Marlon's Message

''And, the winner is......... Marlon Brando for The Godfather!''....... So stated presenters Liv Ullman and Roger Moore on the''45th Annual Academy Awards'' in the spring of 1973. It was an expected win for Brando for Best Actor. His performance as Mafia chief ''Don Vito Corleone'' in the landmark movie ''The Godfather'' was a monumental moment on movie acting and pop culture. It capped a spectacular career comeback for Brando. After revolutionizing acting in the 1950's with tour de force performances in movies like ''A Streetcar Named Desire'', ''Viva Zapata'', and ''On The Waterfront''---- the last of which he won his first Best Actor nod----- Brando had fallen off, career-wise, in the 1960's. The combination of bad movie choices, plus, his notorious difficult behavior on movie sets, cast him as a washed-up pariah in Tinseltown. By the early 1970's, he was looked upon as a kook, a pain in the ass prima donna who was not worth dealing with anymore. His best years were behind, so stated the general consensus around town. ''The Godfather'' changed all of that........ Suddenly, Marlon Brando was hot again. The King had returned from exile to reclaim his title as the Giant Of Cinema. His Corleone was toasted in rapturous waves of public adulation. All, or most, of Brando's behavior and sins against Hollywood were forgotten. Or, were purposely overlooked. He still had that glow of a ''difficult talent'' around him, but, he was MONEY now and back in favor with the public. Therefore, the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences felt that an honor was needed to the rogue Bad Boy. Give him a second Oscar, the members decreed. Because he deserved it. And, he did........ But, Marlon Brando always played the Hollywood game by his own rules. The restless, angry rebellion against conformity that so electrified the silver screen naturally found a similar outlet off-screen in his real life. No one told Brando what to do. He decided that he would use the occasion of the vast worldwide audience that watched the Oscars to make a personal and political statement. For years, Marlon Brando championed Civil Rights for all oppressed groups. His pet passion, though, was for the Native American Indian. He marched for what he felt was the abuse heaped upon the Indian culture. And, he had valid reasons, for American Indians were robbed and cheated by the Government of the United States out of land and possessions for many years. Treaties were broken [around 400 hundred, estimated by Brando] and many generations of Native Americans were wiped out by the armies and settlers in the Old World. Brando, also, was horrified by the treatment of Indians in Hollywood pictures. He felt, again, with reason, that the Indian image was besmirched, with the wrong message going out to the public. Indians were almost always portrayed as blood-thirsty savages, intent on beheading men and raping the women. Brando was very vocal about his displeasure in this presentation onscreen but, when he was a ''cold'' figure in the 60's, no one listened. Now that he was ''hot'' again, he saw his chance to make his statement. And, have the whole world watching......... Sacheen Littlefeather, born Marie Louise Cruz, was of mixed origin. Her mother was French, German, and Dutch, her father was Apache. She claimed to be both actress and activist, which must have made her seem appealing for Marlon Brando, because she could both give legitimacy to the Native American position, and  present good, old fashioned Hollywood showbiz to what he was about to do. Brando had decided to refuse his Oscar, if he received it for ''The Godfather'' but use the forum to give out his views on the current Indian situation. Because he did not believe in any kind of award [though, he did when he won for ''Waterfront''] he would send Sacheen up there as his proxy....... And, he also wanted to take the occasion to tell Hollywood, which shunned him for years, to take their celebrated statue and shove it up their collective asses....... March 27, 1973, there was a huge buzz in the air. There was the usual Pre-Oscar vibrations. However, there was an air of mystery and it all centered around Marlon Brando. Would he show up personally to collect his honor? And, if he did not show up, would he pull one of his famous stunts and give the finger to Hollywood? The second was about to happen. Hollywood, though, was unsure of what Marlon was about to do because he was lying in the weeds, all quiet and calm. Like an Indian brave before going into battle.......  