Ignition & Heartblood

Reflections Of A Golden Heart

Marlon Brando preferred to retire in his apartment in a quieter part of Los Angeles.

Beverly Glen wasn't located too far away from the city; nevertheless close to nature, it was the ideal place to devote himself to his only true love: Acting.

To empathize with the improvisation of a scene was his thing. When his reflection recited script texts from a scene to himself through a mirror, he looked into his face with an expression, like: I want self-determination!

He had a magic touch to put his special stamp on a moment. And Marlon's moments were golden.

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Mostly, the unconventional thinker turned all text passages upside down, anyway - thereby, it didn't bother him that he caused a lot of indignation.

Towards those opponents, he showed his contempt, which often led them to the young lion's den.

A casual and warm-hearted humorous side to him was known only by the few people in whose company he felt comfortable and safe. 

Hollywood's society didn't number among; Brando boycotted this goldmine.

From his point of view, alliances were forged among their peers, most of it was in Jewish hands anyway - He refused inequalities and fame.

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He wasn't the 'dazzler' that people often thought he was, he hid his core behind a facade. What Marlon saw in acting was more than a craft that required his self-criticism and knowledge of human nature. Acting was a helping hand to get him through the stuggles of life.

It was important for him to internalize a role to the point that one didn't talk with the actor off camera, but with his character he would be playing soon.

There, where the ego dissolved for the liveliness of his character, his magic began..

24 Hours Workoholic?

Playing a sequence 60 times in a row without any loss of his performance?

That was Marlon Brando's gold standard.

---

This genius also knew how Sinatra, in turn, scorned repeating takes.

The other day on the set, Marlon was driving him nuts..

Eight takes. Eight pieces of cheesecake - and all because of this guy, something and a self-critical moron named Brando. How would you, if you please, manage to absorb a whole bunch of cheesecake in eight takes in a row?  He would have liked best to clap Marlon's face with it - would have looked better on him anyway.

To drive the singer finally mad (that rascal didn't even want to give him singing lessons!) Marlon missed his own parts on purpose.  Well, when giants collided, only the director had a good laugh.

---

How do you think James Dean would have reacted?

Jimmy would probably have left the set without telling anybody; possibly he would have barricaded himself in an art museum to be inspired by the impressive work of Picasso or the masterly art of Edouard Manet - as it had been the case during Rebel - exactly that role which Brando had rejected despite the salary.

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Apart from Marlon's authentic and frighteningly harsh character, he was a social person.

His social engagement became even more apparent later in his career. He dedicated himself to the weaker or oppressed members of this world - because he did not understand how people could judge human qualities just because of their race. Partly it went so far that Marlon preferred animals to humans. Animals do not judge..  He later named his daughter Cheyenne after the Indian patron saint of wild animals. 

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Now back to our story.

James felt like home, when he spotted Marlon's hifi, which was surrounded by a whole record collection. Not to forget, those bongo- and conga drums, which looked like they'd just been awaiting to be played..

James smiled silently. Was the music as important for Marlon as for himself?

He could have bet on that..

In fact mother Dody had suggested music to her three children at an early age and liked to sing songs for them.  You have to look at the title of Marlon's later autobiography:

Songs My Mother Taught Me.

The love for music remained but today it was Charlie Parker and Miles Davis who now fascinated him.

A large, even library-esque bookshelf shed a different light on an intelligent world star, who didn't consider himself the most educated man in the world.

Since he neither had studied nor had a degree himself, Marlon tried to compensate his ignorance of his life with all kinds of world literature.

Where do you get this patience from, Marlon?

James looked at their titles with devotion and admitted to himself, as a restless contemporary, that he, at first, would have rattled their gatefolds.  He would certainly have searched through all the chapters for the most important contents, just to be able to discuss about them.  No, he would have put a tome of this caliber back in his bookshelf, just after he would had grasped a subject and its meaning. His interest in a theme usually vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

Watching James, as he thoughtfully inspected one cover after another and finally stopped in front of the National Geographic volume on Cuba, filled Marlon's soul with joy.

"It's for sure one of the most beautiful places on earth.. and next year i'm travelling there."

He let his gaze wander and sent his thoughts on a journey.

"Yeah, guess Cuba would be the perfect place for a nonconformist like me.."

James took his eyes off the book and lowered his glance down at his feet, imagined travelling far, far away from that glamour Hollywood. Even if it glittered.. it wasn't gold.

"I want to see the world.. more than anything. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of Hollywood, at all."

---

When he raised his eyes again, he found Marlon right in front of him. His presence hit James right in the heart.

Had he just revealed too much of himself..?

With his hands deep in his pockets, James turned his back to him shyly.

Yes, he wasn't easy to understand.. so easily hurt. Marlon knew from the first time they met.

"Humanity, in Cuba, in Paris, yeah, even my hometown understands what that means."

Marlon put his right hand on James' left shoulder and sighed,

"Once you turn your back on Hollywood, they nail you. You can be their marionette, black on white, 'til you're sitting on a pile of candy, gathering thick layers of.. of crust."

He felt his anger inside himself, he didn't hide it.

"And who knows, where the people will be you cared for."

He lowered his gaze, as James Dean turned to him again.

"Maybe right here."

"Yeah, maybe.."

James' right index finger carefully pointed to Marlon's chest,

"Maybe.. right here."

"Oh.. and right here.."

James' eyes closed. He felt his hands on his face like an embrace, to enjoy Marlon's expectful kiss in it's whole intensity.

The essential wasn't visible to the eye -
One only saw clearly with one's heart.