45. A Streetcar Named Desire


    (1951) directed by Elia Kazan

Next: #44. Birth of a Nation
Prev: #46. A Clockwork Orange


It's not kindness, and they're not strangers

My Thoughts Before I Watched It

I was surprisingly unaware of what this play/film was actually about. Of course, I had seen the Simpsons episode where the the Springfield Community Players performed it (also the episode where they put Maggie in the Ayn Rand School for Tots) and had an idea that this was Brando's first starmaking performance.

The Premise

Basically, the in-law visit from hell. Blanche DuBois (Vivian Leigh), a faded Southern belle (Faded? Try discombobulated.) comes to stay with her sister Stella and brother-in-law Stanley (Marlon Brando). Blanche and Stanley hate each other from the get-go. As she tries to latch on to any desperate hope, Stanley tries to find out what's behind her downfall and, more importantly, get rid of her.

Notes and Stuff
  • It's really hard to say Stella without shouting it out: "STELLA!! STELLA!!!" Try it. Right now. I don't care if you're in public.
  • This was apparently filmed on location in the French Quarter. I marvel at the fact that they were evidently able to film this without choking on the scent Eau de Bourbon Street -- a miasma of spilt beer, human outflow of all types, and questionable garbage. It's best imagined, trust me.
  • Speaking of which, has any movie or TV show been set in New Orleans that wasn't a tale of decadence, misery or despair?
  • I had once thought that Marlon Brando's appearance in this movie killed the sale of undershirts in this country (wrong; it was Clark Gable in It Happened One Night). Regardless, the idea that mass audiences would be moved to stop wearing undershirts just because a movie star did it is kind of cute and quaint. Especially when set against the modern-day equivalent; moronic children flushing their fish down the toilet to try and recreate Finding Nemo. Maybe these are the same kids who all made their parents get them dalmations a few years ago. Morons, I tell ya.
  • Few writers have done a better job than Tennessee Williams when it comes to character development. Blanche and Stanley are so amazingly well-written that you feel like you know them instantly, and you know from the very beginning of the film that they're going to hate one another.
  • I'm sad that I missed the era of Poker Night with the boys. But glad that my boys wouldn't end the night in a brawl and throwing me under a shower to calm down.
  • It's a little hard to reconcile this Marlon Brando -- smoldering, intense -- with the human cartoon he's become since then. When did he make the transition? Around Apocalypse Now, I suspect.
  • It's interesting to see the way the filmmakers squeezed some of the more mature elements of the Williams play into a censor-friendly film for innocent Truman-era America. Stanley's rape of Blanche and the homosexuality of Blanche's ex-husband are either glossed over or only sort of hinted at. Also, the ending was changed from the play; in the film, STELLA! has left Stanley in the last scene (or so it seems), but on stage, STELLA! goes back to him even though he's helped ruin her sister. Personally, I think the stage ending is much more in keeping with STELLA!'s character.
  • Vivian Leigh apparently became so wrapped up in her portrayal of Blanche that she went nutty in real life. That doesn't seem that far-fetched; it must have been an incredibly draining role to play. I will say, though, that the cinematic shorthand used to portray Blanche's madness is a little weird. Whenever she thinks about her lost dead love, polka music swells in the background. Finally she hears a gunshot in her mind and snaps back to (somewhat) reality.

Best Line

Stanley: I guess I'm gonna strike you as being the unrefined type.

Summary

I liked this movie more than I expected to. The sound quality on the tape was pretty bad, though, so I went out and bought a copy of the play to follow along. It made a big difference. The script stuck pretty much to the play, so I didn't really miss any nuances of the dialogue. In any case, as I've mentioned, this in an exceptionally well-written story, and the characters are all very well-defined and true. Blanche is perfectly written as the aging beauty trying to grasp one more bit of life, STELLA! is the archetype of the patient, long-suffering wife (why did Marge Simpson play Blanche? She's already living STELLA!) and Mitch is the mama's boy who almost falls for the wrong woman.

And then there's Stanley. Though he's seen as the lower-class oaf, there's a certain pained dignity that shines through, particularly in Brando's portrayal. He knows he's a working class guy; he has no pretentions. He knows that Stella comes from more aristocratic stock, and (at first) sees Blanche as trying to pull Stella away from him, even though it turns out to be almost the exact opposite. The tension between these two strong dramatic characters makes for an incredibly real story, and a movie I would definitely recommend. Especially if you have a copy of the play with you.

Cast

Marlon Brando as the smoldering Stanley Kowalski, Vivian Leigh as the unravelling Blanche DuBois, Kim Hunter as STELLA!!, Karl Malden (do you know him?) as the misdirected lovesick man, and New Orleans as the hot, sweaty setting..