On January 23, 1957, Joshua Logan, a former Broadway theater producer turned director, descends into the lobby of the Miyako Hotel in Kyoto, where he is shooting his new film, Sayonara. Marlon Brando plays the role of an American commander who falls in love with a young Japanese girl. Suddenly, his gaze lands near the reception. By far, the director of Bus stop (1956), starring Marilyn Monroe, thinks he recognizes fashion photographer Cecil Beaton. Even more vaguely, he seems to see near him a small man mounted on heels recovering the keys to their rooms.
Joshua Logan approaches, suddenly anxious, in order to get to the bottom of it. He fears it’s Truman Capote. He has been warned that the journalist and best-selling writer might land in Japan to cover the shooting of the film for the New Yorker. His reputation precedes him. If he is there, it is, like a hitman, to get his hands on Brando, at the risk of disrupting the filming.
Up close, there is no possible doubt. Joshua Logan’s worst nightmare has just materialized: Truman Capote is facing him. “Come on Josh, explains the writer in his high-pitched nasal voice, seeking to reassure his interlocutor. I don’t intend to write anything bad. I just want to chat with Marlon for a few moments about the state of the world. You know how funny he gets when he starts pontificating. You see, Cecil Beaton is with me. We are looking to have the best possible trip to Japan, but after exchanging a few words with Marlon – two words, nothing more. »
Just a conversation
Joshua Logan rushes to the actor’s suite. “You must not end up with Truman under any circumstances, advises the director. He’s on your back. » The star ofA tramway named Désir and of On the docks shuns the press since its inception. When speaking to a journalist, the actor cultivates the art of saying nothing. Brando is a sphinx and intends to remain so.
But, forty-eight hours later, Marlon Brando invites Truman Capote to join him in his suite. It will not be long. An hour at most. If the discussion were to drag on, the actor’s assistant is instructed to come and exfiltrate the journalist. But why open the door to him like that? Obviously, Brando wants to see with his own eyes who is more of a phenomenon. The success, in 1948, of his novel The Haunted Domains installed him as a star of American letters. His short stories and stories, published in the most prestigious magazinesMiss, Harper’s Bazaar and the New Yorker, have made him one of the great feathers of the press.
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