"It is forbidden for you to interfere with human history....."

Fellow Elves, we know by now a lot about Marlon Brando: The Wild One, Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront, Apocalypse Now, Last Tango in Paris.... We know, too, his notorious scandals, from his refusal to accept his Best Actor Oscar for his role as Don Vito Corleone, to the tragedy of his eldest son Christian, to his apparent egomaniacal behavior and strange doings on his privately owned Caribbean island..... But let's get real here, boys and girls. Had Alexander Salkind not convinced him to pony up that $3.7 million for two short weeks of work, there simply would have been no Superman: The Movie.

Yet by the same token, the greatest tragedy stemming from the loss of Marlon Brando is that he and Alexander Salkind are forever linked to each other in a certain sense. Even after he had completed his work as Jor-el, and then again, when he returned to the world of Alexander and Ilya to take on the role of the Grand Inquisitor, Torquemada, in Christopher Columbus: The Discovery, he was never fully satisfied with his association with the Salkinds. That, I suspect, must have been why, in early April 1992, just before that film ever hit the theatres, he threatened to have his name removed from that film's opening credits --- a threat which ultimately proved empty --- Brando remained rebellious because, frankly, such was his nature to be.

For me personally, Marlon Brando's connections with Team Salkind would have done Christopher Columbus: The Discovery in, even if he had not agreed to be a part of the project. In today's America, you see, the question of who "discovered" the physical land upon which our country now stands is not really a relevant issue for a single motion picture. But truth be told, the Brando/Salkind link will forever be a turning point in the long and winding road that led to Superman: The Movie.

As usual, of course, these are just my opinions. I could be wrong.

Sincerely yours,

RICHARD WASHINGTON

Senior Elf-in-Charge, KringleQuest.com, v.5