A Streetcar Named Desire (1995) (TV)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Glenn Jordan

Writer:

Tennessee Williams (play)

Release Date:

29 October 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Set in the French Quarter of New Orleans during the restless years following World War Two, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE is the story of Blanche DuBois...

Plot Keywords:

Rape Victim | Pregnancy | Pulitzer Prize Source | Mental Illness | Sister Sister Relationship

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 8 nominations

Cast

Alec Baldwin	...	Stanley Kowalski
Jessica Lange	...	Blanche DuBois
John Goodman	...	Harold 'Mitch' Mitchell
Diane Lane	...	Stella
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Frederick Coffin	...	Steve (as Fred Coffin)
Carlos Gómez	...	Pablo
Jerry Hardin	...	The Doctor (as Jerry Harden)
Patricia Herd	...	The Matron
Matt Keeslar	...	Collector (as Matt Keesler)
Tina Lifford	...	The Neighbor
Rondi Reed	...	Eunice
Carmen Zapata	...	Flower Seller

Directed by
Glenn Jordan

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Tennessee Williams		play

Produced by
Glenn Jordan	....	producer
Robert Bennett Steinhauer	....	co-producer

Original Music by
David Mansfield

Cinematography by
Ralf D. Bode

Film Editing by
David A. Simmons

Casting by
Marsha Kleinman

Production Design by
Fred Harpman

Art Direction by
Janet Stokes

Set Decoration by
Tom Pedigo

Costume Design by
Theoni V. Aldredge

Makeup Department
Linda De Andrea	....	hair stylist: Ms. Jessica Lange
Alan Friedman	....	makeup supervisor
Susan Mills	....	hair department head

Production Management
Robert Gros	....	executive in charge of production
Robert Bennett Steinhauer	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Cynthia A. Potthast	....	second assistant director
Marty Eli Schwartz	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Ron Yates	....	set designer

Sound Department
Jessy Bender	....	sound utility
Lawrence L. Commans	....	boom operator
Bob Costanza	....	sound editor
G. Michael Graham	....	supervising sound editor
Kristi Johns	....	adr supervisor

Special Effects by
Al Marangoni	....	special effects coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Paul Bode	....	second assistant camera
Jay Fortune	....	gaffer
Bob Greene	....	still photographer
Peter Gulla	....	camera operator
Philip Sloan	....	key grip
Cliff Sperry	....	dolly grip

Casting Department
Amy L. Klein	....	casting associate

Editorial Department
Joe Parisella	....	colorist (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Tom Gilhooley	....	transportation coordinator (as Thomas Gilhooley)
John F. Teeple	....	driver (uncredited)

Other crew
David Davoli	....	production assistant
Jessica Drake	....	dialect coach
Glenn Zoller	....	assistant: Mr. Baldwin

Production Companies

• CBS Entertainment Production

Distributors

• Abril Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1995) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Paramount Filmes do Brasil (2003) (Brazil) (DVD)

Runtime:

Germany:150 min | Israel:149 min | USA:156 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:L | Germany:12 | UK:15 (video premiere) | Australia:PG

Company:

CBS Entertainment Production

Trivia:

"A Streetcar Named Desire" won the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 1948.

Quotes:

Stella: But there are things that happen, between a man and a woman, in the dark, that sorta make everything else seem unimportant
Blanche: What you are talking about is brutal desire. Just desire. The name of that rattletrap streetcar that bangs through the Quarter, up one old narrow street and down another.
Stella: Haven't you ever ridden that streetcar?
Blanche: It brought me here, where I'm not wanted, and where I'm ashamed to be.

Movie Connections:

Version of A Brother's Desire (1994) (V)

Lange and Baldwin's stage performances captured on film

This made for TV movie of the classic Tennessee Williams play was produced following the Broadway revival starring Jessica Lange and Alex Baldwin, that was not critically well-received. Given the Hollywood marquee names of the stars, the idea that a film would be made with them is not too surprising, though we were deprived of Amy Madigan's Stella. (Ironically Lange's performance on stage had been criticized as being 'for the camera').

Given the gay context of Blanche DuBois as a fading old maid at 30, Lange is too old to play her, and her sturdy physicality works against the standard interpretation of Blanche as an Ophelia-ish lightweight. (Lange's waist makes the idea that Blanche has not gained weight in 10 years unintentionally funny). However Lange provides redemptive brilliant touches, that make her Blanche more accessible than that of Vivien Leigh in the 1951 feature, with Leigh's theatrical Gothic Blanche looking as if she would fit into The Munsters. (Don't get me started on Ann-Margret and the way she threw away Williams' lines in her TVM). Lange has fun with the southern accent, and makes you appreciate the beauty and wit of Williams' language. Witness what she does with Blanche's story of the death of her first husband, which director Glenn Jordan rewards her with a close-up for the climax, where she is touching in her hesitance and sorrow. Lange also looks very beautiful in half-shadow when Blanche confesses her indiscretions, though she is lit so well otherwise that the idea that Mitch has never seen Blanche 'properly' reads as silly. The mature Lange mannerisms - her giggling, whispering, preening and fidgeting - draw attention to the performance, and she does not use her low vocal tones enough, but still, this is a performance we should be glad has been captured.

Baldwin does not repeat the mistake of Treat Williams in the A-M TVM. He does not try to imitate Brando, but rather underplays his Stanley, which also does not detract from the character's cruelty. Baldwin shows his attraction to Lange's Blanche, which Brando never really did with Leigh, and his hairy chest still alludes to the hunk appeal that Stanley has for Stella. John Goodman's casting as Mitch was presumably at the suggestion of Lange, since he has appeared with her in many films, and he supplies delicate line readings. I suppose Diane Lane was cast as Stella for her earthiness, but she doesn't really match up as Lange's sister, and doesn't suggest the breeding Stella is supposed to have had.

Jordan doesn't get in Lange's way for the most part, and he succeeds in translating the piece fluidly from theater into film, though one shot of Blanche and Mitch standing apart on a porch makes us imagine how this would look on stage. The only time we are aware of the camera-work is in the last scene, where he repeats a shot of Blanche as she screams, somewhat gratuitously. That last scene is handled simply, with Blanche's fate and Lange's casting inevitably drawing parallels with Frances Farmer.

Although this version of the play allows for what was censored in the original production eg Blanche's husband's being a 'degenerate, thematically the treatment still has some trouble spots. Here Blanche seems to offer little resistance to Stanley's rape, and Stella does not reject Stanley once her sister is taken away. That rape remains as an in-balance in the power struggle - something you would think to be unforgivable by Stella, and certainly undeserving to Blanche. She may have been a relative overstaying her welcome, but is Blanche believable as a force that could destroy Stanley's marriage?