Marlon Brando’s performance in On the Waterfront won him an Oscar, but surprisingly, he did not like his film’s Italian premiere and walked out mid-screening. A book about the Italian film industry of the 1950s, written by an American couple living in Rome at the time, shared insights about Hollywood’s famous Angry Young Man.
According to the book, the actor was enraged to learn that his voice was dubbed by an Italian actor for the local version. His agent recalled Brando “staggering” as if he was having a heart attack and whisked him out of the theater. “I’m an actor, not a ventriloquist’s dummy… You feel like a goddamn freak in a side show. Why didn’t anyone prepare me?” Brando said.
According to the book, the actor – who had gone to a nearby bar – was repeatedly asked to return to the theater for the film’s climax. He returned at the end of the film and acknowledged the support and appreciation he had received.
According to The Guardian, couple Hank Kaufman and Jean Lerner visited the city in 1953 and befriended the stars. They died in 2012 and 2004 respectively, but their roles as unsung movers and shakers of the industry are now being recognized.
An English translation of his memoir Hollywood on the Tiber would soon be released, while the Italian copy was published in 1982. Paul Cronin will publish an English translation of the treasured Italian book with Sticking Place Books as publisher. Speaking to The Guardian, the publishing house teased that the translated memoir is like “La Dolce Vita meets Call Me”.
