A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) | |
| Director(s) | Elia Kazan |
| Producer(s) | Charles K. Feldman |
| Top Genres | Drama, Film Adaptation, Romance |
| Top Topics | Alcohol, Based on Play, Husband Wife, Sisters |
Featured Cast:
A Streetcar Named Desire Overview:
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) was a Drama - Romance Film directed by Elia Kazan and produced by Charles K. Feldman.
The film was based on the play of the same name written by Tennessee Williams performed at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, NY from Dec 3, 1947 - Dec 17, 1949.
SYNOPSIS
Brando's performance as a sexually electrifying brute established him as the premier actor of his day, and gave us the timeless image of him holding his head in bewildered rage as he bellows, "Stella!" Director Kazan brought most of his Broadway cast to Hollywood for the screen version of Tennessee Williams's stage triumph (the only exception being Jessica Tandy, the stage Blanche). Brando had become a sensation in the stage role of Stanley, and he shows why in the film adaptation as he exposes pure, animal energy to the audience. When unstable Blanche DuBois (Leigh) moves in with her pregnant sister Stella (Hunter) and brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski (Brando), Stanley and Blanche circle each other like wary animals. The sexual tension and mistrust build to a violent crescendo after Brando learns Leigh has squandered their family?s estate. The film was rereleased in 1993, with an additional four minutes of footage that did not make it past censors in 1951.
(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).
.A Streetcar Named Desire was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1999.
Academy Awards 1951 --- Ceremony Number 24 (source: AMPAS)
| Award | Recipient | Result |
| Best Actor | Marlon Brando | Nominated |
| Best Supporting Actor | Karl Malden | Won |
| Best Actress | Vivien Leigh | Won |
| Best Supporting Actress | Kim Hunter | Won |
| Best Art Direction | Art Direction: Richard Day; Set Decoration: George James Hopkins | Won |
| Best Cinematography | Harry Stradling | Nominated |
| Best Costume Design | Lucinda Ballard | Nominated |
| Best Director | Elia Kazan | Nominated |
| Best Picture | Charles K. Feldman, Producer | Nominated |
| Best Writing | Tennessee Williams | Nominated |
BlogHub Articles:
Review: A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
By 4 Star Film Fan on Oct 14, 2017 From 4 Star FilmsBlanche Dubois and Stanley Kowalski. They’re both so iconic not simply in the lore of cinema history but literature and American culture in general. It’s difficult to know exactly what to do with them.?Stanley Kowalski the archetypical chauvinistic beast. Driven by anger, prone to abuse,... Read full article
Review: A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
By 4 Star Film Fan on Oct 14, 2017 From 4 Star FilmsBlanche Dubois and Stanley Kowalski. They’re both so iconic not simply in the lore of cinema history but literature and American culture in general. It’s difficult to know exactly what to do with them.?Stanley Kowalksi?the archetypical chauvinistic beast. Driven by anger, prone to abuse,... Read full article
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
on Aug 11, 2014 From Journeys in Classic FilmElia Kazan’s adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire is an important film in my life. ?I first saw it in community college when we wrote compared?and contrasted the play and the film (there’s a lot of watering down in the movie). ?I wrote so much on Blanche DuBoise that by the end I was s... Read full article
A Streetcar Named Desire (1)
By The Cinemaniac on Mar 31, 2013 From Cinemaniac ReviewsReview No. 446 Directed by: Elia Kazan Screenplay by: Tennessee Williams and Oscar Saul Based on: “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams Blanche DuBois: Vivien Leigh Stanley Kowalski: Marlon Brando Stella Kowalski: Kim Hunter Harold “Mitch” Mitchell: Karl Malden Al... Read full article
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
By 4 Star Film Fan on Sep 10, 2012 From 4 Star FilmsThe film adaption of the Tennessee Williams’ play, A Street Car Named Desire was directed by Elia Kazan and stars Marlon Brando as the rough Polish husband of Stella Kowalski. Vivien Leigh plays the role of Stella’s airy and superficial sister Blanche. The film opens in the French Quarte... Read full article
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Quotes from
Blanche DuBois: Oh look, we have created enchantment.
Stanley Kowalski: Take a look at yourself here in a worn-out Mardi Gras outfit, rented for 50 cents from some rag-picker. And with a crazy crown on. Now what kind of a queen do you think you are? Do you know that I've been on to you from the start, and not once did you pull the wool over this boy's eyes? You come in here and you sprinkle the place with powder and you spray perfume and you stick a paper lantern over the light bulb - and, lo and behold, the place has turned to Egypt and you are the Queen of the Nile, sitting on your throne, swilling down my liquor. And do you know what I say? Ha ha! Do you hear me? Ha ha ha!
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Facts about
The script follows the Tennessee Williams play closely with several small changes. However, there are three notably large alterations of the original plot. The first is the exclusion of Blanche's late young husband's homosexuality, which is referred to explicitly in the play, but only obliquely referred to in the movie. In the play, Blanche caught him in bed with another man and she screamed at him, calling him weak, and he killed himself; she blames herself for not understanding his feelings and for his resulting suicide. In the movie, the fact that her husband committed suicide is masked with a line from Blanche that says that "she killed him herself" by leading him to suicide. The second large difference is the rape scene. It is not explicitly shown/described in the play, but it is more obviously alluded to than in the movie. Two of Stanley's key lines in the scene were omitted from the theatrical release: "Tiger, tiger, drop that bottle top," which has since been added back to the movie, and "We've had this date with each other since the beginning!", after which Stanley grabs Blanche and hauls her off to the bed. Both of these changes were made for censorship reasons, but they've changed the story in some basic ways and led to some confusion, especially about the rape scene, which is key to understanding Stanley's final breaking of Bla Although Vivien Leigh initially thought Marlon Brando to be affected, and he thought her to be impossibly stuffy and prim, both soon became friends and the cast worked together smoothly.
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