The Godfather: Hero for all times

IT is not just a group of American film experts who voted Marlon Brando’s Don Corleone in the film The Godfather as the greatest-ever movie role. Actor Anupam Kher has a large portrait of Marlon Brando as Don Corleone in his office. "Brando is my all-time hero," he told me. "And Don Corleone was the pinnacle of his career." The role resurrected Brando’s sagging career and fetched him thez Oscar for Best Actor in 1972.

Brando’s amazing natural talent was discovered and nurtured by brilliant directors like Stanley Kramer and Elia Kazan and resulted in a series of outstanding films in the 1950’s like A Streetcar Named Desire, Viva Zapata, Julius Caesar, The Wild One and On the Water Front which fetched him his first Oscar. But it was not all smooth sailing for Brando. He became a victim of Hollywood’s star system and the ruthlessness of studio bosses, and was forced to act in terrible films. Brando became a rebel, delayed shootings which resulted in costs shooting up, put on weight and producers shied away from him. After a decade of flops and mediocre films, The Godfather and the controversial Last Tango in Paris put him back on the list of immortals.

In retrospect, Brando’s portrayal of Terry Malloy, the slow-witted, heroic prize fighter in On the Waterfront was as good as any other role he had essayed, fetching him the 1954 Best Actor Oscar. Why then was the role of Don Corleone superior? For one, Brando had aged, the youthful exuberance of Waterfront could not be revived and his career had taken a disappointing plunge. Producers were unwilling to risk him in their films. He needed an extraordinary role and script. The Godfather provided both.

Novelist Mario Puzo was certain he had authored an outstanding book in The Godfather. When proposals to film the book began to arrive he had this to say, "There is only one actor who can play the Godfather. That is Marlon Brando." Director Francis Ford Coppola concurred but the bosses at Paramount studios were adamant. . No Brando, please, insisted the studio bosses who pointed out that an earlier film on the Mafia, The Brotherhood starring Kirk Douglas, had flopped.

Coppola would not give up. Brando, having read the book, was interested. In the presence of the director, he began to assume the character of Don Corleone. A thin mustache, blond hair blackened, dark make up under the eyes, stuffed tissues under the cheeks for a jowly look. Brando put on a frayed jacket and shirt, a well-worn tie and adjusted the shirt collar so that it extended outside the shirt. He lit a thin cigarette. No words were spoken. The Brando shoulders began to sag, the belly became extended and the face took on a waxed appearance. Brando had changed into Don Corleone. When the phone rang, he picked up the receiver and took it slowly to his ear. He listened, nodded slowly and then replaced the receiver without saying a word. The party at the other end heard nothing but the breathing of an old man.

An amazed Coppola filmed the sequence and used it to win over the Doubting Thomases at Paramount. Brando charmed them with assurances, "I want to play this role. I’ll work for it, work hard. It’s going to be something special for me." During a working holiday in England with Coppola, Brando discussed the nuances of the role and also backed his choice for supporting roles, particularly that of Al Pacino as Micheal Corleone.

When shooting began, rehearsals with Brando drew a crowd. He spoke more clearly on being told that at times he mumbled. To his credit, the great actor had understood the philosophy behind the book and the film. In a magazine interview, Brando explained, "I don’t think the film is about the Mafia at all. It is about the corporate mind. Don Corleone is just another American business magnate who is trying to do the best he can for the group he represents. Corleone’s tactics were no different from those used by General Motors against Ralph Nader, the consumer activist."

Having understood the significance of the script, it was easy for Brando to identify himself with Corleone’s character and thinking. He introduced several little touches which increased the film’s impact. In one scene he uttered two phrases, "After all, we are not murderers `85`85 in spite of what the undertaker says." In between the two phrases, Don Corleone paused to inhale the fragrance of a rose. It was a brilliant touch. Finding a supporting actor not up to the mark in a crucial scene, Brando, who was supposed to slap him, hit him really hard. The shocked actor reacted with astonishment and rose to the occasion.

At his death scene caused by a heart attack in the presence of a young grandson, the actor found the boy actor not registering the proper emotions of horror. Brando put orange peels under his lips to make him look like a movie monster and the boy actor responded with the right amount of horror.

Brando enjoyed playing Corleone and the Mafia background because he could associate these with the political situation in the USA. A true liberal, Brando was impressed with a key phrase in the story. When someone wanted to kill someone else, it was always a "matter of policy and nothing personal".

According to the great actor, this was the approach of US President Lyndon Johnson and his key cabinet members like Robert McNamara and Dean Rusk. Today, the same policy is being followed by President George Bush and his lackeys like Donald Rumsfeld. Killings come easier to them than to the Mafia.

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