Customer Reviews (3)

I loved this book!!!
I loved this book.It was written with poetry (why didn't George Englund become a professional writer?) and love.His heart-felt feelings for his friend, Marlon Brando, at times brought tears to my eyes. As a woman I was touched by the bond of caring shared by these two men.This book does not show Marlon Brando as a "super hero" but as a human being with many faults and also shows that true friendship loves and understands in spite of those faults.

Although there are "gossipy" stories within this books pages, it isn't what makes this book stands out.This book is about a man.A human like all of us.And what it means to be a friend and be befriended.I recommend this book, highly along with "Songs My Mother Taught Me" to all Marlon Brando fans.Thank you, George Englund, for sharing your heart with us!

Interesting individual perspective on Brando.
I liked this book, but was not over-enthused.It is obviously a book written from one individual's point of view, and events in Brando's life are viewed through this prism.As a starter, I preferred Darwin Porter's Brando Unzipped. Lots of racy gossip and it took my breath away with details of the sheer scale of Brando's womanizing and 'manizing'! Richard Shickel's Brando is less racy but with a more broad-brushed approach.

The beginning of this book seems a little plodding, self-reverential, and a slightly distracting shift from the very late Brando to earlier episodes.But if you persist past the first 15-20 pages, there is an informative and sympathetic perspective on a truly mesmorizing life.

A Friend looks back
"Georgie", a contemporary and friend of Marlon's, looks back at many of their encounters and experiences together, over the last 40+ years. The story is framed by the time Marlon is already bedridden and succumbing to a rare lung disease. The reader gets a bit of insight into the actors life and his attitude to money, sex, friends, his father, understanding (rather non-understanding) of his dogs behavior, and finally death. Do not expect a biography by any means: much is "left out", e.g. his marriages, and other personal relationships, as well as much that would be connected to his profession as a famous actor. The author includes aspects of his own life. The book is well written, entertaining, in taste, honest, compassionate. ... Read more

Product Description
In the November 9, 1957 issue of The New Yorker, Truman Capote published a profile of Marlon Brando called "The Duke in His Domain" which turned out to be one of the last substantial interviews ever granted by the reclusive actor. Here, Capote's controversial interview comes alive with 87 photos, 13 in color, of the godfather of modern acting. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A fantastic overview of Marlon Brando's life and career!
What an incredible book...I am not usually in the habit of buying books,but I couldn't resist when I saw the cover!! I am a huge Marlon Brandofan...an understatement to say the least.I have been hooked since I firstwatched "A Streetcar Named Desire."I don't think that there hasbeen a more beautiful actor (and that even includes Paul Newman!) I havemanaged to get my hands on every Brando movie possible!! He had more thanjust a beautiful face though; there was a presence about him that was justmesmorizing! I get very upset when people speak of Brando's wasted talent,or what a sad joke his life has become..........we will always have hisfilms and portraits to cherish! As it was stated in his biography, theworld definitely "heard" from Marlon Brando! ... Read more

Product Description
Brando discusses many topics including acting, women, Native Americans and corporate America. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Excellent
Was hard to find, same interviewer that worked with Al Pacino on his book. Great intro and good conversations.

A Phenomenal Read!!!
I could not put the book, "Conversations With Brando," down once I began reading it. As a Marlon Brando devotee, I was so very pleased to open the book and find that the largest part of the book is composed of Marlon Brando's own words. I could have listened to this man talk all day long, every day of every week. And, in this book, he is at his incredible best -interesting, intelligent, witty, sensitive, idealistic, real, wise, inspirational, poignant, reflective, philosophical, poetic; humanitarian. I love his eccentric ways and I respect his principles of character - standing up for the causes of the voiceless in the world. I appreciate that he bowed to no one when the convictions of his heart and his conscience were at stake.

Most of all, when Marlon's children were in trouble, he made the kinds of sacrifices and suffered in ways that only a father whose children are his whole heart would have done.

