At HIFF: Matthew Broderick and Alec Baldwin Reflect on Brando, Hughes, Career Misfires and More

Broderick was also candid about a pair of his less-wonderful experiences, or at least less-wonderful films: The Road to Wellville and The Stepford Wives.

"That's example of one where best intentions went [awry]," Broderick said of Wellville, director Alan Parker's star-studded, poorly received adaptation of the T. Coraghessan Boyle novel. "I don't think I'm alone in saying that didn't quite work out. I don't know why. I love that book. I was so thrilled to be cast. Alan Parker with the very best design people. Wonderful cast. And it just... The movie is silly, and... I don't want to put the movie down. It's just not as good as the book."

"As you thought it would be," Baldwin said.

"That's me; that's my opinion," Broderick added. "And it was with the greatest intentions on everyone's part, honestly."

The same results met The Stepford Wives, in which Broderick starred with Nicole Kidman, Better Midler, Glenn Close and Christopher Walken. "It was very complex, as they say," Broderick noted

"Big budget," Baldwin said.

"Big budget," Broderick confirmed. "Maybe too big in a way, you know? The best cast you possibly imagine. [Producer] Scott Rudin. Everyone was top of the line. Just something about the... Maybe it was that they weren't sure how to make a comedy out of that? Because when you come right down to it, they're killing their wives and replacing them with robots. That might be funny to some people, but it wasn't an easy [concept]. I don't know why it didn't work. You tell me. Except I'm very sensitive!"

"This was supposed a psychological thriller," Baldwin said. "It was [director] Frank Oz? Now he's making it into a comedy?"

"Yeah," Broderick said. "I guess I wasn't quite sure..."

"Which way to go?"

"How to do it, yeah. A scary comedy is an unusual thing -- which he was aware of. I think it does exist."

"Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein?"

"...Meet the Mummy. Yeah."

Baldwin eventually raised the subject of Tower Heist, Broderick's upcoming film With Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Casey Affleck, Alan Alda and others. "Brett Ratner's the director," Baldwin said, followed by a big, showy laugh. "Let's hear about Brett Ratner."

"Brett Ratner was great," Broderick said. "You know, this is one of those big, monstrous movies, honestly, that was fun to shoot. It was all a gang, and we had a lot of time to kill, and we enjoyed our little selves, truthfully. And Brett is a very big personality, for those of you who haven't worked with him. But he's very smart, ultimately, and will not quit until he has what he wants... Maybe five times. [...] He watches that monitor and stops at nothing."

They closed out their conversation with a protracted exchange about Marlon Brando, Broderick's co-star in the 1990 comedy The Freshman. Here's video of that exchange, followed again by text excerpts:

"Nobody ever really thought Marlon would show up," Broderick remembered. "You know? They were like, 'No, he's really doing it.' And I was like, 'Really?' And they said, 'Yeah.' And then we got to rehearsal one day, and he wasn't there. Then we started rehearsing and they were like, 'He's on his way.' Yeah, he's on his way. Whatever. And not that late, there's a knock on the door. We thought, 'That might be Marlon Brando. Probably not.' And we open the door and he was on his knees apologizing that he was late. He came in on his knees to say he was sorry. And he was in, I think -- this might be a hallucination -- but a velour sweatsuit and sunglasses. Possibly even a cowboy hat."

"Very Vegas," Baldwin said.

"I was like, 'Wow,'" Broderick said. "'That is freaking Marlon Brando.'"

"That was the first time you ever laid eyes on him?"

"The first time I'd ever laid on eyes on him, and it was a little like when Ralph Kramden meets the mayor, you know?" Broderick adopted Jackie Gleason's jittery, starstruck panic. "'Ayayayayay humminahummina...'"

Baldwin also met Brando once while attempting to persuade him to appear as Big Daddy in a new TV adaptation of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. (In the end, Brando wasn't insurable for the role.) "He was very kind and very sweet," Baldwin said of the lunch at Brando's house that went on "for this really long period of time."

"The one thing this I will say, " Baldwin added, " is that when I sat down, he said. 'We're like two dogs, you and I.'" And here Baldwin undertook a low, nasal-y Brando impersonation. "'Sniffing at each other. I'm sniffing you, and you're sniffing me. And at some point you just say whatever it is you want to say. And I'll say whatever it is I want to say, and the we'll see where we wind up.' And I said, 'Yeah, great! Fantastic!' Because I think he was used to everybody being in awe of him and creating a very artificial environment for him."

Broderick nodded, replying: "He once said to Bruno [Kirby, another Freshman co-star] or to me, 'I haven't had an honest moment with another person in 40 years.' He felt like everyone treated him like 'Marlon Brando.' [...] I said, 'Do you see dailies, Marlon?' 'I don't like to watch myself on film. My one time, I saw some footage and I was not happy with it, and it upset the director. So I choose not to go from now on.' And I said, 'Well, which film did you go to that you didn't like?' And he said, 'On the Waterfront.'"

The crowd gasped. "I said, 'Oh,'" Broderick continued. "You should give yourself another chance!"

The audience Q&A soon followed, and we all know how that went. Or if not, find out here -- and of course check out the rest of Movieline's Hamptons coverage here.

Pages: 1 2