In the classic play by Tennessee Williams, brought to the screen by Elia Kazan, faded Southern belle Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh) comes to visit her pregnant sister, Stella (Kim Hunter), in a seedy section of New Orleans. Stella's boorish husband, Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando), not only regards Blanche's aristocratic affectations as a royal pain but also thinks she's holding out on inheritance money that rightfully belongs to Stella. On the fringes of sanity, Blanche is trying to forget her checkered past and start life anew. Attracted to Stanley's friend Mitch (Karl Malden), she glosses over the less savory incidents in her past, but she soon discovers that she cannot outrun that past, and the stage is set for her final, brutal confrontation with her brother-in-law. Brando, Hunter, and Malden had all starred in the original Broadway version of Streetcar, although the original Blanche had been Jessica Tandy. Brando lost out to Humphrey Bogart for the 1951 Best Actor Oscar, but Leigh, Hunter, and Malden all won Oscars. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Menu
Disc #1 --
Features
Movie and audio outtakes
Marlon Brando screen test
Feature-length profile Elia Kazan: a director's journey
5 insightful documentaries: a Streetcar on Broadway
A Streetcar in Hollywood
Censorship and desire north and the music of the south
An actor named Brando
Commentary by Karl Malden and film historians Rudy Behimer and Jeff Young
Art Director - Richard Day
Cinematographer - Harry Stradling
Composer (Music Score) - Alex North
Costume Designer - Lucinda Ballard
Musical Direction/Supervision - Ray Heindorf
Play Author - Tennessee Williams
Sound Director - Nathan Levinson
With the same director (Elia Kazan), a screenplay co-adapted by the playwright (Tennessee Williams), and three-quarters of the Broadway production's stars, A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) transcended "filmed theater" to become a groundbreaking Hollywood work. Battling the stringent Production Code, Kazan and Williams made concessions concerning the "perverse" sexual elements of Blanche DuBois' past, but they retained the crucial rape of "delicate," old-fashioned Blanche by brutal, "modern" Stanley Kowalski, earning the Code's approval for a film definitively aimed toward adults. Marlon Brando's star-making performance as the "Stella"-howling Stanley burned itself into popular consciousness with its combination of carnality and Method-acting "naturalness," establishing Brando as the premier purveyor of the then-innovative Method acting style and a striking erotic presence. The more traditional Vivien Leigh, replacing Broadway's Jessica Tandy, similarly flourished as Blanche, while the Oscar-winning art direction, Harry Stradling's photography, and Alex North's moody, influential jazz score enhanced the hothouse atmosphere. The film was nominated for 12 Oscars, including Best Picture, and took home awards for Leigh, Karl Malden, and Kim Hunter, though Brando lost to Humphrey Bogart in THE AFRICAN QUEEN. It was re-released in 1993 with four minutes of footage that had originally been censored by the Legion of Decency, including close-ups of Hunter's Stella eyeing Stanley with too much desire. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi
Vivien Leigh : Best British Actress - British Academy of Film and Televisio, 1952
Elia Kazan : Best Film - Any Source - British Academy of Film and Televisio, 1952
Elia Kazan : Best Director - Directors Guild of America, 1951
Vivien Leigh : Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama - Hollywood Foreign Press Association, 1951
Kim Hunter : Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Hollywood Foreign Press Association, 1951
Vivien Leigh : Best Actress - New York Film Critics Circle, 1951
Marlon Brando : Best Actor - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 1951
Kim Hunter : Best Supporting Actress - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 1951
Vivien Leigh : Volpi Cup for Best Actress - Venice International Film Festival, 1951
Vivien Leigh : Best Actress - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 1951
Karl Malden : Best Supporting Actor - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 1951
Richard Day : Best Black and White Art Direction - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 1951
Charles K. Feldman : Best Picture - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 1951
George James Hopkins : Best Black and White Art Direction - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 1951
Elia Kazan : Best Director - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 1951
Elia Kazan : Best Director - New York Film Critics Circle, 1951
Elia Kazan : Special Jury Prize - Venice International Film Festival, 1951
Alex North : Best Drama or Comedy Score - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 1951
Tennessee Williams : Best Screenplay - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 1951
Harry Stradling : Best Black and White Cinematography - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 1951
Lucinda Ballard : Best Black and White Costume Design - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sc, 1951