What a beautiful man Marlon was and what an exemplary, praiseworthy piece of work Lawrence Grobel has done with "Conversations With Brando."

Interesting
This expanded on the PLAYBOY interview it's adapted from. Brando is a good storyteller, and tells some good stories in here. Grobel does preface the interview with phone call transcripts of him talking to Brando, and his secretary. And I know someone close to Brando, and some in the Brando camp felt some annoyance that Grobel taped the phone conversations without saying they were being taped. A bit presumptuous. But an interesting interview nonetheless.

As complicated & brilliant as its subject
The interview that this book is based on was conducted before Brando filmed "Superman" but I can't imagine that Brando has changedmuch since.Grobel shows his skills as an interviewer by originallyagreeing to only talk about the Native American cause with Brando buteventually teasing out anecdotes about acting, sex, stalkers, Brando'supbringing and much more.Grobel does not try to outsmart Brando, evenwhile he is trying to sneak in forbidden acting/movie questions.He faceshis subject head-on and when Brando chooses to speak about his hatedprofession, he is extremely entertaining.He shows Brando as a verycomplicated man who is hard to dislike - even if you don't agree with hispolitics, you come away from the book thinking that Brando is a charming,intelligent, thoughtful and super-talented individual who deserves all thepraise for his acting skills.This interview could be considered hisgreatest performance - it comes from the same honesty that he invested hisearly screen and stage characters with. ... Read more

Product Description
Part critique, part witty polemic, this revisiting of one of the 1960s' most tortured and misunderstood productions finds a flawed masterpiece that survived multiple writers (including Stanley Kubrick), an egomaniacal star with no previous directing experience, and a virulent critical reaction to become, in retrospect, a crucial rethinking of the Western genre. Included is an excerpt from a screenplay cowritten by Barry Gifford and James Hamilton that retools Brando's characters into the hapless inhabitants of a noir Old West. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The Horror!
This review refers to "Brando Rides Alone - A Reconsideration of the Film One-Eyed Jacks" by Barry Gifford

This is my 620th review. Of those 620 reviews, I believe I have only ever given a 1 star rating 3 other times. Two were for household products that didn't work as claimed, the other a classic film(that I loved) on a DVD transfer that was so bad, it ruined the film. Now here I am giving 1 star to a book, which I have never done, as I feel the Author's work and love of their story is always worth something. But to quote the author, who quotes Brando.."The Horror, The Horror!" Barry Gifford, uses this book to get fans of Brando's "One Eyed Jacks" to read his own mediocre screenplay("Black Sun Rising")..."THE HORROR!"

'A Reconsideration of the film One Eyed Jacks'..I don't THINK so Mr. Gifford. First we have some very short biographical info on the key players of OEJ. Anyone could have found this info at the Internet Movie Data Base. Finally we get to Part 2 titled "Brando Rides Alone". This is all of about 9 pages where Mr. Gifford, mostly talks about what other critics thought of the film when it first came out. The only statement Gifford makes that is remotely a consideration or response to the critics of the film is that(in speaking to finding art, even in a violent film), "In OEJ the violence is seldom sudden;neither is it inexplicable" DUH! I think anyone who is a fan of this film has probably viewed it many times... are you telling us something new Mr Gifford?

And so goes the first 37 pages of the book. The rest of the book, which is an "Epilogue" is Gifford's Western screenplay that he wrote with James Hamilton. The "epilogue" is 45 pages. More time then he gives to Brando or the one film that Brando fans can savour as his only directoral effort.

The reason I am going only one star, is because I felt duped into reading this. I am a big fan of the film. Brando does a wonderful directing job, and uses the beautiful California coastline as a character in the film(Gifford does make mention of this).I really thought I would read more on the filming of OEJ. I don't think Mr. Gifford told me any more then I would have learned by simply watching Robert Osborne's(who is always informative and entertaining) intro to the film on TCM.

A little more effort on the author's part, to actually discuss this film with it's fans, and MAYBE it 'coulda been a contendah!'