In typical fashion, the Oscar broadcast, despite its hoopla, was as boring as an insurance seminar. Hour after hour, the ''beautiful people'' in La-La Land, proclaimed their greatness and importance for a public that, for some strange reason, cared. The only drama that night was the monster movie of the year, ''The Godfather', was getting trounced by the smaller film ''Cabaret''. The producer of the broadcast, Howard Koch, Jr, knew that Brando was a no-show---that was to be expected---- but, Koch had gotten wind that Marlon had sent an Indian woman to be his Voice should he win. And, this Indian woman had a long speech that she planned to read!!! Koch was horrified and got word to Ms. Littlefeather that in no way would he allow such a speech to be read to the public. If Littlefeather got up there and she went long, he would cut her off. Sacheen Littlefeather went along with the request but she was unhappy.......... The camera cut to all of the nominees for Best Actor in dramatic fashion. For Marlon Brando, there was only a picture. When Liv Ullman and Roger Moore read his name, there was loud applause and whistles for Brando. The audience was applauding his work in ''The Godfather'' and, also, his return to sit on his throne again as the Greatest Actor In Film History. Then, the audience and the viewer noticed a strange sight: a small woman, in Indian garb, was approaching the podium. She climbed the stage and went up to the microphone. Moore held the Oscar out to her. She held up her hand and gently refused to take it. Moore looked astonished and none-too-pleased. More likely, he was shocked and confused, as was Liv Ullman. Sacheen Littlefeather waited for the applause to die down. Then, she spoke. And, then, the shit hit the fan for the 45th Annual Academy Awards........ ''Hello. My name is Sacheen Littlefeather. I'm Apache and I am president of the National Native American Affirmative Image Committee. I'm representing Marlon Brando this evening and he has asked me to tell you in a very long speech, which I cannot share with you because of time but I will be glad to share with the press afterwords, that he very regretfully cannot accept this very generous award. And the reason for this being are the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry [hissing and booing emits from the audience, along with scattered applause]---excuse me--- and on television in movie reruns, and also with recent happenings at Wounded Knee [ a standoff in Wisconsin between the government and Native Americans demanding treaties be honored]. I beg on this time that I have not intruded upon this evening and that we will in the future, our hearts and our understandings will meet with love and generosity. Thank you on behalf of Marlon Brando''......... On that note, Sacheen Littlefeather walked off the stage, sans the Academy Award for Marlon Brando. Roger Moore would carry it offstage......... The show immediately went to commercial but, behind the scenes, it was open warfare. Backstage, there were shocked opinions mixed with righteous indignation. John Wayne was furious. Clint Eastwood was seething with anger.  charlton Heston and, of all people, Raquel Welch, loudly proclaimed their displeasure. While some celebrities in the audience agreed with the point and message, the overwhelming feeling was that Marlon was very wrong to use this forum for his own personal political agenda. Throughout the rest of the evening, Marlon's ''stunt'' would darken the festivities, even as his picture ''The Godfather'' rang the big bell and won Best Picture. By evenings end, the feeling ran throughout Hollywood that Brando had pulled the ultimate ''fuck you'' to his own industry........ Sacheen Littlefeather did, indeed, meet with the world's press. But, the Fourth Estate only wanted to talk about Brando, not Wounded Knee. They wanted to know his real intentions, overlooking, that his intentions were out in the open, for all of the world to see. When it became known that Sacheen was also an actress, some cynics reported that it was all in jest, not to be taken seriously, ignoring the message and killing the messenger. Soon, Sacheen Littlefeather would become a media joke.......... Reportedly, Marlon Brando, watching the show at his home, laughed with glee over all of the fuss......... The fallout was typical Hollywood drama. While the general public seemed divided over what Marlon Brando had done, inside the industry, there were grudges formed. Of course, Marlon was still very bankable, so, he was still offered all of the great parts. And, the public was both outraged and amused by his antics. But, several powerful people, put off by his snub of the Oscar, would have nothing to do with him. In their eyes, he was ''damaged goods''. Paramount Pictures, especially, held a firm grievance. When Brando was approached to be in ''Godfather Part 2'', he held Paramount's feet to the fire because he was well aware of the studio bad-mouthing him around town. Paramount fought back, refusing to meet Brando's demands. And, it was this stalemate that was the reason Brando was not in the sequel to the movie that resurrected his career, and by extension, his life......... Like all things Hollywood, ''you keep your friends close but your enemies closer'' [Michael Corleone, ''The Godfather Part 2'']. The devils and the angels in that town have always swam in the same cesspool of hypocrisy. Sacheen Littlefeather would find small acting roles in a few forgettable movies. A few years after the Oscars, she would pose nude in ''Playboy.'' Her pictures were nothing to raise your tepee pole over. Soon, she would fade into obscurity, a curious trivia question about the Academy Awards........Marlon Brando would become a legend, both with his career and his life. His movie choices would run the gamut of very good to embarrassing. He only cared for the big money, he always claimed. Every once in a while, his greatness would creep out, in roles like ''Last Tango In Paris'', ''Apocalypse Now'', 'A Dry White Season'', and ''The Freshmen''. He also became a laughingstock in movies like ''Superman'', ''The Island Of Dr. Moreau'', and ''Christopher