What to make of Marlon Brando. To anyone who came of age in the 1970s or ’80s, he was the maestro, a lightning rod who redefined the craft of movie acting with a string of electrifying performances. At that point, classic films such as A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront were still being shown regularly on television, and Brando’s youthful grandeur was there for all to see.