Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1962)

Aewpoiats MAY 14, 1962 / VOLUME 30, NO. 10 An Open Letter to Marlon Brando Mr. Marlon Brando Hollywood, Cal. Dear Mr. Brando: This is in no way intended to impugn ^our talent or to diminish your stature as one of the finest actors in motion pictures, but it does seem high time someone suggested to you that you have an obligation to the industry which has brought you such world-wide fame and acclaim, rather inordinate wealth. It appears, from various remarks attributed to you in the press, that your ethical standards do not include a sense of loyalty to this business. And, lest you I promptly draw the cloak of Thespis around yourself and refuse to tarnish your noble profession with discussion of crass commercialism, let us hasten to point out that motion pictures are as much industry as art. It is an entrepreneur who initiates the enterprise that emerges as a movie, and the elements that go into the filming are many and varied. Surely, your experience should have made you well aware of this, yet one gets the impression that all of the factors — from investor to director — are as naught compared to the actor. We have particular reference to a careless and capricious comment put into your mouth by a Hollywood columnist recently. It referred to the production of "Mutiny on the Bounty", on which Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has expended some $20 million, including, we understand, approximately one million dollars in salary for you. In reply i to a rumor that the firm wanted you back for re-takes on the film you were reported having said: "It'll be a cold day in hell before they get me to go through any of that again." Such an outburst of displeasure with an enormously costly and important production is not only an unfair airing | of reported personal differences that should have been left on location, but a rather dismal display of business acumen. This kind of back-of-the-hand talk for public consumption can only serve to damage your reputation both within and without the industry — and, consequently, weaken your financial position — and, at the same time, injure the company which gambled on the project. Even after you viewed a rough finished product of "Mutiny" you casually tossed off over a year of filming by saying it looked "pretty good." Is that the very best observation you could make about this production into which so much money and talent have been poured, and, which, incidentally, we hear from good sources, is an outstanding piece of movie-making? It has, after all, been companies like M-G-M that have been extremely generous to you, financially and through the fame they have allowed you to gain by appearing on the screen. For by your own admission, you enjoy very much the fruits of your career. As you told one columnist: "As lives or professions go — if you're successful — acting is one of the best professions from any aspect that a person can have. I don't have to work hard. I can go where I want to go, meet anyone I want to meet from Nehru to the Emperor's brother." You decry time and again the failure of the industry to recognize the value of the actor. No one denies the LLETIN Film BULLETIN: Motion Picture Trade Paper published every other Monday by Wax Publications, Inc. Mo Wax, Editor and Publisher. PUBLICATION-EDITORIAL OFFICES: 123? Vine Street, Philadelphia 7, Pa., LOcust 8-09STI, 0951. Philip R. Ward, Associate Editor; Leonard Coulter, New York Associate Editor; Berne Schneyer, Publication Manager; Max Garelick, Business Manager; Robert Heath, Circulation Manager. BUSINESS OFFICE: 550 Fifth Avenue, New York 36, N. Y., Circle 5-0124; Ernest Shapiro, N.Y. Editorial Representative. Subscription Rates: ONE YEAR, $3.00 in the U. S.; Canada, $4.00; Europe, $5.00. TWO YEARS $5.00 in the U. S.; Canada, Europe, $9.00. importance of the performer in the making of a film, but remember that the story source is a crucial factor, as is the screenplay, the direction, the camerawork, the editing — and, oh yes, the money to put it all together and get the finished film out into the market, where the public can see it and express its approval or disapproval. Countless decisions are made by businessmen who are bold gamblers — and must have a strong appreciation of the artistic if they are to be successful. Perhaps your own experience in producing, directing and starring in "OneEyed Jacks" is the best example of the danger inherent in selling short your contemporaries in other phases of the business. The 'way-out-of-line cost of the picture, the fact that it left something to be desired from an artistic standpoint and its rather cool reception by the public all suggest that it might have been better to leave the production, directing and writing to people who specialize in those endeavours. For despite your continual criticism of the way the business is run, those who run it are far better suited to do so than you — and have been running it with some notable success for many years. What we urge, Mr. Brando, is a change in your attitude toward motion pictures. Is it that difficult to feel a sense of responsibility to and consideration for the industry that has brought you so much? We do not suggest that you become a tub-thumper for the business at large or for the particular film in which you work. We ask only that you call a halt to the constant carping, snide indications of a lack of respect for the movie business as a whole. It only demeans you and your role in filmdom, and, frankly, neither of you deserves it. Yours sincerely, Film BULLETIN Film BULLETIN May 14. 1962 Page 7