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List Price: $25.95 | | Publisher: HarperEntertainment
Salesrank: 719603
Released: October 26, 2004 |
| Our Price: $1.13 |
| Used Price: $0.12 |
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| Media: Hardcover |
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Editorial Review:
Marlon Brando was the brightest, boldest, and most iconoclastic acting talent of our time. But while his courage and imagination as an artist brought applause and attention from around the world, Brando shunned nearly everything that goes with celebrity status. He was one of the most reclusive personalities in modern times and a legend beyond compare. He was also an equal opportunity provocateur -- a dazzling baffler -- be it on stage, on screen, or in his private life. Always true to his nature, he never failed to surprise. He did things his way -- The Way It's Never Been Done Before.
No one shared as much of Brando's private fields as his lifelong friend and business confidant, George Englund. For more than five decades, Brando and Englund were each other's most trusted ally and closest compadre. Even at their first meeting, at a Hollywood party in 1956 -- the kind of occasion where Brando was most on guard against any who would attempt to get close to him -- he and Englund forged close ties. From that initial meeting right up to the eve of the superstar's death in the summer of 2004, Brando and Englund were in nearly constant contact. They traveled together, worked together, and played together. They consoled and cajoled each other through their marriages and divorces, the births and tragic deaths of their children, good and bad business deals, and the onset of aging, concluding with Brando's death at the age of eighty.
"I remembered what Mark Twain wrote," Englund says, "'that everybody is a moon with a dark side he doesn't show anyone else.' I felt this was an appropriate hour for a book that looked at the other side of Marlon, that told of the man and friend and father he was. There has not been such a book in Marlon's lifetime, even including his autobiography, and I felt that after our long years of friendship, perhaps I should attempt to write it. I knew the difficulty I would encounter; to write about Marlon is to work with delicate glass, for he was, without question, the most complicated personality I ever met or knew about.
"I once thought what a grand time he and I would have writing the book about our friendship together. That possibility has passed away, for Marlon is gone now -- I must make the attempt to write of us alone. I summon to the task the sacredness, which, when we were at our best, Marlon and I laid upon our friendship."
The Way It's Never Been Done Before: My Friendship with Marlon Brando Reviews:
It HAS been done before 
2006-11-28 - While their supposed friendship lasted for nearly fifty years, from 1956 to Brando's death in 2004 (with a noticeable break in the 1990's), I can't help feeling that all author George Englund wanted all these years was to earn information about Marlon so he one day would be able to write a book like this one. He claims that they were very close, and one would think he has a reason for saying so, inasmuch as the two talked about quite personal experiences and memories. But tell me: am I unfair to put to question whether a true, close friend would ever publish an intimate account on their relationship after the other's death, despite being well aware that the latter despised to be written about and analyzed in public?
George Englund's book THE WAY IT'S NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE: MY FRIENDSHIP WITH MARLON BRANDO opens with some reflections from the author, written a few months before the actor's death. "Marlon is an old man. I both laugh and weep as I write the sentence. Marlon Brando old? It can't be true. It is, though; he is eigthy. But it isn't the number of years that's significant, Brando could still be youthful. It's how the years have treated him and how he has treated them." The book eventually covers the first meeting between George and Marlon, the opening of their film-company Pennebaker and the filming of a movie Englund directed which Brando starred in, the lesser known THE UGLY AMERICAN from 1963. Perhaps surprisingly to some, none of this information reveals anything significant about Brando as a man or actor; George nearly fell asleep during at the opening of Pennebaker Productions. Marlon ate too much while filming UGLY AMERICAN. He was wild about women. Thing is, it's "been done" numerous times before. Fortunately for Englund, this is what many people prefer to read about. He describes Brando's relationships with women in a tasteless way, giving the impression that he did not care a whoop about any of his sweethearts except if the setting was in bed. It is no secret that Brando could be a troublesome man at times. My point is just that we need not another account to remind us of that. We have all the tabloids and Peter Manso-book to do that job for us. Instead Englund could, as a "friend," provide us with some new insights into Brando's good qualities, which have been widely ignored ever since he became a star.
But that is not what he does. I don't know if Englund intended a book of this sort, but I find it not only downright disguisting but also completely unnecessary of him to present long excerpts of telephone conversations with Marlon which he'd taped through the years; I also wonder whatever I am to do with descriptions of a nurse cleaning the actor's rear end at a late point in his life, when he was in need of constant care.
