Brando's first film

Before he played Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire, Marlon Brando portrayed a paraplegic war veteran in The Men. For local history buffs, what's notable abut this 1950 film (besides castmates Jack Webb and Teresa Wright, and an Oscar nomination for Carl Foreman's screenplay) is the copious footage of Birmingham Army Hospital in Van Nuys. Soon after, the hospital was converted into Birmingham High School (alma mater of Michael Ovitz, Sally Field et al). Built in a rush during World War II, the hospital received wounded GIs via railroad cars and long convoys of ambulances from the hospital ships in Long Beach. The sight of thousands of amputees and paralyzed vets on the grounds and in the community brought the war's toll home to the Valley. Many Hollywood stars performed benefits at Birmingham. Anyway, Brando died last night at 80.