When They Were Making It

Programming note: Our Marlon Brando series has been expanded from two parts to three, allowing us to give the final decades of his life and career the space they deserve. Part 3 releases Tuesday, July 21.

—

By the end of the 1950s, Marlon Brando had everything he had spent his career fighting for. An Oscar. Money. Power. His own production company. And the freedom to make films on his own terms.

Then he began discovering what complete freedom could cost.

Part 2 of our three-part series on Marlon Brando follows what came after Hollywood crowned the actor who changed movie acting — from Guys and Dolls and Sayonara to One-Eyed Jacks, the Western he took over from Stanley Kubrick and directed himself, and Mutiny on the Bounty, the troubled epic that helped transform his reputation from difficult genius into box-office liability.

It also follows a personal life becoming increasingly complicated: his marriage to Anna Kashfi, the custody battle over their son Christian, his relationships with Rita Moreno, Movita Castaneda, and Tarita Teriipaia, and Tahiti — the place where Brando began imagining a life beyond Hollywood.

As his career declined, his political activism deepened. Through his friendship with James Baldwin, the March on Washington, the civil-rights movement, and his growing commitment to Native American rights, Brando began searching beyond acting for the sense of purpose fame had never given him.

By the end of the 1960s, the actor once hailed as the future of Hollywood had become box-office poison.

Hollywood had decided Marlon Brando was finished.

Then came Don Corleone.

Part 3 of our Marlon Brando series — covering Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather, Last Tango in Paris, his Oscar refusal, Superman, Apocalypse Now, and the long, complicated final decades of his life — releases next Tuesday, July 21.

Part 1 — covering Brando's childhood, his rise on Broadway, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Wild One, and On the Waterfront — is out now.

—

When They Were Making It is written, produced, and hosted by Patrick Rankin. Original artwork by Simone Beech and original music by Lionel Ziblat.

Join WTWMI: The Backlot — our Patreon — for exclusive extras including mini and full-length bonus episodes, episode companion pieces, and behind-the-scenes materials at https://www.patreon.com/WhenTheyWereMakingIt.

For episode information, show notes, upcoming episodes, and more, visit whentheyweremakingit.com.

Follow WTWMI on Instagram and TikTok: @whentheyweremakingit. On Instagram, we share visual companion pieces for every episode, bringing the images, people, places, and atmosphere behind the story to life.

New episodes of When They Were Making It drop every Tuesday. Follow now wherever you get your podcasts.
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Creators and Guests

Host
Patrick Rankin
Creator and host of When They Were Making It, a narrative documentary podcast exploring classic Hollywood — from the silent era through the early 1960s.

What is When They Were Making It?

The real human stories behind classic Hollywood's greatest films and legends.

Marilyn Monroe. Casablanca. Audrey Hepburn. The Wizard of Oz. Charlie Chaplin. Breakfast at Tiffany's. Alfred Hitchcock. Sunset Boulevard.

What do they all have in common?

They had to make it first.

Each week, we go beyond the legend to explore classic Hollywood's biggest icons and most beloved films.

Not the myths. Not the takedowns. The whole human story.

From the silent era to the early 1960s — the people, the films, and the impossible work of becoming a legend.

WTWMI is written, produced, and hosted by Patrick Rankin. Original artwork by Simone Beech and original music by Lionel Ziblat.

A new chapter every Tuesday. Follow wherever you get your podcasts.