 1990s, years after his influence at the height of the industry. This came to fruition in the form of the bizarre 1996 fever-dream The Island of Dr. Moreau, in which Brando starred alongside Val Kilmer and David Thewlis, as well as the rubbish comedy crime movie Free Money with Charlie Sheen, Donald Sutherland and Martin Sheen.
During this decade, Brando made contact with another eccentric Hollywood star, calling Christopher Walken to see if he wanted to collaborate on a curious new theatre project that would see him as the leading star.
Despite never having met Brando, Walken claims that the Godfather star called him one day to pitch a musical variety show. Taken aback by the call, the surprise caller said that he would be the host and that the show would be shot in his own home. It would be Walken’s job to make guests do dance routines with him and presumably do the occasional jig, too, given the actor’s well-known dancing abilities.
Allegedly it was Walken’s dancing in the 1981 musical Pennies From Heaven, co-starring Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters, that prompted Brando to call the actor and encourage him to join his planned variety show.
Beloved across the landscape of cinema, the actor is known for his dance moves, frequently showing off what he can do in film after film. But, if you want our two cents for the best Walken dance scene, we’d veer away from the world of movies and pick out his fabulous performance in the Fatboy Slim music video for ‘Weapon of Choice’. Utterly sensational, the video for the (equally excellent) song sees Walken fly from wall to wall in a fantastical dance that sees him become an impossible gravity-defying performer.
Unfortunately for fans of cinema and dance across the world, Walken turned down the opportunity to work with Brando, and the strange variety show never saw the light of day. We would have paid a large sum of money to have seen this show. If only.
