Marlon Brando might be best known for his role inThe Godfather,but he has another Oscar-winning performance that has aged better for the actor. Brando was widely considered one of Hollywood’s greatest stars, a man who popularized method acting.His role as Don Vito Corleoneremains one of the best in gangster movie history.
However,Brando earned an Oscar nomination years beforethis for a different movie, although it was a more personal drama. Brando starred inA Streetcar Named Desire,based on Tennessee Williams’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Now, almost 75 years later, that movie remains one ofMarlon Brando’s best performances.
Why Marlon Brando’s A Streetcar Named Desire Performance Is Better Than The Godfather
A Streetcar Named Desirewas about a Southern belle named Blanche who was dealing with a stressful situation and moved in with her sister Stella. However, Stella’s husband,Stanley, is a crude and arrogant man who openly mocks Blanche, and their antagonistic relationship drives this story.
Marlon Brando plays Stanley, an unlikable and cruel man, and someone who is very different from Don Corleone. Instead of the honorable man who will deal harshly with people who wrong him, like he did inThe Godfather,he is a mean man who lashes out at the weak and innocent around him.
Stanley is violent. He physically abuses his wife, emotionally abuses his sister-in-law, and in the most shocking moment of the movie, he sexually assaults Blanche while his wife is giving birth to their child.Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando were a perfect matchfor the conflict in the movie, and the film received four Oscar nominations for acting.
Shockingly,Marlon Brando was the only one of the four actors who didn’t win an Oscar, losing to Humphrey Bogart inThe African Queen.However, even with the loss, Brando showed in this performance why he remains so acclaimed as an actor, delivering a passionate performance and always aware of his purpose in a scene.
InThe Godfather,Marlon Brando was mainly a stationary figure, the man who pulled the strings and ran his empire from his home. While still a masterful performance,A Streetcar Named Desirehad him even more active, lashing out at those around him and proving a destructive force who doesn’t care who he hurts.
A Streetcar Named Desire & The Godfather Highlight The Range Of Brando’s Acting Career
Marlon Brando earned eight Oscar nominationsover his career, all for Best Actor, until 1989, when he earned his first Best Supporting Actor nomination. He won forOn the WaterfrontandThe Godfather, both of which were masterful performances.A Streetcar Named Desirestands up well with both of those movies.
InThe Godfather,Brando showed his calm demeanor, but still dominated every scene in which he appeared. He would quietly deliver his lines, but with enough intensity to make everything he said mean something. InA Streetcar Named Desire,he lashed out, yelled, and exploded in the scenes, a very different performance.
Marlon Brando delivered varied performances throughout his career, whether in crime dramas likeOn the Waterfront,where he was a beaten man, or erotic dramas likeLast Tango in Paris,where he delivered a late-era sexual performance. InThe GodfatherandA Streetcar Named Desire,he showed the range that made him a star.
