“I couldn’t wait to wake up”: The only movie Marlon Brando “ever looked forward to filming”
Marlon Brando might be known as a key figure to emerge during the industry’s vital transformation from the days of Old Hollywood into the grittier territory of the American new wave, but he wasn’t half difficult.
Many of Brando’s co-stars were unimpressed by the actor’s behaviour offscreen, with complaints ranging from his rudeness to his pure laziness. It’s actually a miracle that he was able to pull it out the bag for some truly indelible performances, because he was accused of forgetting his lines or playing pranks on set, which surely couldn’t have been very conducive to acting success.
Naturally, not all actors were as convinced of his touted brilliance sans discipline, like Christopher Reeve, who starred opposite the actor in Superman. “I don’t worship at the altar of Marlon Brando,” he flatly told David Letterman, “But what happened is the press loved him whether he was good, bad, or indifferent. People thought he was this institution no matter what he did. So he doesn’t care anymore.”
Reeve does make a good point. Brando allowed himself to fall into a spiral of laziness and grumpiness, which resulted in some questionable performances, like Candy (brownface and all) and The Island of Dr Moreau. It seemed like he didn’t care about many of his movies all that much, which is a shame when he possessed so much skill.
There was one film, however, that he found himself eager to shoot every day, which was quite the anomaly. It was just over a decade into Brando’s career, and he was doing really well, having appeared in several Oscar-nominated roles and winning one for On the Waterfront, and even directing his first feature, One-Eyed Jacks. Big offers just kept coming, and before he knew it, he was cast opposite acting legend David Niven.
The star of many acclaimed features, including A Matter of Life and Death and The Charge of the Light Brigade, Niven was a pure icon and one of the few people Brando actually held in high esteem. They were to perform alongside each other in Bedtime Story in 1964, the basis for the later film Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Brando couldn’t wait.
“Working with David was the only time I ever looked forward to filming,” he explained, as noted in Somebody: The Reckless Life and Remarkable Career of Marlon Brando by Stefan Kanfer, “I just couldn’t wait to wake up each morning and go to work so he could make me laugh”.
It seemed like Brando was just incredibly hard to please until he found the right and likeable company to let his guard down. Bedtime Story was well-received by critics but hasn’t exactly endured as one of either’s finest ventures. Still, Brando cherished the experience of being eager to roll out of bed and go to work, much to on-set surprise.
