A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

Director:

Elia Kazan

Writers:

Tennessee Williams (original play "A Streetcar Named Desire")
Oscar Saul (adaptation)
(more)

Release Date:

1 December 1951 (West Germany)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

...When she got there she met the brute Stan, and the side of New Orleans she hardly knew existed.

Plot:

Disturbed Blanche DuBois moves in with her sister in New Orleans and is tormented by her brutish brother-in-law while her reality crumbles around her.

Plot Keywords:

Neurotic | Pregnant Sister | Pregnant | Streetcar | Giving Birth

Awards:

Won 4 Oscars. Another 11 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

Vivien Leigh	...	Blanche DuBois
Marlon Brando	...	Stanley Kowalski
Kim Hunter	...	Stella Kowalski
Karl Malden	...	Harold 'Mitch' Mitchell
Rudy Bond	...	Steve
Nick Dennis	...	Pablo Gonzales
Peg Hillias	...	Eunice
Wright King	...	A Collector
Richard Garrick	...	A Doctor
Ann Dere	...	The Matron
Edna Thomas	...	The Mexican Woman
Mickey Kuhn	...	A Sailor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mel Archer	...	Foreman (uncredited)
Dahn Ben Amotz	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Marietta Canty	...	Giggling woman wth Eunice (uncredited)
John George	...	(uncredited)
Chester Jones	...	Street vendor (uncredited)
Lyle Latell	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Maxie Thrower	...	Passerby (uncredited)
Charles Wagenheim	...	Passerby (uncredited)

Directed by
Elia Kazan

Writing credits
Tennessee Williams		(original play "A Streetcar Named Desire")
Oscar Saul		(adaptation)
Tennessee Williams		(screenplay)

Produced by
Charles K. Feldman	....	producer

Original Music by
Alex North

Cinematography by
Harry Stradling Sr.		(director of photography) (as Harry Stradling)

Film Editing by
David Weisbart

Art Direction by
Richard Day

Set Decoration by
George James Hopkins

Makeup Department
Gordon Bau	....	makeup artist
Ray Forman	....	hair stylist (uncredited)
Otis Malcolm	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Pat O'Grady	....	body makeup artist (uncredited)
Hazel Rogers	....	hair stylist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Don Alvarado	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
C.A. Riggs	....	sound
Nathan Levinson	....	sound (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Lucinda Ballard	....	wardrobe
Lillian House	....	wardrobe (uncredited)
Robert O'Dell	....	wardrobe (uncredited)
Marguerite Royce	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Music Department
Ray Heindorf	....	musical director
Maurice De Packh	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Irene Mayer Selznick	....	presenter: stage play

Production Companies

• Charles K. Feldman Group
• Warner Bros. Pictures (as Warner Bros. Pictures)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1951) (USA) (theatrical)
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1958) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1972) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)
• Warner Home Video (1995) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (1997) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2000) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD) (special edition)
• CBS/Fox (video)
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (cable tv)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Endstation Sehnsucht (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Un tramway nommé désir (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Un tranvía llamado deseo (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
A vágy villamosa (Hungary) [hu]
Leoforeion o pothos (Greece) [el]
Linje lusta (Sweden) [sv]
Omstigning til Paradis (Denmark) [da]
Tramlijn Begeerte (Belgium: Flemish title) [un]
Tramvaj zvani zelja (Serbia) [sr]
Tramwaj zwany pozadaniem (Poland) [pl]
Um Bonde Chamado Desejo (Brazil) [pt]
Um Eléctrico Chamado Desejo (Portugal) [pt]
Uma Rua Chamada Pecado (Brazil) [pt]
Un tram che si chiama desiderio (Italy) [it]
Un tramvai numit dorinta (Romania) [ro]
Un tramvia anomenat desig (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Un tramway nommé Désir (Belgium: French title) [fr]
Viettelyksen vaunu (Finland) [fi]
Yokubô toiu na no densha (Japan) [ja]

Runtime:

122 min | USA:125 min (re-release)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:GP (1970 re-release) | USA:Approved (certificate #14871) (original rating) | Australia:PG (TV rating) | France:Unrated | South Korea:12 | UK:12A (re-rating) | New Zealand:PG | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video rating) (1986) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:PG (1993 director's cut) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PG (Manitoba)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Charles K. Feldman Group

Trivia:

Jessica Tandy was originally slated to play Blanche, after creating the role on Broadway. The role was given to Vivien Leigh (after Olivia de Havilland refused it) because she had more box-office appeal.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Mitch embraces Blanche, she puts her arm around his shoulders, which changes between shots, either her left one or her right one.

Quotes:

[first lines]
A Sailor: Can I help you, ma'am?
Blanche DuBois: Why, they told me to take a streetcar named Desire and then transfer to one called Cemetery and ride six blocks and get off at Elysian Fields.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in V.O. (2001)

Antebellum Delusions

Blanche DuBois reminds me of Norma Desmond in Sunset Blvd. (1950). Both characters succumb to their alter egos, and descend into their own worlds of fantasy and half-truths.

In "A Streetcar Named Desire", Blanche travels from her antebellum roots in Mississippi to New Orleans, to see her sister Stella. But, upon arriving in the Big Easy, Blanche must confront Stella's husband Stanley, a greasy, poker-playing neanderthal lout who knows a thing or two about reality. It's the clash between Blanche's stately delusions and Stanley's gritty realism that soups up the drama in this Tennessee Williams play, converted to film classic by director Elia Kazan.

The drama is absorbing. But the performances of Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh, as Stanley and Blanche, are what make the film the cinematic powerhouse that it is. Excellent B&W lighting and jazzy background music amplify the seedy, sleazy atmosphere, which adds depth and texture to the story and the acting. And, of course, the claustrophobic, steamy French Quarter makes a perfect setting.

As one would expect for a film derived from a play, "A Streetcar Named Desire" is very talky. Generally, I don't care for films burdened with a ten thousand page script. But this talk-fest is an exception. Overwhelming what I would otherwise consider a weakness, the acting of Brando and Leigh alone are enough to justify a two hour investment, and render an enjoyable and memorable cinematic experience.