Meet Marlon Brando (1966)

So much average

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

"Meet Marlon Brando" is a black-and-white documentary from 1966, so this one has its 50th anniversary this year. The directors were Albert and David Maysles (brothers, a while before their Oscar nomination) and the uncredited Charlotte Zwerin. This little movie runs for slightly under half an hour and shows several excerpts of interviews with Marlo Brando. As the title tells us already, this is a more personal take on things. Brando is there to speak about his new movie "Morituri", but he is not really in the mood and, instead, tries to make a more personal, maybe even romantic, connection with some of the female interviewers, all of them very stunning, one even a Miss USA beauty contest winner. Obviously, Brando has difficulties to focus on his film in that scenario of who interviews him. And apart from these scenes, there is also some talk between Brando and male interviewers, but this is also not really about the film, but more on a personal note about other stuff. So yeah, if you really want to find out about the Oscar-nominated "Morituri", then this is not worth seeing for you as you basically find out nothing about it apart from the fact that Brando plays a German and a decent snippet of background information on director Bernhard Wicki. But if you want to find out about the private person that Brando was, then this is exactly what you want to see. A somewhat different little documentary and set of interviews. I recommend the watch as I was well--entertained, but I also need to say that the runtime was perfect as at 1 hour or even more, this may have started to become repetitive and drag perhaps.

Meet Marlon Brando (1966) **** (out of 4) Terrific documentary covering Marlon Brando's 1965 press junket for the film Morituri, which has the actor sitting in a hotel lobby and answering questions from various reporters. In my opinion Brando was the greatest actor to ever grace the movie screen and he was also one of the most fascinating people to listen to. He has several interviewers asking him questions ranging from various subjects including his films, Civil Rights, the American Indian and other social issues and it's great to see how he tackles these various subjects. Needless to say, he's really not interested in talking about his movies or what a great actor he is. He certainly doesn't do his film any justice as he either doesn't want to talk about it or throws mild insults at it. The real charm is seeing how Brando talks to the reporter depending on whether they're female or male. With the male reporters he doesn't really take them too serious and blows off the majority of their questions. With the females, he turns on that classic charm and spends most of the interview flirting with them. This makes for some great laughs and it's easy to see why the women would fall to their feet for him. The film runs 25-minutes and there's not a boring moment anywhere in it and it's a shame there couldn't have been more to see.

the most vivid memory I have of this film is when one interviewer turns out to be this just absurdly beautiful woman, imagine like Faye dunaway in "the Thomas crown affair" she is also impeccably done up, stylishly dressed and coiffed, a real vision, and Marlon Brando can barely keep a straight face at the absurdity of this total boner giving lady trying to ask him questions it really is adorable. also I remember a funny part in which he plays very straight saying that audiences should go see the picture to make up their own minds about it, with a glint of humor so that you get the idea he's not about to express his perhaps less than ravished feelings about the film itself. he is totally brilliant and I also I believe he was very likely flying high on amphetamines given the film's vintage and the symptoms displayed! hopefully this will come as a DVD extra or something . . . cause it's very short, would be perfect as one. . .

***SPOILERS AHEAD***A half-hour documentary featuring Marlon Brando on a press tour for one of his films. Marlon's really Mr. Personality in this movie: he's witty, personable, intelligent--you can see how he got so famous. One reporter comments that he's hardly the typical "ugly American." He even speaks French! Brando's political concerns also come to the fore; he comments briefly on the plight of the American Indian, and--during an interview conducted in the street--grabs a black woman nearby to get her opinion on racism and the U.S. government. Worth watching, if you can find it.