Marlon Brando: A Portrait

I thought the book, "Marlon Brando: A Portrait," by Paul Ryan was well written and really very interesting. Although there was high praise for Marlon Brando throughout the book, there was also criticism. I found most of the criticisms of Mr. Brando to be undue and unfounded. The photograph of Marlon Brando on page 187 of the book is one I had never seen before. It is also one that instantly brought me to tears. It is the photograph of a good and sensitive man in his darkest, most desperate hour. Anguish is written all over his face. There were those who said Marlon was "just acting" as he sat on the witness stand at his son's trial, but I strongly disagree. Marlon was a father who loved his children with the whole of his heart and protected them in all of the ways a loving father protects his children. When he learned that his son would have to spend time in prison, he went to great lengths to try to ensure his son's well being in every way possible and he stood by his son through thick and thin, just as a father who loves his child would. At the same time, he was dealing with a suicidal daughter, one who ultimately came to take her own life despite Marlon's efforts to help her and to protect her from herself. It is unbelievable to me that Marlon would be accused of "acting" in this situation as if, just because he was an actor, he did not have real feelings, especially for his children. Regarding Kenneth Anger's comments included in this book, I find them to be heartless and inhumane. What drives a person to such cruelty toward a fellow human being who is so clearly anguishing? I hope Mr. Anger had opportunity to rethink his comments and that he did so. I believe that Marlon was the best among all actors because he was such a deep-feeling, deep-thinking, sensitive person inside. I think that anyone who can criticize him in the ways he has been criticized could not possibly have seen beyond their own noses when it came to looking at him for the person he was. I was glad to see that the author of this book, Paul Ryan, included aspects of Marlon Brando's life on and off of the stage/screen and that the book was a well balanced piece of work. I disagreed with the author (and with Marlon) that Marlon could not do comedy, though. He cracked me up in "A Countess From Hong Kong," "Bedtime Story," and in "Guys and Dolls" when he ordered "Dulce Du Leche" with the "preservative" called "Bacardi" for Sister Sarah who became unwittingly intoxicated. I also had some good laughs watching Marlon in "The Freshman" and in "Free Money" as well as in some of the scenes in "Mutiny on the Bounty," including the scene in which Marlon Brando's character, Fletcher Christian, is told by Trevor Howard's character, Captain Bligh, to "make love to that damn daughter of his," referring to King Hiti Hiti's daughter, and Fletcher, who would love to "make love to that damn daughter" of King Hiti Hiti asks sarcastically and with a raised eyebrow, "Is that an order?" a