But Englund has not reached his peak yet. What really leaves me convinced that the author is, frankly, just another footnote in Brando's life who, unsuccessful as he was, found it necessary to befriend a star in order to get some status, was when the topic of the Drollet-murder was brought up. (In 1990 Brando's son murdered his sister's boyfriend while heavily intoxicated.) Englund admits that he did not attend court during the trials and never got to watch any footage of it anywhere, but when he read in the newspapers that Marlon began to cry in court, he nevertheless knew Brando was lying: "he acted. But this wasn't the greatest actor of his time seizing everyone's imagination, this was a former champion, overweight, out of shape, sloppy with his technique."
Not quite as sloppy as yourself, George. You say that you intended this book as a gift for Marlon. Sweet of you. I still wonder, though; how comes it that you actually admits in your book that to write a book about Marlon was the biggest sin a friend could do to him? Do you consider yourself an exception? Or do you in the end realize what you really are? Brando said, several times, "My friends don't write books about me." In a well-published interview with Laurence Grobel, he stated, "["Friends who write books about me] weren't friends from the beginning." Englund furthermore insists that Marlon's true motive for writing his memoirs was not, as he claimed, his children's insecurities of him, but the money which such a book would gain him. All right: what was your motive behind this thing, George?
The ethical aspects apart, THE WAY IT'S NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE is also a very flawed book on a technical basis. Although pretty well written literally, Englund moves from one time to another back and forward which I found to be very confusing at times. For example, he mentions one incident when he visited Marlon's house while the actor watched ON THE WATERFRONT on TV; it took me a while to figure out that this was at the end of his life.
A little final footnote: in the superb TCM-documentary on Brando in 2007, Englund was one to be interviewed. At one point, he recalls a story to which his wife corrects him, telling his story is not a truthful version. "Who cares about that?" he laughs, "this is Hollywood." In the end, THE WAY IT'S NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE presents Marlon Brando as little more than a self-absorbed, womanizing, irresponsible money-hunter, but while he may have possessed some of these qualities to various degrees, the man who sent an Indian woman to refuse his Oscar due to the unjust treatment of Indians in America so very obviously consisted of much, much more. It is only Englund who ends up in a bad light. Ironically perhaps but quite deservedly so. My reason for giving this thing two stars is out of pity.
A fantastic read 
2006-05-29 - The problem with biographies of Marlon Brando, and celebrities in general, is that they are often written by an outsider, someone who had little or no personal acquaintance with the subject and is sometimes just out to cash in on their celebrity. It is these problems with most biographies that makes George Englund's biography of Marlon Brando such a joy to read.
Englund's friendhip with Brando started in 1956 and his biography therefore thrusts us directly into the height of his fame and spares us the date and details of his birth and upbringing. These often constitute the more tedious parts of other biographies. Another common problem with biographies is that they have a tendency to simply list off the actions and professional achievements of their subjects, sometimes giving them the appearance of a prolonged C.V. This is another area where Englund's book comes into its own. His close relationship with Brando allows him to recount many very personal and revealing tales that allow the reader to feel a closeness to Marlon that is difficult considering how private a man he was. The difficulties of Brando's life are well documented, but the accounts offered here are far more vivid and moving. The writer is not pre-occupied with sensationalism or scandal, merely the real story and the emotion felt.
'The way it's never been done before' is a fascinating read and is a must have for anyone that is passionate about the work of Marlon Brando, surely the screen's greatest ever actor
Touching, but only a partial portrait 
2006-01-02 - George Englund's memoir of Marlon Brando is that, a memoir and far from a full-scale biography. It is a touching remembrance, filled with genuine affection for its subject, but not so much as to make the author blind to the shortcomings and warts of the greatest of all our film actors. In its affection it is a welcome departure from some of the more vicious tabloid-like portrayals of Brando--Peter Manso's biography comes to mind. At its best Englund's work is distinguished by some really beautiful interludes and gripping passages--his description of visiting his own absentee father after decades is especially moving. One senses that Englund believed he was privy to the whole of Brando, the insider of all insiders. His graphic description of Brando's last night is almost an exercise in trying to prove to himself, and us, how close he was to Brando. And it is a rare occurrence of Englund going perhaps too far. But for all that he was allowed to see, it is also apparent to the reader, if not to Englund himself, that Georgie was kept at arms length from various facets and compartments of his famous subject. There are dramatic and notable gaps in the book, and one gets the feeling that Englund's import as a macho and intellectual sidekick grew once Wally Cox died. It is perhaps too much to ask any single book to cover the whole of Brando--the subject is simply too complex. But this is a useful glimpse inside at least some aspects of Brando's life.
