Brando without a cause
by amy
One of my favorite DVD "extras" is the rare screen test with actors who didn't get the part. The clips either make it pretty clear why or leave you endlessly speculating what could have been. Last year I caught Judy Garland's uneven screen test for Annie Get Your Gun, a part that ended up going to Betty Hutton after Garland was fired for erratic behavior associated with her ongoing drug and alcohol problems.
In May, a new edition of "A Streetcar Named Desire" will be out and all the buzz is about one of its many "extras": a heretofore presumed-lost 1947 screen test with 23-year-old Marlo Brando trying on the lead in Rebel without a Cause. (Brando apparently turned down the role and eight years later it was made with James Dean.) Brando biographer Darwin Porter says, "From the moment Brando enters the room...he is lightning on legs...he is at the peak of his physical beauty and virile power."
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