Laurie

Basically worthless and self indulgent
I love the movie "One Eyed Jacks." I've seen it a dozen or more times, and had the good fortune to attend a screening in 1972 with the composer, who provided a lot of insight into the film's making, post production and history (none of his stories or anecdotes are included here).I therefore had great anticipation for this book.It turns out, the book is basically a padded-out excuse for the author to include a portion of his own unfinished western screenplay, as if anyone would care, and to vent about the critics that gave the film bad reviews.The amount of information actually about the film would fill less than a chapter of a normal sized book, and this is NOT a normal sized book -- it's a slight whisp of a book, with double spaced type and lots of blank space.There's not much new or unique in here about "One Eyed Jacks" that you haven't seen in a decent biography of Brando, Peckinpah or Kubrick.So save your money and save your time -- this book is a waste of both. ... Read more

Product Description
Robert Sellers traces the intertwining lives and careers of movie mavericks Brando, Hopper, Beatty and Nicholson in this remarkable follow-up to the acclaimed Hellraisers.

"I don't know what people expect when they meet me. They seem to be afraid that I'm going to piss in the potted palm and slap them on the ass." —Marlon Brando

"I should have been dead ten times over. I believe in miracles. It's an absolute miracle that I'm still around." —Dennis Hopper

"The best time to get married is noon. That way, if things don't work out, you haven't blown the whole day." — Warren Beatty

"You only lie to two people in your life: your girlfriend and the police." —Jack Nicholson

They're the baddest bad asses Hollywood has ever seen: Marlon Brando, Dennis Hopper, Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson. These are men for whom rules did not apply, men for whom normal standards of behaviour were simply too wearisome to worry about. These are men who brawled, boozed, snorted and shagged their way into legend-hood — but along the way they changed acting and the way movies were made forever.

Hollywood Hellraisers is a whistle-stop tour of jaw-dropping sexual activity, misbehaviour of an Olympic standard, all-out excess and genuine madness. It's a wonder Hollywood survived. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

doubtful accuracy
This looked like a fun read and I enjoyed it for a while. However, the author includes many stories which are apocryphal at best and quite often out and out fiction, such as his claim that Hedy Lamarr had liaisons with Hitler and Mussolini. Can't recommend a nonfiction book which veers so far towards fiction

Any library strong in Hollywood personalities will find this inviting
HOLLYWOOD HELLRAISERS: THE WILD LIVES AND FAST TIMES OF MARLON BRANDO, DENNIS HOPPER, WARREN BEATTY, AND JACK NICHOLSON provides a fine biographical coverage of four of Hollywood's baddest boys, describing the lively adventures of Hollywood celebrities whose misdeeds were legendary. Their personal lives were ribald and dangerous - but in their professional worlds they succeeded in changing acting and how movies were made. Any library strong in Hollywood personalities will find this inviting.

Another Look At Bad Boys Hollywood Style
First off, this book and its predecessor were rec'd via a friend who I swap books with. I don't think I would have purchased either. Like HELLRAISERS, this book supposedly takes on legendary Hollywood bad boys known as much for their lifestyles as their movie work. Part of the premise is that these fellas are notorious rascals who wallow in general bad living. No doubt about it, none of them are/were angels. However, I'm not sure they are worthy of a book that is dedicated largely to their slimey behavior. Like the first book, there is biographical information coupled with anecdotes supporting the book's basic premise. While interesting, the sameness of the stories actually got boring after a while. Objectively, I probably should not have read both books in rapid succession becausde my general enthusiasm was waning after the first book. Taking this into account, this is an interesting book and worth a look if you like these fly-on-the-wall escapades. However, if you are interested in Jack Nicholson, Marlon Brando, Dennis Hopper, or Warren Beatty, you'd probably be better off reading individual biographies which might be more enlightening. This book o.k., but it got boring fast.

