The World of Cinema — Marlon Brando, the Quiet Lion! Why Hasn't He Married Yet?

Rarely has anyone met with such a welcome as Marlon Brando met with on the morrow of his arrival in Paris to act in his latest film. Those who knew him in Hollywood — that shy man, remote from society — were astounded: how had he become so carefully groomed, taking frequent strolls through the streets with his admirers, talking with them at length and trading joke for joke! There is no doubt that some change has come over Brando's person... Yet something else drew attention: that the young actor who has seized glory by both ends, and who can get from life whatever he desires, is most certainly far from happiness! He seldom smiles — and when he smiles, his smile is not from the heart! And his face, brimming with youthful vigor, rarely brightens with joy!

It is hard to believe that Brando has reached his thirty-fourth year; but anyone who has followed his development, from the day he arrived in Hollywood in his eccentric dress down to our own day, must conclude that this brilliant star has reached the stage of maturity, has attained a certain stability, and has given up the boyish antics that once were his.

After long trial, Brando has managed to fit himself to what his working life demands of him: he is punctual, arriving at the studio on time. But he still detests the din of social life, and he is rarely seen at the empty public parties where people abound and meaningful talk is scarce — like the cocktail party! Yet he does not live alone; he has his own way of living and his own companions, with whom he sheds all formality and becomes merry, unconstrained, entirely himself... These

— He has kept company with girls, but has not yet decided on marriage

companions he meets in modest cafés, where none of his colleagues of high society will see him — for to this day he has not been able to accustom himself to Hollywood life in the full sense.

Brando is no polished conversationalist. Most of the time he is silent, fond of contemplation, and he seldom lets himself go in talk — above all about his private life. You may get a satisfactory answer if you ask his opinion of his latest role; but if you ask him how he spent the previous evening, the likelihood is that he will answer you with a scowling look! In vain do you try to draw out of him even the simplest facts about his private affairs. All that people know is that he lives alone in a three-room house, without a maid, and cooks for himself — because he insists that a servant disturbs him more than she comforts him.

People wonder what Brando's opinion of woman may be — he who has not yet married, despite the looks of burning passion aimed at him by the army of infatuated female admirers! Brando says he loves a woman who is intelligent, quick-witted, sensitive, and attractive; yet if he happens to meet an intelligent girl, before long he wearies and tires of her company, and turns from her to another — a playful creature far from intelligence and far from the range of his ambition!

It is in Brando's nature that if he accepts an invitation he attends without delay; yet he will withdraw from it the moment he sees among the guests someone he does not like, or who is not to his taste!

Brando considers the telephone a nuisance, and the first thing he does upon returning home is to pull the cord from the socket, to be sure that no one will call him, wake him from his sleep, and disturb his rest.

He is economical in his way of living to the point of stinginess. He does not see fame as the distant goal of his life, nor is he mad in pursuit of money; all he hopes is to be able to gather a fortune that will assure him a moderate, quiet life, far from want.

People whisper in Hollywood that Brando's anxious state of mind, and the loneliness that goes with it, cannot last, and that the only solution to this abnormal situation is marriage. Naturally, should he find the girl of his dreams, he would recover his contentment and gaiety — but this miracle has not yet happened. Once, it is true, he announced his engagement to Josanne Berenger; but the engagement did not last long, and there she is today in Hollywood, going out with other young men. And if he is asked about his relations with her, he waves his hand and says: it is ancient history, on which the curtain has fallen!

The last to speak on this subject was the French actress Liliane Montevecchi, who is now acting with him in the film "The Young Lions" in Paris. She wrote to a woman friend of hers, saying: "I love Brando's company. He is kind and pleasant, but he seems to me forever melancholy!"

And finally — whatever the truth about this bewitching actor, he will surely one day come to his senses, grow weary of this desolate life, and decide that it is far better to come home in the evening to find waiting for him a loving and good wife!