Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.


A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

Marlon Brando was a shooting star; a guy that came along and quickly cut a wide swath in the movie industry, only to burn out in a short time. A Streetcar Named Desire was his first big film, opposite the incandescent Vivien Leigh (Gone With the Wind, Anna Karenina). The two actors have very different styles but either one was noteworthy in the highly charged atmosphere created by Tennessee Williams' play.

I chose my title based on a bit of Blanche's (Vivien Leigh) dialog. She was told Stanley (Brando) was born only two days after Christmas. "Oh, Capricorn the goat," she says; but the look on her face, as she realizes how aptly the astrological sign describes the goatish Stanley Kowalski, deserves to be seen.

Blanche, in today's language is a woman with "issues." She shows up one day, baggage in hand, at the end of the streetcar line and moves into the French Quarter apartment of her sister (Kim Hunter) and the brutish Stanley Kowalski. Immediately the contrast between the earthy Kowalskis and the dreamy Blanche is thrown in sharp relief. Stanley goes through her suitcase and sees the expensive clothes. "How did she get this on a teacher's pay," he asks.

Blanche has got this fragile hold on reality - whenever she starts going into her fantasy we hear faint music box chimes - little by little her dark past is revealed and Stanley, who makes it a point to investigate her past, is just the guy to tear away the last shreds of dignity she vainly clings to.

The ending is actually anticlimactic, with Stanley pushing Blanche off the deep end in a particularly brutal scene. A concluding scene shows Blanche still groping for a graceful exit being led away by the folks from the funny farm. It would have been better just to conclude with suggesting what happened to Blanche, rather than having them act it out for several minutes.

The movie, as originally released, was heavily censored and several minutes of film excised before it could be passed by the board of review.

In 1993, Warner Bros restored the missing three minutes, which reveals a lot more about the motivations of the various parties, played by Kim Hunter, Vivien Leigh, Karl Malden, and of course, Marlon Brando. Lots of raw sexual looks being exchanged as well as explanatory dialog that shows just how pitiful a figure Blanche had become in her former home, causing her to flee to what she hoped would be oblivion at her sister's home, ironically called Elysian Fields - an old pagan name for "Heaven." The script is full of little ironies like that.

Warner Bros has two levels of DVD available. A restored version with the missing footage, of course, and a deluxe two disk Special Edition, with the same restored film with more extras for fans of the movie, which is ranked #239 on the IMDB Top 250 Greatest Films. The movie is in black and white, in 4X3 theatrical format, and runs 125 minutes.

I personally do not relish the subject matter but I recognize the great performances of both Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando. In fact, three of the four top-billed stars (Karl Malden, Kim Hunter, and Leigh) walked away with statuettes, the sole exception being Brando who was passed over by the Academy, who gave the Best Actor Oscar to the aging Humphrey Bogart for the African Queen. A Streetcar Named Desire received a fourth Oscar for Best Art Direction.

A Streetcar Named Desire is a strongly adapted stage play with great performances that deserves to be seen by everyone who calls themselves a film buff.

More strongly dramatic plays -

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf

The Pawnbroker

Long Day's Journey Into Night


Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV