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 #226 | 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:

...When she got there she met the brute Stan, and the side of New Orleans she hardly knew existed.

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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 movie's line "Stella! Hey, Stella!" was voted as the #45 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).

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Goofs

Stanley says that Louisiana utilizes the Napoleonic Code (which was promulgated a year after the Louisiana Purchase). Actually, Louisiana uses as its private law the Louisiana Civil Code. Although it is similar to the Napoleonic Code, it has always been the controlling legal authority in the state.

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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

Referenced in Teenage Paparazzo (2010)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

Sexy, Brutal, and Endlessly Fascinating

There is little to be said about this movie that thousands of critics have not stated already. It is a magnificent piece of cinema, with an intricate script delivered by actors at the peak of their talents. Leigh is unbearably brittle and fragile and she dances precariously on the edge of sanity. Marlon Brando embodies a sense of brooding masculinity that other men can only dream of attaining, while creating an enduring cinema icon and delivering one of the all-time great movie lines. From the raucous jazz score to the sleazy production design bathed in smoldering grey, 'Streetcar' is a class-act from beginning to end; sexy, brutal, and endlessly fascinating.