Sir Laurence Olivier on the 'Genius' of Marlon Brando | The Dick Cavett Show

talking with the Larry Olivier likes a very fast like that at work you give Zach expressed admiration for all kinds of people in the theater and in films and pay you say that as a kid you used to go to movies all the time and you said you even like to sing Valentino and he seems sort of funny to us now when you see him but what what for example could you learn from seeing Valentino it was wonderful it's magic I think in those times absolutely magic so but they all can you imagine what would have happened in 1920 if people queuing up see Gloria Swanson or Valentino any of them Berto better manager I'm sorry it's bingo tonight in Tonopah where's that happening in England it's more popular than the movies and they never show the movie they know they have fingers but imagine that 40 years ago Brando first time I saw him he went on as an understudy in what was the final performance of quite a short run I think of Katharine Cornell in Antigone version by Anna we and directed by her husband Catherine McClintock and the man who usually played the messenger on this one night alone was playing the chorus and the understudy was playing the messenger and I went to see this and this fellow came on the stage and an eternity he simply set it alight it was Brandon first time I'd ever seen him I think it was the first time anybody's ever seen and very shortly after that his qualities were discovered needless to say I mean they have terrific system of Scouts for good qualities and he he was palpably a great star in the making and he has he has it's a dangerous word I think he used to do with our work because I don't really like the word genius applied to the theater I don't think the theater can quite cope with genius I think it's too practicable a business to have to worry with genius I think if anything the height of ambition should be to have a genius for practicability but Marlin has the sort of genius I think that is able to play a genius I mean his Napoleon I think was immeasurably the best effort Napoleon I think I've ever seen anything was it absolutely Marv was simply because of his own particular quality of being so easy so easily bringing a sense of genius to a character was a gene and also his he's got an astonishing gift I think he's very very remarkable act it's not always completely controlled but on the movies of course he he learns to be controlled actually he wouldn't like he'd hate to be called a technician I'm sure but he is one great technician yeah you make that distinction between a technician and a realistic Brazil I don't but other people do talking to Michael Kay in the other day I don't see that people saying aren't buyers is it funny that my style and Michael Caine star should have been married together and welfare I don't think there's any difference in the style I think we have everybody who's a professional actor has roughly the same idea yes you realism is not one thing and technique another at all they're both absolutely married I think that the business of an actor is to be at one with his technique and with his emotion and with his absolutely to feeling it is absolute sense of realism it must ride absolutely with technique as a jockey must ride a horse it must be one animal and to some actors you can say if they're out of control are there no harnessed properly acting and one might say in one mood is talent it's superb Lee harnessed and some to some young actors overall a lot of people believe in talent and think that's the only thing that comes to told it isn't something is called skill but it's equally as important and more heart would she and sometimes you say you are wonderful horse but you have a lousy jockey could you tell that thing we talked about during the break it has to do with Chekhov in Stanislavski discussing realism and oh yes well I was awfully pleased to find what I was doing Uncle Vanya gesture for which that stage didn't lend itself to a very realistic set and I had a vision of the play that only had one interval I couldn't bear there to be more than one interval which meant that you had to have a production of the simplest possible kind and I found I think that your best helped to Chekhov is to have one interval only and I was fortified in this necessarily stylized production in these circumstances it was necessary stylized by a story of Chekhov who went to see a a dress rehearsal of Sam play and the designer showed him in the days long before real door handles real window handles were used it was all painted said look mr. Chekov this - that's wonderful see all these are all real you see that the curtains and the cords around the curtains absolutely really you see the muslin look at that red will you see the window catches even there we and check of city is very fine I find but don't be it don't expect me to be too enthusiastic because we must remember that the theatre is an art and you have a beautiful painting perhaps of a man by some great painter Rembrandt and that is a work of art now if you cut out its nose and put a real person's nose in the real person's nose would be absolutely marvelously real but the rest of the painting idiotic they don't forget that and so that brought I did someone sticking his nose through a Rembrandt does make that point nicely okay that's very good have you settled the kippers incident on the Brighton on the train that's dead it is yes I'm afraid yeah I took the train - well the train doesn't really have time to fight his manfully for it as I'm talking about the Brighton Belle is a famous train in England