John Huston Named Only One Actor a True Genius

For more than forty years, John Huston stood as one of Hollywood's most accomplished and adaptable filmmakers. He approached moviemaking as if pulling genres from a hat, effortlessly shifting from westerns to musicals, sports dramas to dark comedies. When a director is that skilled across the board, every actor in town wants to be part of the magic, a reality Huston experienced firsthand.

He guided his own father, Walter Huston, to an Academy Award for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and 35 years later, he did the same for his daughter, Anjelica Huston, in Prizzi’s Honour. The list of stars he worked with was staggering: Jack Nicholson, Jeff Bridges, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Carol Burnett—a roster more brilliant than the night sky itself. Yet, among all these luminaries, he saw one name that outshone them all.

A Singular Talent

In a 1986 interview with Playboy, Huston was asked to identify individuals he considered geniuses in their fields. He listed writers like Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner and artists such as Henry Moore and Mark Rothko. But when it came to acting, he named only one person: the legendary Marlon Brando. “Brando was something else entirely,” the director stated.

“Brando had an explosive thing; you felt something smouldering, dangerous, about to ignite at times. Did you see Julius Caesar? Christ! I will never forget that; it was like a furnace door opening – the heat came off the screen. I don’t know another actor who could do that.” Huston had the chance to direct Brando in the surreal sex drama Reflections in a Golden Eye, a film that felt like it was ripped straight from a fever dream. He witnessed up close what audiences and critics struggled to fully grasp.

A Complicated Collaboration

Brando was an unpredictable, often volatile, force of pure emotion. There was never a question that the feelings he displayed on camera were genuinely felt in his heart. This raw authenticity led to some of the most iconic performances in cinema history, but it also produced some of the most bizarre and unsettling roles ever filmed. The irony is that when Huston and Brando actually teamed up, the results were often messy.

Reflections in a Golden Eye became a number one box office hit but earned lukewarm reviews from critics. Much of the discussion centered on its sexual themes, which were far more explicit than what was typical at the time. Carson McCullers, the author of the novel the movie was based on, passed away two weeks after its premiere. Then there was Candy, a sex comedy where both men appeared as actors. The project was so poorly received, it nearly derailed Brando's career.

An Enduring Legacy

Even decades after his death and long past his professional peak, Brando remains a polarizing figure. While you may not share Huston’s view of him as a genius, it's impossible to deny his impact as a formidable cultural force.