Life, Love and Inebriation
Robert Sellers turns his examination of bad behavior from England's bad boys to Hollywood's. They are Marlon Brando, Dennis Hopper, Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson. They all have lived lives of excess, in money, and women. Beatty seems to have spurned the drug and alcohol route, but the three others certainly didn't and all of those stories are told in the 7 chapters of this book. Each man is covered in recounting their early life, how they arrived in Hollywood, the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, and 90's. Brando's death is dealt with, but this book was written before Hopper's death.
Each man showed signs of bad behavior at a very young age, Brando had to be led to kindergarten on a leash so that he would not run away. Dennis snorted gasoline on his grandparent's farm before he was 10. Warren set off fire alarms and dumped neighbor's trash on their lawns. Jack misbehaved so much in school he had to stay after every day. They all escalated from those younger years.
Their `missions' in life are covered; Brando's many causes, Beatty's politics, Hopper's involvement taking pictures at Civil Rights marches, Jack and Dennis' art collections.Some of their friendships will surprise you; such as Marlon's deep abiding one with Wally Cox.

Their acting talent is undeniable, but the stories of their actions on set makes one wonder how great they were that directors and other actors would put up with their deeds. You want to laugh and enjoy this behavior, but cringe at the same time of page after page of out of control living. You'll wonder most of all how they got away with it.

There is really no depth into their personal thoughts and many of the stories have been previously published in biographies other and sources.By the end of this reading their bad behavior overwhelms any thoughts of their acting abilities. That anyone would work with them is still a marvel left unexplained, except we are told that they are magnificent actors. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Joyfully Inaccurate Account of Brando's Life
If you want an accurate account of Marlon Brando's life, look elsewhere.Anna Kashfi Brando had psychological/emotional issues, and it seems very likely that they distorted her view of reality.She also possessed very strong feelings for Brando, and her book often seems unable to look past her biases.It is impossible to take anything she says at face value.

I noted, in particular, that she only ever suggests that her memory is poor when she is describing those days on which her behavior was the worst!

But for all of that, this book was INCREDIBLY fun to read.It's Marlon Brando, larger than life, from the point of view of his crazy ex-wife!This book provides intimate details of Brando's life.Although these details can't be trusted as genuine, they nonetheless provide a fascinating image of the man.When you discover how someone's disturbed ex-wife views him, you really learn something about him!

Anna Kashfi Brando is smart, but she is also all over the place.Her book includes a plethora of strange images, psycho-babble, and literary references.For me, this made the book all the more entertaining.It is further proof that Brando married and spent much of his life interacting with a very peculiar, troubled lady.

Much of the book focuses on Anna Kashfi's legal battles with her ex-husband, concerning their son, Christian Devi.These sections, which might otherwise be fairly dry, seem particularly interesting in light of the story of Christian's later life.This book was written before Christian Devi committed manslaughter, and so it doesn't describe that gruesome scene.But, knowing about this later incident, it was interesting and disturbing to read about how his parents interacted both in and out of court.

I recommend this book, not as an accurate biography, but as a very entertaining read!

"Brando for Breakfast" not quite "my cup of tea"
This could have earned five stars.The beginning is a page-turner, a passionate tribute and introduction to one of the most magnetic screen personalities ever.The subject is a show-stopper, and the voluminousdetail is of the kind that only a wife could relate and only an ex-wifewould want to.

Unfortunately, the book's assets also create itsproblems.The story flow constantly stops dead in its tracks like across-country local train, side-tracking with minutiae such as moviecredits and peripheral details that should have been put into footnotes,and eventually by particularly arcane foreign phrases and literaryallusions that would need a scholar to decipher, where plain English wouldhave been appreciated; her intelligence came through without the intrusiveaffectations.After the whirlwind start I ended up forcing myself tofinish the book, hoping for just one more outrageous anecdote or thoughtfulopinion, and yes these materialized, but then the story stopped dead yetagain.Anna Brando was so caught up in the emotions of their relationshipthat she kept forgetting to tell a coherent story.There is no comparisonwith "Mommie Dearest."Christina Crawford remembers to tell herstory.Anna Kashfi Brando's "Brando for Breakfast" sounds morelike a divorce lawyer's case notes, full of meat but, in the end, not atale.This is a book that should have had an index. I will keep my copyjust for the very personal anecdotes with the ring of truth in how sheremembers them but never, ever to read cover-to-cover again. ... Read more

