Actor Brando's life profiled in 2-parter on TCM

A new profile of actor Marlon Brando is - with apologies to Tennessee Williams - stellar, stellar.

"Brando" examines the iconic actor, impassioned activist and conflicted man, who died in 2004.

The two-part, three-hour program, which premieres at 8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday on TCM, restores humanity to his legend. "He is the marker," director Martin Scorsese said. "There's 'before Brando' and 'after Brando.' "

Part 2 is mandatory for anyone who loves "The Godfather," the 1972 mob drama. Al Pacino, Robert Duvall and James Caan discuss pivotal scenes. The profile shares Brando's knockout test for Don Corleone, the role that brought him a second best-actor Oscar.

Part 1 studies Brando's seminal collaborations with director Elia Kazan on "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "On the Waterfront." Martin Landau notes that Brando was nothing like the brutish Stanley Kowalski in "Streetcar." *