A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

Disturbed Blanche DuBois moves in with her sister in New Orleans and is tormented by her brutish brother-in-law while her reality crumbles around her.

Director:

Elia Kazan

Writers:

Tennessee Williams (screen play), Oscar Saul (adaptation),

Stars:

Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter

Top 250 #224 | Won 4 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Vivien Leigh	...	Blanche
Marlon Brando	...	Stanley
Kim Hunter	...	Stella
Karl Malden	...	Mitch
Rudy Bond	...	Steve
Nick Dennis	...	Pablo
Peg Hillias	...	Eunice
Wright King	...	A Collector
Richard Garrick	...	A Doctor
Ann Dere	...	The Matron
Edna Thomas	...	The Mexican Woman
Mickey Kuhn	...	A Sailor

Storyline

Blanche is in real need of a protector at this stage in her life when circumstances lead her into paying a visit to her younger sister Stella in New Orleans. She doesn't understand how Stella, who is expecting her first child, could have picked a husband so lacking in refinement. Stanley Kowalski's buddies come over to the house to play cards and one of them, Mitch, finds Blanche attractive until Stanley tells him about what kind of a woman Blanche really is. What will happen when Stella goes to the hospital to have her baby and just Blanche and her brother-in-law are in the house?

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Plot Keywords:

pregnant sister | streetcar | louisiana | neurotic | love | 

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Taglines:

...Blanche, who wanted so much to stay a lady...

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic elements

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

1 December 1951 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Un tranvía llamado deseo

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,800,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Charles K. Feldman Group, Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min 125 min (re-release)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The role of Blanche was first offered to Olivia de Havilland, whose wage demands proved to be too excessive.

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Goofs

Stanley says he served in the 241st Engineers and fought in the Battle of Salerno. However the 241st Engineer Combat Battalion fought in the Asiatic-Pacific Area, not in Europe.

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Quotes

[first lines]
A Sailor: Can I help you, ma'am?
Blanche DuBois: Why, they told me to take a streetcar named Desire and then transfer to one called Cemetery and ride six blocks and get off at Elysian Fields.

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Connections

Version of Great Performances: A Streetcar Named Desire (1998)

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Soundtracks

"Somebody Loves Me"
(1924) (uncredited)
Music George Gershwin
Played by the band and used as background music

User Reviews

If great performances is what you desire, hop on this streetcar.

Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning play by Tennessee Williams, 'A Streetcar Named desire' is set in post World War II New Orleans and centers around a young married couple attempting to keep their bond despite a noted class distinction. Stanley Kowalski, played by Marlon Brando in perhaps one of the greatest performances ever to project off the big screen, is a young Polish American living in a cozy apartment with his quasi-newlywed bride. Stella, a magnolia fresh off a Southern plantation, portrayed with equal panache by Kim Hunter. Things seem to be going along pretty well until Stella's older sister shows up on the doorstep. Blanche Dubois, ( Vivian Leigh ) is a figure as obnoxious as she is tragic, and almost from the very start she is despised by her Polish brother-in-law. Kowalski suddenly discovers that his middle class roots, which hadn't seemed like a much of a point of contention with his new wife, are the subject of snide insinuations and clandestine conversations rolling off the tongue of his sister-in-law. Who, it turns out, is not without considerable baggage herself. That's when the once toasty love nest ( Complete with the memory of twinkling Christmas lights ) turns into a war zone. Things are further complicated when Stanley's Army/factory buddy, brilliantly portrayed by Karl Malden, suddenly takes a shine to Miss Dubois, The incredible thing about 'Streetcar' is not just the quality of the acting, but the way the actors approach the complex and beautiful dialog. Brando combines dynamic sexual magnetism with passionate anger, possessive love and cynicism. Vivian Leigh's tragic character perhaps mirroring the insanity she suffered through in her own life, is portrayed with raving vanity one minute and fleeting youth the next. As she often hears and sees flashbacks which the audience does not. William's dialogue manages to do the impossible, that is to blend in poetic imagery with normal conversation, while not sounding sickly sentimental or downright ridiculous. This is as much a credit to the actors themselves, especially Leigh, who really had to do the bulk of the tough solo

scenes in which Blanche begins to lose her mind for good. But Brando is simply too hard to beat. Stanley Kowalski is fully rounded in every sense when this great American actor delivers his lines. Perhaps the only injustice is that Brando did not receive the Oscar for this film, while his costars Hunter, Leigh and Malden all did. Numerous attempts have been made to remake this film, both on the stage and for television. But no one has been able to execute the premise like this wonderful quartet. A fantastic and moving American classic. 10 out of a possible 10 T.H.