Happy Accidents

If you walked into any Hollywood acting studio 20 years ago and asked who's the greatest actor of all time, it's a safe bet you'd hear Marlon Brando's name first.  

I say 20 years ago because 'who's the best actor' seems a little quaint now - actors and movies don't loom nearly as large, and I wonder if anyone under 30 has much considered the question at all. 

But while mediums evolve, genius is timeless, and no one's ever been more magnetic than Brando.

I wandered into re-watching The Godfather this past week - my favorite movie - and holy hell it remains incredible. 

The smallest things drew my fascination this time. Take this scene after the horse's head where Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) briefs Don Corleone (Brando) on his meeting with 'top narcotics man' Virgil Sollozzo. 

For plot-driving, there’s no more impactful scene in the entire Godfather saga, but Coppola doesn't thrust us into plot right away. No, he lingers on a motionless Brando first. 

For five full seconds.

Now I grant you it’s not just Brando's presence that's captivating here - that horse’s head got our attention too and we wanna know more about the man behind it. 

But if Abe Vigoda was in that seat I bet we'd be thinking 'ya know, they could really cut to Tom Hagen faster here.' 

But Brando? Take your time. 

The scene continues and Tom lays the stakes: if the Corleones don't partner with Sollozzo, rivals will fill the gap, amass power, 'and then they'll come after us.'

That danger hangs over the meeting as Sollozzo pitches the Don - he finishes and the Don stands to refill Sollozzo's drink, waving Sonny (James Caan) aside to reach the bottle in another sublime moment.

I'm guessing James Caan was rarely cowed in his life but Brando properly reduced him there.

The Don then pours and goes to sit next to Sollozzo, but on his way down he pauses and does something that sent me off the couch - he brushes Sollozzo's pant leg like a parent straightening a child's tie.

Lint? Dust?

No. A warning. 

Before I say no, don't forget who I am.

Brilliant. 

I can't prove it but I'd wager my house Brando did that without direction. And therein lies the genius.

I love the magic of these unplanned moments (obviously). The Godfather's full of them, onscreen and off, which burnishes its legend - if you can believe it, Al Pacino was the studio's fourth choice for Michael Corleone behind Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson, and Dustin Hoffman who all turned it down.

Fourth. 

'Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.' was improvised. 

And Lenny Montana, the real-life mob bodyguard who played Luca Brasi, gave Coppola fits for famously fumbling his lines - 'I am honored and grateful that you have invited me to your daughter's wedding... on the day of your daughter's wedding.' 

But Coppola kept the fumbles, and later wrote-in Luca 'rehearsing' outside the Don's office to make it fit.

It all alchemized into a work of genius.

These 'happy accidents' of production may soon be things of the past as AI-generated movies hit our feeds. Who needs Al Pacino when you can cast Warren Beatty first with a prompt?, etc.

Will the new stuff have the same richness? With time I'm sure it will, but we'll still know a robot’s behind it, like a mass-produced item vs. a handmade good now. 

Michelangelo's David or a comp carved by a machine - which one are you paying to see?

You get the point. I just don't see myself jumping off the couch for robot Brando. He (it? preferred pronouns TBD) will never dazzle like the original. 

So savor the originals - and if you’re so inclined, stream The Godfather for free here.

Postscript - the video below popped up on my radar as I was finishing this - it's a fantastic 15 minutes and touches on a lot of the same themes. And perhaps encouragingly, it’s rich on a level not usually found on YouTube (touché). Enjoy.