‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ is widely considered to be the best adaptation from stage to screen ever made. This consensual classic also ranks as one of the best films ever made with every element of the picture coming together with a perfectly debauched harmony.
Based on Tennessee Williams’ most famous play (and arguably his best), his dialogue here is a force to be reckoned with. It is depraved, sexual, steamy, the epitome of what Williams was known for. The film combine this dialogue with some of the best ensemble acting anyone has ever seen. The film lives up to its reputation and then some.
Elia Kazan directed the play in New York for many years and came west to helm the film adaptation. With him, he brought every major actor in the play to reprise their roles with the exception of Jessica Tandy as Blanch DuBois (who was thought by the studios to not be well-known enough). To replace Jessica Tandy, they found Vivien Leigh, who had been starring in a version of the play in London directed by Laurence Olivier (anyone else curious to see what Olivier could have done with the play?). Vivien Leigh later said that Olivier’s direction of her in that role was more influential than Kazan’s.
I’ve made it this far into my review and yet no mention of Marlon Brando? Oddly enough, when the stage play made its debut, critics made very little mention of Brando’s performance and showered the other cast members in accolades. It was only when audiences started pouring in, did Marlon Brando quickly make a name for himself as being an acting powerhouse. Brando became pure magnetism, he overpowered the other actors on-screen, and eventually the director had to re-block the scenes to get the audience to focus on the other actors. No one could take their eyes off him and to see this film is to cease wondering why.
He combined his “method” acting training (culling from real-life experience to create a character) with instinct, improvisation, careful planning and a forcefulness actors of the time were not used to. He changed the role of Stanley Kowalski to fit his needs, his under the breath mumbling, his eccentrics. Marlon Brando applied this technique to his acting ever since, successful or not. The main character of this film is Blanche DuBois, however, not Stanley Kowalski and in an ironic note, ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ is still only one of two films to ever win three Oscars for acting (‘Network’ was the other), and Brando was not one of the three. Nominated, he lost to Humphrey Bogart for ‘The African Queen’ as Vivien Leigh, Kim Hunter and Karl Malden all took home Oscars…ahh, the benefit of hindsight.
The film opens with the Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh) taking a streetcar named desire to find her sister Stella Kowalski (Kim Hunter) in a shady area of New Orleans. Not finding her sister at home, she is directed to the local bowling alley. Stella, who is pregnant, and not expecting her sister’s visit but is welcoming nonetheless proudly points out her brutish, ruffian husband Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando), who is engaged in a scuffle between some bowling mates. Automatically horrified and compelled at the same time, the aristocratic façade that Blanche DuBois puts up may have finally met its match.
Stanley Kowalski sees immediately through Blanche’s façade and sees that she is everything Stella is not. Stella is a pragmatic woman, happy with her life, even though it may be a life far from her wealthy upbringing. Blanche carries on with pretentious airs, a trunk full of furs and expensive jewelry accompany her, and Stanley becomes determined to break through her pretensions and her innocent flirting with direct sensual force. The two become instantly at odds with each other, Stanley barbarously domineering his sister-in-law at every turn.
Stanley’s buddy and fellow poker player, Mitch (Karl Malden), a well-meaning fellow who wants a good wife to take home to his mother, becomes smitten with Blanche, and buys into her fantasies of nobleness and purity. This infuriates Stanley, and as financial, emotional, and sexual tensions escalate, Stanley sets out to discover and reveal the truth about Blanche.
Maybe the best written dialogue by an American yet, Tennessee Williams’s dialogue here is vivid in your face poetry and the meanings buried into the film are limitless and subjective. The two streetcars seen in the film are ‘Desire’ and ‘Cemeteries’, an obvious central meaning for the film…lust and death. When one comes, the other is soon to follow. As the frailty and illusions of Blanche break down, I think the audience does too and begins to see the dichotomy of the two extremes.
The staging by Elia Kazan (who has the benefit of knowing exactly what he wants due to numerous repetition of the play) and the cinematography by Harry Stradling is nothing short of expert. They play with lighting and shadows as if they were characters in the film. As Mitch forces Blanche into the light towards the climatic end, you realize the careful planning of how light was used. Blanche skittering between shadows never to reveal herself completely, and as Mitch sees her in full light for the first time, so do we.
And as much as Marlon Brando dominates the picture, as an actor and character, the supporting performances are superb and allows Brando to be the barbarian without completely overpowering the picture. After all, if Vivien Leigh’s performance as Blanche DuBois didn’t work, then I doubt Brando would have put up the energy. Her performance evokes a sadness and hopelessness, especially towards the end, that has yet to be matched in pure feminine pitifulness.
Kim Hunter has the straightest role as the earthy sister but does it with aplomb and holds her own against Brando effectively. Karl Malden as the blundering, timid Mitch also does a great job and as the climatic scenes play out, you see some of that fire he brings to his role in Tennessee Williams’ Baby Doll five years later.
The film is presented in it’s original aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and has been cleaned up considerably since the film first made its DVD debut almost ten years ago in 1997. Like that release, this film is presented as the “Original Director’s Version” which includes footage taken out of the film in 1951 due to the Legion of Decency. This 2-disc release has also added numerous special features which more than justifies a double dip for all the “Streetcar Named Desire” fans out there.
The special features on the first disc include a feature-length commentary by Karl Malden and Film Historians Rudy Behlmer and Jeff Young. Seemingly assembled together from separate interviews, Karl Malden discusses numerous intriguing anecdotes about his experiences making the play and film and his associations with Marlon Brando and Elia Kazan. It’s a rare find to discover a film this old with an original cast member able to offer insight on a commentary. The two film historians come fully prepared and dote out enough information to satisfy the listener but its all done in that usual reading off the cue card manner. As a whole, the commentary is well worth a listen. An Elia Kazan Movie Trailer Gallery finishes off the extras on disc 1.
On disc 2, we find a disc packed full of special features. First up is a feature-length documentary on Elia Kazan covering every aspect of his career from infant to death. A definitive account of his work, this film is a must-watch for fans. Next up are five featurettes covering different aspects of the film. "A Streetcar on Broadway” recounts the history of the play and contains comments by Elia Kazan, costars Karl Malden and Kim Hunter and film critic/author Richard Schickel. "A Streetcar in Hollywood” goes over the making of the film and also contains comments from the above participants. "Desire and Censorship" obviously accounts the censorship of the film and what Kazan tried to get away with and how. It also goes into the differences between the 1951 theatrical version and the restored director’s version. "North and the Music of the South" is a nine-minute segment on Alex North's musical score and "An Actor Named Brando" is a short featurette on the actor that includes some outtakes from the film.
Concluding the special features of disc two is a four-minute Marlon Brando screen test for “Rebel without a Cause” and 30 minutes of video and audio outtakes from “A Streetcar Named Desire.” Whew, an extremely comprehensive and well-done package from Warner Brothers.
Well, what more can be said about this film? If you consider yourself even a casual fan of cinema, then I imagine you have already seen the film and will want to know whether this release justifies a double dip purchase. It does, without question, the film has never looked better and with hours of special features, you will know all you want to know about this great film. If by chance, this film has slipped by you, then go buy it. Now. An acting showcase – possibly the finest of all time with performances and dialogue that we will be appreciated by generations to come.
Streetcar Named Desire – Two-Disc Edition is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD's database for more information. The DVD is also part of the Tennessee Williams Film Collection DVD set which is now available at Amazon .
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