Barmy Brando

Marlon Brando only confirmed his famed eccentricity this week by threatening to sue a British director if he screened an extraordinary portrait of the actor in all his rather surreal glory. After striking up a friendship with the legendary thespian during the shooting of American History X, director Tony Kaye spent hours at Brando's Mulholland Drive home filming their conversations with a digital camera and hoped to delight us London folk with the products of their mutterings at the Raindance Festival later this month. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Kaye described the time he spent with the behemoth actor as an encounter "with the biggest living legend on the planet – in the weird zone." But after the mother of all break-ups during an acting masterclass Brando employed Kaye to film – the row is apparently caught on camera with Brando fully kitted out in drag – both men went their separate and bitter ways. On hearing that Kaye intended to unveil a compilation of their chats last week, Brando, therefore, was not a happy bunny and ordered his lawyers to send out a stream of letters threatening big-time legal action. Although he has now backed down and cancelled the screening, Kaye claims he still owns 49% of the original documentary material which allegedly includes some truly bizarre peeks into the Brando psyche. One such example is a dance track Kaye has created featuring – yep, you've guessed it – the big guy on vocals. Drawn from a series of messages Brando left on the director's answer machine, the extracts include the catchy "If you ever break our pact, you are lost to me forever" and the upbeat phrase apparently uttered after the bust-up, "I'm in your house. I'm going to kill you." And you thought Colonel Kurtz was 'unsound'. Thanks to The Daily Telegraph.