Intriguing, Enriching... but Sometimes Too Much
2005-07-30 - Good book, but I have one major reservation:
In an interview, George Englund said he penned this account of Marlon Brando with, "Brando's dignity in my hand". So presumptively, Englund as a best friend wouldn't think to ever reveal personal information or details that Brando would have never wanted known, right? Isn't that what best friends are for?
Um, quite the contrary here: Englund's telling of Brando's last days were too dam detailed, at times vile and completely unnecessary. Surely, this is not what people want to remember of the revered legend.
I'm unafraid to say that I wept on the day Brando died like I had lost someone I knew and loved. For fans who really loved him a good portion of this thing -in excruciating pain from his disease and lying in helpless condition on a deathbed- you will find incredibly depressing. I'd recommend skipping some parts if you wanna keep the image of Brando the Almighty One intact.
Dark clouds away this was indeed a pure delight to pore through... when is the subject ever boring afterall? I was happy Mr.Englund released this very personal tale of his friendship with Brando I only wish the actor himself were still alive to admire even more.
A Friendship Made In Hollywood 
2005-07-04 - Mr. Englund knew Brando very well, and even got to the point where he would call Brando on his bad behavior. The two of tem developed a film production company together, along with Marlon Brando Senior, and this association with one of Hollywood's top stars catapulted Mr. Englund into the world of the big leagues, where he became a film director. He was also married for a long time to the actress Cloris Leachman, who makes a few cameo appearances in the book but who doesn't seem to have half the affection for Brando that her husband did. Inevitably rumors arose that Brando and Englund were lovers, and Englund addresses these rumors right away, as though to ward off further contagion. He discusses an incident that took place when a cop began hassling Brando and Mr. Englund for sitting alone in a parked car off the side of the road. Usually when men do that, claimed the cop, they are "two males having sex." After they get rid of the cop, they laugh at him on page 20 and then Marlon asks Mr. Englund, "Ever done fruity?" Englund says he has nothing against it, just never wanted to do it. Brando addresses the rumors about himself and Wally Cox, etc. But Englund doesn't convince the reader that there was nothing sexual in their friendship. He denies it too much.
There's an amusing part where Englund and Leachman are chaperones on Brando's date with Anna Magnani. Magnani's all over Brando and can't keep her hands off his crotch, and he is terrified of her. "Cloris and I sat upright, like two Grant Wood figures." In this one instance Brando betrays a fear of women, elsewhere in the book he is the greatest Casanova in the 20th century, and Englund analyzes why in long, admiring paragraphs. Both Englund and Brando had father problems. Brando says that as a father, "he didn't care. He was an absentee landlord."
Sadly, both men's father difficulties carried over into the next generation. Brando's daughter Cheyenne killed herself, and his son turned out to be a killer. In Englund's case, his rebel boy Bryan dies a crack addict after breaking his parents' heart over and over again, while little Max died, not even a teen, of a degenerative muscle disease. Relating these terrible stories, Englund gives dimension to his portrait. I found them all very moving. Perhaps it is because Brando comes off as so selfish and self-absorbed that his fans don't care for this book. He is so full of himself and throws around his own considerable weight so often you wonder how anyone could put up with him. As for Englund, he comes off like a man who lived vicariously through the sex exploits of his famous chum, even if it meant kissing his ass for forty years.
The most revealing chapter is the one in which Brando wants to raise money by writing a memoir, and he charges Mr Englund with peddling it for him to the big NY publishers. Englund successfully sells the unwritten book to Harold Evans from Random House for $5,000,000. The ethics of the situation seem totally out of whack. Englund can't promise Evans that the book will be good or even written by Brando. Evans seems star struck. people wonder what's wrong with publishing, this is a good example of the catastrophic thinking of mainstream publishers. By the way, Brando had nothing good to say about Evans' wife, Tina Brown, calling her "self-promoting" and "sinister."
By the way, Englund directed some great little movies, including one of my alltime favorites SIGNPOST TO MURDER (maybe Joanne Woodward's greatest part). Why isn't this one on DVD?