Columbus''. Hollywood still watched him with a wary eye, even showing all was forgiven Oscar-wise by nominating him for ''Last Tango'' and ''Dry White Season.'' Needless, to say, he never showed up for those awards [ he lost those nominations]....... His personal life continued to draw media scrutiny. He still championed the causes of the little man. His devotion to Indian Rights never flagged, even though, like most Hollywood activists, very little showed up for all of the effort. But, he always was very sincere in his efforts and deserved whatever acclaim bestowed on him. But, his story contained tragedy, also. In 1990, The House Of Brando was invaded by murder. Christian Brando, Marlon's eldest son, fatally shot his sister, Cheyenne's, fiancée, Dag Drollet, after a domestic dispute in the Brando home. Accounts at the time varied on what happened. When Christian's trial came, however, the real story came out. It was a simple argument over Drollet's treatment of Cheyenne that became heated, and, finally, deadly. Christian pled guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to five years in prison. He was released in 1996 and spent his remaining years until his death in 2008 working as a tree cutter and artistic welder. Cheyenne Brando, unstable to begin with, never got over her fiancee's death and committed suicide by hanging in 1995......... All of these personal tragedies overwhelmed Marlon Brando. He gained an enormous amount of weight, and, reportedly, weighed close to 400 pounds. His remaining years would find him in seclusion, rarely leaving his Mulholland Drive residence. He would die in 2004 at the age of 80 years old. At the end, said those around him, he was still the defiant, angry, street fighter that he had been his whole life. He fought the studios and the ''men in suits'', but, he always identified with the hardships of the oppressed and needy......... His ''stunt'' in March 1973 at the Academy Awards can be viewed in retrospect through two filters. The first filter, say his supporters, was a decent, caring man taking full advantage of his celebrity to draw attention to the Indian cause. That he sparked outrage was beneficial, for he shined the spotlight on abuse that needed to be spoken about. The second filter, say his detractors, was of a spoiled, pampered, publicity seeking egomaniac looking to cause some hell to an industry that had supported him and his crazy behavior for years. He was ungrateful, they claimed, and showed his true self by using a genuine problem and puffing himself up as a hero for the underdog......... The true answer? Well, the enigma of Marlon Brando----the dark wells of rage and mystery and compassion---- can never being fairly defined. There is confusion of character and actions. One side always cancels out the other...... Which, I think, is what he always wanted........

Not Fade Away

With the recent passing of both David Bowie and Glenn Frey, a large shudder went up for a sizable portion of the population. The deaths were shocking and sad, for none of us knew that those two music icons were gravely ill. But, it went beyond the normal mourning of an entertainer dying. No, it was another sign, an all-too-familiar sign, that we are getting older........ When you are younger, the stars in entertainment who passed on were much older than you, they were your parents generation. While you may have liked them and the work they did, it wasn't something that shook you because they were.... well..... OLD. And, old people are expected to die. No one dies when you are young. The performers we grew up with---or, those who were contemporaries--- would always be there, for their work would never die. And, by extension, their audience [us] would never die. Unless they foolishly died by their own hands, via drugs or some other self-destruction, we were all comforted in knowing that the good times would still be rolling....... And, then, something strange happens: THEY DID DIE. Some, like John Lennon, were ripped from us in a horrible way. But, most deaths are not from a street shooting in cold blood, but, from more personal ways, such as cancer. When you have a  Bowie or a Frey die from all-too-human afflictions, the shudder takes over all of us. For its is the sign of mortality hovering around us, a black veil that will find its target eventually...... I think that is what is so strong about the deaths of those two [And, many others, so far this year]. They are leaving us. And, we are not prepared to say goodbye to them. I don't want this to sound maudlin or building Bowie and Frey up to be historical figures, but, when people who mean so much to you, even though you have never met them, pass away, it cuts deep and sad. Our daily lives are not changed, we still have to go to work and pay our bills. However, the world seems colder and more lonely without them because you get tired of saying goodbye to someone you hold dear----even at long distance....... The figures in the Arts I admire [mind you, they are not heroes, because the ultimate hero in life is yourself], whose work has enriched my life, are all up there in age. Nicholson, Pacino, De Niro, Hackman, Hoffman, Duvall, titanic actors who have touched genius on film, are almost in the Final Act in life. They are men in their 70's and 80's who will not be around for much longer. And, that includes