A Look Back at 1950’s ‘The Men’—Marlon Brando’s Forgotten Debut Film Role
August 25 marks 75 years since its release
It’s hard to imagine there was a time when Marlon Brando wasn’t a household name, thanks to his iconic roles in A Streetcar Named Desire to The Godfather franchise, but everyone begins somewhere, and for the Academy Award-winning actor, it was his feature film debut in The Men, which premiered nearly 75 years ago, that showcased just how talented he truly was, even as a young actor.
In The Men, the actor plays Ken, a veteran who loses the use of both of his legs during battle and must learn to accept his new reality. His bitterness over his situation and self-pity threaten to drive a wedge between him and his ever-supportive fiancée, Ellen (Teresa Wright), but spending time in a veteran’s hospital, he comes to accept his reality and learns to move forward.
Though the film wasn’t a blockbuster hit, it was powerful nonetheless and served to highlight the realities of disabled war veterans after their time in combat. Here, a look back at the film that kick-started Marlon Brando’s career on the anniversary of its premiere.
Marlon Brando put in the work to get into character
It’s no secret that Marlon Brando remained committed to his craft throughout his life, and his dedication was clear as early in his career as his first film. While the producer of The Men had anticipated putting the actor in a hotel, Brando took a different route. To prepare for the role, the actor spent four weeks living at the Birmingham Veterans Hospital in California to fully immerse himself in the part and better understand the people whose experiences he would be representing on screen. According to LIFE, the actor lived in a 32-bed ward like any other patient would have.
The film begins with a strong message
At the start of the movie, the following quote sets the scene: “In all wars, since the beginning of history, there have been men who fought twice. The first time they battled with club, sword or machine gun. The second time they had none of these weapons. Yet, this by far was the greatest battle…This is the story of such a group of men. To them this film is dedicated.”
Patients and employees at the hospital were cast in the film as well
People such as Arthur Jurado, an actual paraplegic from Birmingham Hospital, as well as doctors, physical therapists and nurses appeared in the movie. A handful of other veterans that were paralyzed served as technical advisors on the film as well.
The men at the VA hospital grew fond of Brando
In a 1950 LIFE profile written about the actor and his work on the film, writer Theodore Strauss noted that he had built a relationship with the disabled veterans he lived alongside for the month prior to the film. “Brando’s orientation and adjustment as a paraplegic was so complete that he participated in their sometimes gruesome horseplay with complete freedom, one of the reasons why he was so completely accepted. [Pranks] include pillow fights and using hypodermic syringes for water pistols.”
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