Sunday, May 27, 2007

Brando


Okay, one more thing. This is the kind of thought cluster that can only go on the "blog." It's what "blogs" were made for. So, it occurs to me that Brando has been the subtext of the "blog" lately. First the Stanley reference, then the mention of Fletcher Christian (who Brando once played) and Sheri Joseph on Underdog. Here's the Underdog connection: In the 1950s, Marlon Brando's Greenwich Village roommate was Wally Cox, who later did the voice of Underdog. Several years ago, when people were making films like ED WOOD and that one about Andy Kaufman, Mr. Ward and I had the idea of a movie called MARLON AND WALLY. It was to star (though they never knew this!) Vincent D'Onofrio and David Hyde Pierce. I feel okay talking about it now, because those guys are the only two who could have pulled it off, and now we'd need a time machine to make it happen. But it's interesting to think about the way the careers of Brando and Cox went. Both started out trying something different (Wally Cox was an experimental, anecdotal, confessional stand-up comedian who wasn't going for the typical laughs), and both ended up isolated and seemingly sad (maybe the movie would have started with latter-day Marlon Brando on his island, eating cobbler and watching Wally Cox on the Hollywood Squares) - but their images and achievements were so vastly different. Yes, our imaginary movie would be about a certain temperament, I suppose, and how it messed up Wally Cox as much or worse than it did Marlon Brando despite the perceived gulf between them, personally and artistically, so what does that mean? Man, it sounds boring! But I'm glad I got it off my chest. Thanks, "blogging"! Speaking of which, I may have gotten some of these facts wrong, but who cares? This is a "blog"!