I worked with Marlon Brando on 4 films that I can recall. Guys And Dolls, Désirée, On The Waterfront and, Sayonara. But I remember Brando most from visits he made to James Dean on the East Of Eden set. In Guys And Dolls I was one of the fast walking pedestrians at some New York streets crossing (Many of these scenes were shot at The Lot, formerly called Metro Goldwyn Mayer studio). In Desiree I was one of the French soldiers. In On The Waterfront I worked in a lot of scenes of the longshoremen.
Like most method actors he immersed himself in the character he was portraying and excluded any external distraction. None of us were ever offended by his coldness as we realized that it was the Method actor‘s way of giving the great performances that have withstood the passage of time. On the carnival set of East Of Eden, Brando and Jimmy Dean would sit on a bench and mumble to each other which I found very intriguing to watch and therefore recall so well. James Dean even during their discussions would not for a moment step out of character.
In this scene from Sayonara there was actually a lot more dialogue in the washroom when I was clearly visible. However most 1950s films have been cut and diced to fit neatly into TV time slots allowing plenty of time for commercials.
In Another Time 