music people like a McCartney, Jagger, Steven Tyler, Springsteen, and the rest of the Eagles. They are old, something, I'm sure, no one needs to tell them. We all belong to the generation that wasn't gonna get old and die. We would still keep rockin and rollin, never pausing for such outdated things as illness and death. We would forever dance in the glorious freedom of youth, always surviving. And, we would have the Pied Pipers to lead us. But, the music is slowly stopping. The movie screen faded to a darkness that will never see light again. Ladies and Gentlemen, ''Welcome to the show, my friends, to the show that will end''...........But, the flame of life will never be totally extinguished because of what the artists have taught us. Their words and music and feelings are all part of our souls, in our spirit so furiously that it will never die. That is the great gift in performance, the gift that you keep with you forever. The Beatles broke up long ago, with two of its members silenced, but, their music and what they have meant to people goes on gloriously. Elvis Presley is eternally the King Of Rock &Roll, young, thin, smoldering in raw sexual heat. Mick Jagger is prancing in our minds, touching the naughty images as he chants that he can't get no satisfaction. Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, etc, all play to the endless musical concert that swirls in our DNA. And, the vivid images that Nicholson and crew have given to us play endlessly in a reel of glory, plucked effortlessly from memory to memory with an internal smile. They are the guardians of our youth, the gatekeepers of good times. When they are all gone, it will be sad. But, the gifts they have given us are priceless, the ultimate benediction of sharing........ So, we mourn Glenn Frey and David Bowie and whomever may be next, for they deserve to be mourned. It is respect. It is, also, a big THANK YOU for all that you have given us. As long as their work lives on, they will live on, rightfully so. For they shall all pass on........ Except, Keith Richards. Nothing will kill that son of a bitch........

Kings Of The Hill

 In the vast wasteland of a DirecTV customer, with its hundreds of channels with nothing of value on, there is a tendency to turn off the modern media orgy of communications and go simple. I often retreat to my bedroom, where I have a simple Antenna TV set-up. Recently, while searching through those channels, I discovered a long-lost friend, a show as familiar and comfortable as an old pair of slippers. I knew I found this friend because of the room shown at the top of the show......The room itself looked like it had survived some bizarre war on time. It was old-fashioned, with the dirty walls and floor a match for the slightly dirty business of life it was about to partake in. Its residents were mostly young men and women, eager to do their jobs but cautious of what was out there awaiting them. The room held one podium, with a Chief Of Wisdom to guide them. After intoning what the days events would behold them out there in the cold world, the Chief, the wise sage of the Royal Order Of Policemen, would state a cautious warning from his heart, tinged with a deep sense of caring for them: ''Let's be CAREFUL out there!''....... From 1981 to 1987, ''Hill Street Blues'' was the class act of television. A remarkable program, it was the first realistic show on the public and private lives of policemen. Before ''Hill Street'', cops were mostly one-dimension, the ''just the facts, ma'am'', school of character representation. The cops would bust the bad guy on the streets----- the bad guys never got away on television---- and by the end of the program, good triumphed over evil......... Well, we all know that life is not like that. Good does not triumph over evil. Evil is not always punished. ''Hill Street Blues'' recognized this and exploited the possibilities of showing real people in real circumstances. And, it did, royally so. The show, created by Steven Bochco and Michael Kozoll, showed the warts-and-all ticks of a big-city police station [Although it was never stated, it is hard to not believe that the city was Chicago] and all of the situations that the people inside would encounter. Human life was treated with dignity, with all of the foibles of imperfect men and women showed in a realistic light. Death, drugs, affairs of the heart, love found and lost, violence, shocking brutality, tears and laughter, were on display for a public to view. Interlocking stories spilled on from episode to episode, as the drawn out characters showed their lives being led at various degrees of success. They may have been police officers, a world alien to most of its viewers, but, the emotions and fears and frustrations and human heart were universal to everyone watching......... And, those characters!!! A marvelous collection of individuals. You had the heroic but flawed Captain Frank Furillo. The Captain, a man caught between being honest and dealing with reality, led the ship of fools, occasionally stumbling, but, never failing, in leading his forces against the forces of evil. He was not above making the tough decision and being the bad-guy. But, he also showed compassion and heart, a rare combination in a leader. You had a sense from Furillo that he loved his people and would take a bullet for them all, no matter of rank. He fought City Hall and the gangs that ran around his police district. He was the Knight In Shining Armor, with a little dirt on him to soil his knighthood. He battled the bottle and allowed himself to feel pain........ Furillo also allowed himself to feel love. He had a passionate love affair with Defense Counselor, Joyce Davenport. Their ardor for each other drove their professional and personal relationship. Davenport, an ice tigress as a lawyer, also brought the bedroom heat that lit up the screen. Joyce clearly loved Furillo, her ''Pizza Man.'' In her eyes, there showed affection and pride, even as she was batting back and forth salvos and legalese with Frank. They fought and fucked with equal parts of their minds and bodies........The heart and soul of the station, the Chief of the precinct, was a gruff but kind-hearted man named Esterhaus, played superbly by Michael Conrad. He was the Father Figure in the squad room, the wise counselor of life. Conrad played this character with equal parts of toughness and warmth, not an easy trick for an actor. When he ended his roll call in the morning and warned his charges about being safe out in the streets, you, as the viewer, felt his concern for their safety. And, that translates the television screen into the viewers minds. If he cared about them so much, then, we will also........ The rest of the squad was a power keg of mixed personalities, all of them compelling on their own levels. You had Mick Belker, the street urchin-looking like cop who growled like a dog when he sees his prey. Belker barked and bit, the pitbull of the department. But, all that faded away when he received his daily phone call from ''Ma''. Then, he became the dutiful son patiently dealing with an aged parent.......Around Belker was Hill and Renko, the partners who were the steady lifeline in the precinct. Renko always brought little-boy problems out in the squad car when he and Hill were out on the streets, whether they be love entanglements or weight issues. Hill, steady as a friend as he was as an officer, would nod and dispense his advice, for nothing ever seemed to shake him up. He was right out of a recruiting poster for being a cop. Hill and Renko were black and white in appearance, but, as friends and partners, they were as one skin....... The other police team, also black and white, were Washington and La Rue. Washington was the wiser of the two. He was the older brother for La Rue-----the straight-as-an-arrow anchor. La Rue was the opposite. While essentially decent, he walked on the wild side, always on the edge of trouble, be it drinking or gambling or a fetish for teenage girls. Make no mistake, Johnny La Rue was a good man. He just had his hazy moments of personal judgment. The contrast with the clear-thinking, decent Washington made for good chemistry between them....... You also had Howard Hunter, the neo-fascist cop who always looked like he was itching for a nuclear war to break out. There was Henry Goldblume, a sad-faced man who was steady in his duty but always had an aura of resignation of soul. There was Ray, the proud Hispanic police officer, pride of his family, who saw the world and its achievements passing him by without taking him along for the trip. There was the bitter and annoying ex-wife of Furillo, Fay, who always seemed to be hanging out at the station, nagging her ex and also secretly still loving him. You had the rookie cops, Bates and Coffee, who were friends that also swam around the sexual tension underneath their professional relationship. And, finally, in later seasons, you had the always watchable Dennis Franz in the lineup. At first, Franz portrayed a bad cop, ''Bad Sal'' Benedetto, one of the most interesting short-lived characters in TV history. Benedetto, all sleaze and loving it, was only in a few episodes in the beginning but, such was his impact, that, even though his character was killed off, the producers brought him back in the show's waning days, this time as a sleazy but good officer named Buntz. All of these people, plus, some good, juicy guest starring roles [who can ever forgot a stand-up comic named ''Vic Hitler?'] deepened an already richly layered show with greatness........ As with all shows, the flame burns out after a long run. By its sixth season, ''Hill Street Blues'' [which, by the way, was never a ratings success, rarely cracking the Nielsen Top Ten] ran out of speed. The characters and situations, so fresh at the beginning, became stale and tiresome. Finally, in the spring of 1987, the show took its last bow. But, it made its mark in history. It was intelligent. It was well-acted and written. And, its showed a side of police officers that needed to be seen by the public. That side showed that cops are very human beings, with the same joys and fears and problems as the rest of us....... Perhaps, the next time the media uses the police as a punching bag for ratings controversy, the sainted media crones should take a look at ''Hill Street Blues'' and get a small taste of what the daily life of a police officer is like. Perhaps even, after some sense has settled into the anti-police crowd and they realize fully the enormous task every cop has every day in their job to keep us safe, many of these detractors will say, with genuine feeling, ........ ''Hey! Lets Be CAREFUL Out There!''.........