The nature of a movie star versus an accomplished actor is an interesting divide within the realm of film criticism: Theorists often discuss the nature of stardom and its relation to the craft of acting when viewing classic films by stars like Marlon Brando and Marilyn Monroe. Central to this discussion is the source of their stardom: are they really playing their roles in a way no one could, or have they simply mastered the art of acting in a way that is so great that no one else could replicate it? The issue of stardom is a prevalent question when it comes to the appeal of film actors at the center of their respective films: “Stars matter because they act out aspects of life that matter to us; and performers get to be stars when what they act out matters to enough people.” This question touches on the dilemma of star power and charisma versus craft, which is maybe the most oft-cited difference between actors and movie stars. Brando and Marilyn Monroe, for instance, are deeply unique figures who both carried with them tremendous talent and an indefinable charisma and appeal that made their particular performances unique. Looking at On the Waterfront and The Seven Year Itch, the performances of Marlon Brando and Marilyn Monroe reveal a unique set of characteristics that simply transcend good acting and elevate them to stardom.
Marilyn Monroe, for instance, is one of the most famous starlets of the 1950s, a blonde bombshell who immense beauty and sultry persona made her a cultural icon. In The Seven Year Itch, for instance, Marilyn’s character is not a tremendously deep or complex character – she is the quirky, effervescent object of Tom Ewell’s affection. Even so, Monroe demonstrates a sprightly energy that draws the audience to her, even if it does not present as much intensity or craft as something like Brando in On the Waterfront. Central to Marilyn’s appeal is her sexuality, which she conveys heavily and heartily throughout the film. In scene after scene, Marilyn is dressed in increasingly lovely and ornate gowns and dresses, her makeup perfect and hair coiffed, saying her lines with her signature breathy voice.
In many ways, Marilyn Monroe captured the 1950s ideas of sexuality and its importance in society: “Marilyn Monroe acted out those specific ideas, and because they were felt to matter so much, she was charismatic” In this film and many others, Marilyn’s own sophistication and subtlety, however present it may have been in the person, was sometimes overshadowed by her sex appeal and the desire to play her up as a pin-up girl: “She plays, from the beginning, ‘the girl, defined solely by age, gender and sexual appeal.” Marilyn’s projection of the American ideal – white and blonde – made her essential to American cinematic culture at the time.
While she is by all turns a fine actress, her status within the films she acted in, particularly The Seven Year Itch, was as the object of desire for both the male protagonist and an American public hoping to see their fantasies made flesh. The infamous subway grating scene, for instance, makes this abundantly clear; the image of Marilyn Monroe smiling and giggling, using her arms to hold down her billowing white skirt as it blows up around her, showcases the primary appeal of Marilyn as a sex object. While Marilyn’s character, and Marilyn in general, has some character traits – she is an energetic, fun-loving girl – she conforms to, and is part of the construction of, what constitutes desirability in women.”
In many ways, this shot robs her of her personhood and agency, as the emphasis is more on her billowing skirt than on her face or identity. Her tacit acceptance and love for a situation that is explicitly coded to arouse the men watching her (either Ewell or the male audience) shows her as a movie star used primarily for her stunning looks and attractive charisma, rather than as her skills as an actor-performer. This is not to take away from Marilyn’s star power or her abilities as an actress, which were likely considerable; however, the kinds of roles female movie stars were known for were remarkably less complex and more focused on sexual objectification than male movie stars, as in the case of Brando.
In contrast to the sexpot appeal of Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando’s stardom was much more focused on his widely-accepted mastery of the art of acting. A celebrated practitioner of the Method school of acting, Brando was lauded throughout his career as a particularly naturalistic, intense and compelling actor to watch. That being said, there were decidedly elements of his popularity and stardom that, similarly to Marilyn Monroe, rested on the idea that he was a sex symbol. Brando was considered a “virile male lead” of the classic mold, but offered a variation on it due to his immense vulnerability and emphasis on nuance. At equal measures, Marlon Brando was at once the gruff, masculine ladies’ man with a chiseled jaw and compelling machismo, and a daring sensitivity and emotionality that lent him a sort of grace.
This is very clear in his performance as Terry Molloy in Elia Kazan’s On the Waterfront, where he plays a punchy boxer turned dockworker who struggles with his lost youth while navigating a tense situation involving mob corruption in his line of work. In the meantime, he romances the sister (played by Eva Marie Saint) of a dockworker friend who dies after crossing the mob; in these alternating scenes, Brando demonstrates incredible bravado and stunning pathos. One of the most prominent moments in which this occurs happens when he talks to Saint’s character on a playground (the setting already implying to the viewer Terry’s childlike innocence and demeanor). When Saint’s glove falls off the swing, he picks it up and slips it gently back onto her hand. This movement is at once erotic and sympathetic, showing the sensual caretaker nature of Brando while also feminizing him through an act of kindness.
The ‘contender’ scene in On the Waterfront is yet another example of Brando’s ability to maintain a precarious balance between strength and compelling weakness. In the case of most male action leads, they would respond to the scene where his brother (Rod Steiger) threatens to kill him in the car with immediate violence, shouting and machismo. However, the scene involves two men extremely reluctant to actually perform violence on each other; when Steiger eventually pulls the gun on Brando, instead of striking back Brando simply stares at the gun, grins sadly and shakes his head, muttering, “Oh, Charley” This single moment is one of the most illustrative of Brando’s sensitivity and defiance of the expectations placed on him as a male film star.
That being said, it is difficult to truly separate Brando’s charisma as an actor from his popularity as a film star. At once, Brando is celebrated (perhaps erroneously) as a champion of Method acting, and as a male object of sex appeal; in On the Waterfront, he appears to be both. As Terry, Brando is a deep well of intensity and naturalistic emotion, while also channeling those talents into a wry smile and aw-shucks sensitivity with Eva Marie Saint that makes him attractive from an aesthetic and erotic point of view. In this way, he is somewhat like Marilyn Monroe, in that the sheer basis of film stardom seems predicated at least in part upon one’s ability to arouse the audience through their actions.
Judging from the performances of both Marlon Brando and Marilyn Monroe, the status of the film star is largely dependent upon sex appeal and the manifestation of certain American ideals of beauty and sexuality that were prevalent at the time. Marlon Brando, for all his Method intensity and astounding theatrical talent, also demonstrated an androgynous kind of sexuality that made him appeal to women looking for a more sensitive kind of tough guy to fall for. Marilyn Monroe, meanwhile, perfectly played the ditzy pin-up girl who loved and embraced her physical beauty and glamor as the primary element of her personality and identity. Their roles in On the Waterfront and The Seven Year Itch, respectively, help to personify these complicated aspects of what it means to be a film star.
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Wilder, Billy. The Seven Year Itch. Perf. Marilyn Monroe, Tom Ewell. 20th Century Fox, 1955.