Product Description
In his last years, America's leading playwright,Tennessee Williams, often threatened to publish a 'black book' describing the darker side of show business as he experienced it. Knowing he would not have time to complete it in his lifetime, he asked author Bruce Smith to write his personal memoirs of his years as Mr. Williams media and personal manager. That book is COSTLY PERFORMANCES/ Tennessee Williams: The Last Stage. It is now scheduled as a major motion picture release in 2005, starring Derek Jacobi as Tennessee Williams and Kevin Anderson as the author. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The Kindness of a Stranger...Who Became a Friend
What is most striking about this book is its lack of sentimentality and incisive, sharp language.There has, indeed, been much written about Tennessee Williams, perhaps too much; the endless nonsense of his being a self-hating homosexual, the lurid tales of his promiscuity, the alleged Oedipal complexes, the temper tantrums and paranoia, and other such twaddle have all obfuscated many essential things about the genius who was Tennessee Williams.This excellent book stands out because it reminds us of Mr. Williams' power -as a person and a playwright- and at the same time it is not sycophantic nor is it cleverly bitchy.Smith, the author, meets Williams rather by accident and the unlikely friendship blossoms.I found the writing to be rather enthralling, evocative, and extremely well-crafted, which allows it to stand apart from many of the other (lesser) books on Williams.It is a memoir and does not purport to be anything but that, which allows the reader a keen insight into the life and work and humanity of the great Tennessee Williams.Because it is told from Smith's eyes the recounting of these stories is deeply personal and often effervescent with images and ideas; a far cry from the mawkish, self-consumed memoirs that pass as literature these days.I also liked the fact that Smith names some names and makes clear the case that the critics, PR people, and the various 'powers that be' in the theater and film worlds (i.e. agents, lawyers, producers) all played their part in Williams' miserable and protracted demise as much as the alcohol and pills did.And while Smith does not exculpate Williams from his vices he carefully explains why, he in fact, had them, and elucidates the nefarious forces constantly in conflict with the artist and his creative process.

Make no mistake this is Mr. Smith's story of his friendship with Tennessee, and thank goodness for its uniqueness, honesty, and edge.I think to truly appreciate this book one has to be familiar with serious writing (Eliot, Shaw) and not the Pop pap that sadly passes for publishable literature today.COSTLY PERFORMANCES and its author are both class acts and any writer or artist or person with a soul or fan of Tennessee Williams will love this book.


PS
The comment about grammatical errors is totally wrong and unfounded.And the Braun woman; who is she?"The author needed distance"?If she works in a library, how does she not know what a memoir is, and what the first person POV narrative offers the reader?These types of hit jobs are precisely the type of aforementioned `nefarious forces' to which I referred.

This is a valuable theatrical memoir
I am a young actor living in London where the plays of Tennesssee Williams are experiencing a great deal of interest within the entire theatre community: schools and universities;theatre companies; theatre media. All fans of his work are turning to background material on Williams and one of the most discussed -- and admired -- is Costly Performances/Tennessee Williams: The Last Stage by Bruce Smith.Mr Smith has, since writing this memoir, become actively involved in London's theatre world, saying he learned "at the master's hand" many enduring and valuable lessons re dramaturgy, play production and, more importantly, playwriting. His play 'Papal Gore' is scheduled for a West End staging. As well, his book about Mr. Williams is now being made into a major motion picture here in England. Real theatre people understand the sensitivity Mr. Smith brought to his portrayal of Mr Williams in his last, very difficult years and value it as a real contribution to 20th Century theatre history. It is highly literate but -- above all -- a very good read. This book, with Lyle Leverich's
The Unknown Tennessee Williams and the gossipy The Kindness of Strangers by Donald Spoto provide an indepth look at the author's life and times. ... Read more