Men, The (1950)

Stanley Kramer Productions/ United Artists
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Starring: Marlon Brando, Teresa Wright

Movie audiences receive a peek into the future of Hollywood getting their first taste of fresh, young actor Marlon Brando in a drama about one of the heavy prices of war. Sharing similarities to recent Best Picture winner The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), this feature tackles the painful homecoming of soldiers, focusing on those stricken as paraplegics. A heavy drama focusing on one man’s psychological trauma with losing abilities many take for granted, this independent feature attempts to take on the subject matter that the public tended to ignore. The highlight of it was the acting newcomer that brought with him a powerful new manner of performance that stands out, for better or worse, far above his fellow castmates.

The Men is a drama of a paralyzed war veteran and his struggle to re-enter society. A bullet wound to the spine in battle leaves the young Lieutenant “Bud” Wilocek paralyzed from the waist down. Distraught from his lost abilities he closes himself off from his medical staff, from fellow similarly stricken soldiers, and even his loving fiancée Ellen (Teresa Wright) while recovering in the hospital. With time Bub eventually befriends his nearby fellow soldier hospital mates, even inspired to build up his upper body strength, attempting to relearn how to walk, and re-engaging with Ellen. The two wed, with Bub stumbling while attempting to stand through the ceremony. Afterward a humiliated Bud feels a sense of Ellen’s awareness of his inabilities which frustrates him leading to him lashing out at his new bride, leaving her to go back to the haven of the hospital. In his self-destructive state Bud is urged to give marriage a second chance. He drives back to a waiting Ellen, willing to accept her help up the step into their home together.

On the surface the film could very well come off as another feature in the line of The Best Years of Our Lives. In a way it takes a deeper psychological look at the loss of a prideful man’s masculinity as he will never fully attain the physical strength of the man he once been. The young Marlon Brando delivers a raw and powerful performance as the main character, but in a way it clashes with the acting style of his fellow castmates that practice a softer, more traditional Hollywood bravura. The two very different levels of acting can be very jarring, but the heart of the story remains as a powerful, yet underperforming movie.

Independently produced by Stanley Kramer, The Men was directed by Fred Zinnemann fresh off his split from MGM. His style provides the same film noir touch to rough, postwar plot material that was seen in his 1948 feature The Search. Just as he introduced a new rising star in Montgomery Clift to the big screen in The Search, he helps to deliver Marlon Brando to movie audiences in his debt film. A strong, , handsome, young man and student of the rising Actor’s Studio in New York he fully embraces method acting, carrying a performance that appears so rough around the edges, but thoughtfully executed by this soon to be star.

Coming off his breakthrough performance of Broadway’s “A Streetcar Named Desire,” of which he would reprise in the film adaptation in 1951 with a breakout performance, here he gets his first taste of screen work. Known for getting fully into character in his roles he, like Zinnemann, spent time in real hospitals studying the subject matter of the picture. Zinnemann spent months in a hospital in Van Nays, California with soldiers permanently injured by their war wounds. Brando went further, checking himself into a hospital with these types of soldiers and learning how to live without the use of his legs. He spent his time with these men, getting to know them, and taking the time to learn athletics with use of only his upper body as seen in the final picture. Brando would get himself into the mindset of these men, bottling up the deep emotion in rehearsals, causing many of his costars to question his passion, but frightening them when he delivered his dramatic outbursts in character. Many castmates found his swings troubling as they were not use to actors digging so deep and in such sudden bursts of profound acting in a motion picture setting.

Teresa Wright is featured as the picture’s most prominent star in the supporting role of Bud’s fiancée and eventual wife Ellen. Her rebellion against the studio system led to her termination from Samuel Goldwyn Studios, gaining the 32-year-old Wright great fame by throwing her power around after a string of wide successes in the 1940s. However, now an independent picture she would make a fraction of the money she would have collected at a major studio in a role that appears to carry a bit less of a punch as it did when she appeared in a similar role in The Best Years of Our Lives. Her portrayal here is outshined by the power of Brando’s performance while she delivers a quieter, loving touch to a meek character. As Ellen she is a beautifully troubled young wife with all the love you would want, with all the struggle of knowing things will never be the same for her and Bud.

The remaining supporting cast was composed of character actors of the day fleshing out Bud’s world in his depressed state. Most notable would be Everett Sloan, best recognized from his days with the Mercury Theater with Orson Welles, which included his appearance in Citizen Kane as a supporting character. With a stage acting presence, Sloan gives his character, Dr. Brock, a sense of genuine authority, and a presence lacking in the rest of the cast outside of Brando. As a doctor Brock is tough to like and at times appears to do little in terms of direct care for his patients outside of tough love, but it proves to nudge Bud in the right direction. Then there are the fellow recovering soldiers that befriend Bud played by Jack Webb, later of Dragnet fame, as the tough one, Richard Erdman as a cynical one, while amateur actor Arthur Jurado rounds out the group as the positive one. Jurado was in real life a paraplegic whose very athletic and charismatic impressive qualities aided in inspiration for Brando, leading to this brief role in the picture.

 As an independent film The Men received little play compared to the big studio features of the day, but left enough of an impact with critics to receive generally favorable reviews. The film was nominated for a Best Writing Oscar while also finding itself named to the top 10 features of the year by the National Board of Review. Most of all it was the foot in the door for Marlon Brando to Hollywood as he turned what was a sad character into a deeply brooding man of anguish and psychological suffering.

Ultimately The Men is a passible drama that fails to carry with audiences of its day and still suffers with uneven qualities today when looking back. The clash of Brando with his fellow cast hurt on the impact of the feature, but shows us a glimmer of the assent of a new generation of actor that would dominate motion pictures in a coming age. Brando’s performance makes the film intentionally uncomfortable and impactful once you look past its slight bumps. This was just the tip of Brando in Hollywood, and in time Hollywood would accommodate the acting force he was to become.