Podcasts and the Scope of History
I chose to review an episode of You Must Remember This, a podcast about Hollywood History, by Karina Longworth. Longworth is a Los Angeles-based historian, author, critic, and journalist. She does a great job of telling the stories and legends of Golden Age Hollywood stars with an emphasis on controversial or overlooked subject matter. The podcast has been around since 2014 and there are currently 226 episodes. I have been listening to her show for the last 4 years but had never listened much to her earlier work so chose episode 16: Marlon Brando 1971-1973.
Longworth began by giving a brief history of Brando who rose to stardom with his performance in A Streetcar Named Desire from 1951. He soon became one of the biggest stars of the 1950s, winning an Academy Award & Golden Globe for On The Waterfront in 1954. Brando was one of the first stars that was no under contract with a Studio which gave him the opportunity and artistic freedom to choose work that he was passionate about. This helped bring about the end of the Hollywood Studio System. The 1960s became a career slump for Brando who failed to impress at the box office, which Longworth states is likely because his audiences were growing older, and the younger box office movie crowd did not want to support their parents’ idols. Studios were also wary of hiring him because he was often stubborn which slowed down the process and cost them extra money.
Everything changed with Marlon’s performance as Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather in 1972, which was the biggest-selling film of its time. This brought a resurgence to Brando’s career, earning him a second Academy Award. It was also a famous moment because he rejected the award and had Native American Actress & Activist Sacheen Littlefeather speak on Brando’s behalf. She proceeded to say that he could not accept the award due to the mistreatment of Native Americans in the United States. Brando faced much scrutiny for this at the time; however, it led to other actors using award shows as a platform to voice their opinions moving forward. Brando was willing to risk his career for the causes he believed in which reveals much about him as a person.
This was an entertaining and enlightening episode that brought together many sources. Longworth makes available online all her sources and the references for this podcast can be found here:
To help make the episode more captivating, Longworth uses recorded clips from her interview with Austin Wilkin, the archivist for the Marlon Brando Estate. This helps add more relevancy to the content while making it more enjoyable for the listener as well. This episode also helped strengthen the fact that celebrities are very complex and are often misunderstood. Even though Marlon Brando won many awards and had a magnificent film career, his life was very complex, and he battled many inner struggles. You Must Remember This is an essential podcast for anyone interested in Hollywood History.