The Men

Rating:
Summary: Deserves a viewing
Review: Although The Men was Marlon Brando's first movie, all the elements of his acting style were in place for the viewers to see. The supporting cast is effective, particularly a young Jack Webb, who shows an acting range beyond that seen in his most famous role as Sgt. Joe Friday in the TV series Dragnet.
A Streetcar Named Desire may have made Brando a movie star, but The Men put him on the map.

Rating:
Summary: Who says sequels suck?
Review: As the sequel to Man, this is an awe inspiring film that introduced audiences to black and white film although the film takes place in a post apocalyptic 1989 where robotic spiders, demonic apes and serial killers with amnesia rule the world. Frightening yet inspiring. Look out Citizen Kane, i think i found a new favorite film that involves robotic spiders.

Rating:
Summary: Brando's First Film
Review: Fred Zinnemann finally came up with a script that Marlon Brando liked enough to leave the stage and head for Hollywood. And the rest is history. That script turned out to be The Men. Brando is Bud, a parapoliegic shot in WWII and recovering in a veterans hospital. Unfortunatly there is no hope for Bud ever walking again, a fact he refuses to except. This movie is an interesting character study. Brando shows here why he would become the most influential actor of the last half century. He briliantly depicts a man at tremendous odds with himself. The supporting cast of characters, Teresa Wright(Bud's love interest), the doctors, and the men in the hospital, are well cast. Fans of character driven dramas and Brando fans should get a kick out of this film.

Rating:
Summary: Brando's First Film
Review: Fred Zinnemann finally came up with a script that Marlon Brando liked enough to leave the stage and head for Hollywood. And the rest is history. That script turned out to be The Men. Brando is Bud, a parapoliegic shot in WWII and recovering in a veterans hospital. Unfortunatly there is no hope for Bud ever walking again, a fact he refuses to except. This movie is an interesting character study. Brando shows here why he would become the most influential actor of the last half century. He briliantly depicts a man at tremendous odds with himself. The supporting cast of characters, Teresa Wright(Bud's love interest), the doctors, and the men in the hospital, are well cast. Fans of character driven dramas and Brando fans should get a kick out of this film.

Rating:
Summary: Still a good film despite unevenness
Review: Marlon Brando's first feature film, "The Men" tells the story of a group of injured veterans of WWII who try to put their lives together. Overall I feel this is a well-done film, as it's not pretentious as many such films tend to be. Brando turns in solid performance, even though at times he over-acts which makes his character less than believable. The g/f character, unfortunately, is not very likeable; the actress never seems to get into the role, and there's little chemistry between her and Brando. The best chacrater is Dr. Brock; it's probably because of my own exposure to such physicians that I find him very believable and powerful.

In the end, the reason to watch this film is really to see Brando as a first-time feature actor. He *is* good. Many of the supporting actors are good, too; unfortunately the second half of the film seems too hurried and becomes shallow compared to the first half. I think this is a movie not to be missed.

Rating:
Summary: Brando's first film!
Review: Marlon Brando's performance alone makes the movie worth watching. His sensitivity to the character's pain is so visible that it's just touching to see. It's a great start to the unforgetable legend's film career. I really enjoyed it simply because of Brando. So if you don't particually care for him, then it's not really worth it.

Rating:
Summary: Deserves a viewing
Review: There is a marvellous, under-rated comedy from the 1960s called 'Bedtime Story', in which Marlon Brando plays a novice thief who tries to upstage master conman David Niven. In this film, Brando devastatingly burlesques his role in 'The Men', making it difficult to watch that film with a straight face. The fact that endless parodies of Stanley Kowalski or Terry Molloy haven't blunted the power of 'a Streetcar named desire' or 'On the Waterfront' suggests there was alredy something wrong with 'The Men'. If you know the film was produced by Stanley Kramer, you will understand what that might be.

'The Men' is the 'cinematic' equivalent of a disease-of-the-week TV movie, in which a group of 'freaks' is paraded for the sympathetic delectation of a 'normal' audience; where any attempt to understand character, or the repressive culture that produced the social attitudes marginalising the disabled, is replaced by stern lectures and intellectually deadening experiments and facts. Brando does what he can, but, as he implied in 'Bedtime Story', perhaps the only genuine reaction is to laugh.

Rating:
Summary: Exemplary civic lecture.
Review: There is a marvellous, under-rated comedy from the 1960s called 'Bedtime Story', in which Marlon Brando plays a novice thief who tries to upstage master conman David Niven. In this film, Brando devastatingly burlesques his role in 'The Men', making it difficult to watch that film with a straight face. The fact that endless parodies of Stanley Kowalski or Terry Molloy haven't blunted the power of 'a Streetcar named desire' or 'On the Waterfront' suggests there was alredy something wrong with 'The Men'. If you know the film was produced by Stanley Kramer, you will understand what that might be.

'The Men' is the 'cinematic' equivalent of a disease-of-the-week TV movie, in which a group of 'freaks' is paraded for the sympathetic delectation of a 'normal' audience; where any attempt to understand character, or the repressive culture that produced the social attitudes marginalising the disabled, is replaced by stern lectures and intellectually deadening experiments and facts. Brando does what he can, but, as he implied in 'Bedtime Story', perhaps the only genuine reaction is to laugh.

Rating:
Summary: Realistic drama about the aftermath of war
Review: This film was Marlon Brando's first staring role in a film, and he provides a masterful performance as a veteran with a spinal cord injury who is coming to grips with his changed life. His faithful wife who displays great courage in sticking with her man through a very difficult time is also well acted. A little melodramatic, as many early 1950's films were, but very realistic. Based on the true story of the first US SCI veterans who were discharged out of the hospital to return home after WW II, it was filmed at a veterans hospital and some of the extras are actual patients at the center. The physician is based on Ernst Bors, MD who is considered the father of SCI care in the USA, and who worked in this field in the VA healthcare system for another 35 years.