and it's rather like the 20th century or the Santa Fe or I can't remember the Fen there was a famous train to Philadelphia but we've got several famous trains like thee the master Cutler that goes to Sheffield the Flying Scotsman that goes to Scotland and this was the Brighton bill that went to Brighton and they kept overs only something I complained on went and I found the thing said that bureaucracy had played along so well and thoroughly but they couldn't give me any Brown toast and I said I want some brown they said no brown bread I said why not I said it's off now but not gonna give you the brown bread so what-what can I have this have bacon and eggs and tomato so don't want it smarter they said well you have to have it or else pay for it doesn't others I can I have scrambled eggs does it know says it what about my friend that kipper and they said no that was the only thing the press picked up cause naturally they only pick up the funny one yep is a funnier than a very funny became known as Lord kipper and then I had a telegram from the Chief Rabbi saying welcome to Yom Kippur you've done such an incredible series of walks in your various performance is that one of the first things you'll work out people talk about your walk is a fellow and then I remember your walk another other performance usually puzzles me for a long time and I'd pick it up quite late on unless I've made up my mind that that's the foundation for a characterization or something I've gotten Richard you have to cause of the limp but no in the end this particular play I think you'll think about it I said I went to see James O'Neill's and that Tyrone is meant to be James O'Neill is Eugene O'Neill's father as everybody knows and he played for about 20 years I counted Monte Cristo I think he ever over 4000 performances of it and he also made a film of it a five reel of film and about 1914 and somebody heard about this fabulous film and jumped in quit with a three-wheeler so the but I'm his film came out everybody had seen it very better but we were able to see it and in order to make a study of his acting and a sort of period and he was perfectly fine and that's obviously very satisfying to that period of audience and what we call bent wrist acting a bit like that but he was marvelous and I noticed his walk was exactly like John Barrymore swore in fact all the barrels were and I just had a little notion that maybe O'Neill and the Baron was and everybody copied Edwin Booth that's just a little notion and they've probably all stemmed from here yeah it was a way of walking with bent knees it was acting walking to see but him could I ask you this uh some years back we were all very worried about you and your health and now you've you're in robust condition and doing difficult roles and all and at the time you had an operation you apparently wanted to make it quite clear he asked him to in the press release tell him that you had had a cancer operation yeah so why did you decide to make that well I thought it was in Kerry I thought I was always frightfully conceited and I was certain I'd get better and I thought well it would cheer people up if they knew that it wasn't so deadly also fatal and it wasn't that I wanted to attract attention to myself for once it wasn't that I just thought it was right to tell people if you had a disease like that and I was very confident that I was going to get over it and thank God I did that I it wasn't anything that I wanted people to realize that it wasn't hopeless yes it was it at that time that you said you were quoted as saying that you had tired of acting was that did they have to do possibly with the initial depression of that period oh I think so oh I think so yeah no one feels that get anybody any job feels that occasionally they'll die they go on with it but then after a while it's pretty like a horse for that that famous harness had just stopped you know you couldn't did nothing to do I don't think it sometimes there are times when I don't think it's quite the occupation for an adult must have been waiting there for two sets find yourself doing such silly things sometimes trying to be effective and catch yourself out and you think that's a bit childish I think that acting I think the nearest approach is rather bit of this but the nearest approach I've got to description what acting really is is that it's an a masochistic form of exhibitionism it sounds very respectable even so that way experiment would you lay a little Milton honest little Milton yes Oh ma'am well I only know a rather sexy bit and I had to learn it for a film I made in Hollywood way back in 1931 and I had great difficulty learning it as often happens if you have difficulty learning counting it it sticks and I suppose have thought of it once or twice since then I hope I can remember it now it's sexy bit for Milton strange it's late at night and go so much pleasure we have lost twice to be abstained from this delightful fruit nor known till now true relish tasty if such pleasures be in things to us forbidden it might be wished for this one tree had been forbidden ten but come so well refreshed now let us play as meat is after such delicious fare or never did thy beauty since the day I saw thee first and where did the adorned with all perfections so inflamed my sense with ardour to enjoy the fair now than ever you do make acting seem eminently respectable [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: The Dick Cavett Show

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Id: BAyG5a2I-QI

Length: 12min 15sec (735 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 06 2020