Walter Murch - Marlon Brando – the film editor's nightmare (284/320)

To listen to more of Walter Murch’s stories, go to the playlist:    • Walter Murch (Film-maker)  

Walter Scott Murch (b. 1943) is widely recognised as one of the leading authorities in the field of film editing, as well as one of the few film editors equally active in both picture and sound. [Listener: Christopher Sykes; date recorded: 2016]

TRANSCRIPT: When we were shooting 'Apocalypse Now', Marlon Brando who played Colonel Kurtz in the film, read an early version of the screenplay and in conference with Francis, said, 'Okay, I will do this film, but I don't like the name Kurtz. American Generals don't have that kind of a name. They have flowery names, because they all come from the South', Brando said. And Francis thought, 'Okay, well Marlon, what name do you want?' And he thought, in a Marlon Brando way and said, 'Colonel Leighley'. So Francis wrote down Leighley, and in the next version of the script, Kurtz was gone and Leighley was in. And the entire film, up to a certain point, 80% was shot with this person being called Colonel Leighley. When it came time for Marlon to shoot the scenes, his scenes, I think he had a 2-week window of shooting, he and Francis got into another tussle about the screenplay and what it was going to say, and production shut down for days while Francis and Marlon discussed this. And Francis kept saying, 'Just, what you're asking me', whatever it was, 'it's in 'Heart of Darkness'. Just read it. Conrad does a much better job than I could ever do. Just read it'. And Brando would say, 'I've read it, I don't like it, I hate that book'. And Francis would be like, 'What? Now what?'

Anyway, at some point in this process, Brando emerged from his house boat where he was staying on one of those Philippine rivers, and he had shaved his head which it wasn't shaved before, and everyone was astonished. And then he astonished them even more by saying, 'And now I want to be Colonel Kurtz'. 'Why?' Francis asked. 'Well, 'Heart of Darkness', I picked it up and I read it'. 'But you said you hadn't read it!' 'I lied', said Brando. 'I read it, and it's a great book. And forget Colonel Leighley, I want to be Colonel Kurtz, just like the book'. So costumes were changed, Leighley became Kurtz, things were shot, the whole ending of the film was shot with him as Colonel Kurtz.