The ‘The Wizard of Oz’ scene Marlon Brando hated
Cinema in the 20th century would have looked very different without the influence of the great Marlon Brando, a method-acting titan who forced his peers to up their game. A two-time Oscar winner, the actor starred in such classic movies as The Godfather, On the Waterfront and Last Tango in Paris, working with such filmmaking icons as Francis Ford Coppola, Bernardo Bertolucci and Elia Kazan.
Rising to fame in the 1950s, where he almost instantly found success with such movies as A Streetcar Named Desire, Viva Zapata! and The Wild One, Brando was an incomparable dramatic force who arrived with instant impact. Known for his serious personality and wild temperament, Brando was an eccentric, to say the least, becoming the catalyst for several iconic Hollywood tales.
So influential was the actor that Kirk Douglas, an industry peer who also thrived in the 20th century, stated that he had a hand in destroying contemporary screen acting. “He has ruined more actors because people try and imitate that style, but they can’t,” Douglas exclaimed.
Adding: “He also opened the door to a lot of bad acting, because you’ve got those actors that go ‘Well, why should I go from here to there, I don’t feel like it doesn’t motivate me’…no, I think Marlon introduced more bad actors because they tried to imitate that which was very unique and original to him”.
A bold, outspoken actor, Brando wasn’t afraid to criticise those around him in the name of art, hoping they would join him in a singular artistic vision, with this becoming clear when he sat down with Playboy for an enlightening interview.
Criticising the general moviegoing audience and critics, Brando exclaimed, “Wonderful scenes never get mentioned, only those scenes that affect people”. Then, when pushed as to which scenes he’s referring to with respect to ones that merely “affect people”, he blasts a largely beloved classic.
“Judy Garland singing ‘Over the Rainbow’”, Brando stated, in reference to the 1939 Technicolor classic The Wizard of Oz, “’Somewhere over the rainbow bluebirds fly, birds fly over the rainbow, why, oh, why can’t I?’ Insipid. But you have people just choking up when they hear her singing it. Everybody’s got an over-the-rainbow story, everybody wants to get out from under and wants…wants bluebirds flying around. And that’s why it’s so touching”.
Take a look at Judy Garland singing her iconic tune in The Wizard of Oz below and judge for yourself whether the slice of movie magic is indeed “insipid”.
