Review of A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) by Jedrik E — 22 Sep 2009

"Hey, toots! Canary bird, will you get out of the bathroom?!".

Director: Elia Kazan.

Starring: Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden.

Running time: 122 minutes.

Country: 122 minutes.

A Streetcar Named Desire is a classic that I could watch repeatedly and not get bored. I knew I was going to like this film but I had no idea that I was going to like it as much as I really did. I loved it so much that it made me realise that it is a classic that I should have watched before when I first got into classic films. A Streetcar Named Desire is a story about brutality, aggression, betrayal and also manipulation. It is a very classic masterpiece with a very different mixture of personalities. I think the main thing I truly loved about A Streetcar Named Desire is that it is a story that wants answers in the end and it is a rather questionable story of how much longer Stanley can stand to have Blanche living with him and his wife Stella. It is rather tense as far as sex is concerned especially between Blanche and Stanley. It is probably the tensest film that I have seen that I have seen from an ensemble cast with amazing performances. It was a rather dramatic story to watch as well because of the circumstances that the characters come across.

Vivien Leigh's performance as Blanche DuBois was really awesome with a very heartfelt, tense and even quite disturbing performance. Vivien was an actress who would always give amazing performances in all sorts of different ways. Her performances in A Streetcar Named Desire and Gone With The Wind were performances about characters who always like to appear as proper "ladies" who speak and appear very posh with bright clothes. Blanche is a woman who goes to New Orleans to move in with her sister Stella but she ends up in a bit of a rivalry with Stanley Kowalski who is her brother-in-law. She becomes very mixed-up while she lives with them and especially when she is sort of bullied by Stanley with his brutal attitude towards you. A Streetcar Named Desire was Marlon Brando's first film and is his best performance as well in my opinion. I have quite a lot of reasons for this: Marlon was in his young days a real heart throb and an ultimate sex symbol. I personally think that Marlon Brando's performance is the best acting debut of all time. Marlon didn't only show what sort of person Stanley is but he also showed what Stanley truly is capable of. Marlon was a big muscley man in his 20s and 30s which is amazing and pretty much perfect for his performance as Stanley Kowalski and is one of the best ways to describe Stanley's character. Kim Hunter's performance as Stella Kowalski was awesome as well with a very supporting, friendly and even quite argumentative performance. She understands her sister Blanche for being the way she wants to be. Stella is a Southern belle who leaves her home town of Laurel, Mississippi to find work after her family falls on hard times. There she meets her soon-to-be husband, Stanley Kowalski, who has just returned from World War II, complete with decorations. Her character is portrayed as independent of mind, young, and fair, everything that Blanche once was and no longer is. I really loved Karl Malden as Harold 'Mitch' Mitchell because he certainly showed his love for Blanche but unfortunately they couldn't completely work out because of Blanche's slightly disturbed attitude. This film has an absolutely fantastic cast with a very rare Oscar nominated cast. Three out of the four won the Oscars.

The directing from Elia Kazan was absolutely fantastic. The director wanted us all to know what becomes of the relationship between Stanley and Blanche because he is rather brutal towards her. Because of the deep tension within the house, the director sort of pushes us into a circle to watch what would happen to each of the three characters that lived in the house. That is where they made me feel the deep reality of the characters. Kazan directed this one better than On The Waterfront even though his directing in that was still awesome.

This film won 4 Academy Awards: Best Leading Actress (Vivien Leigh), Best Supporting Actor (Karl Malden), Best Supporting Actress (Kim Hunter) and Best Art Direction (black-and-white). It was also nominated for Best Leading Actor but lost to Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen, Best Director (Elia Kazan) but lost to George Stevens in A Place In The Sun, Best Writing Screenplay but lost to A Place In The Sun, Best Cinematography (black-and-white) but lost to A Place In The Sun, Best Costume Design (black-and-white) but lost to A Place In The Sun, Best Sound Recording but lost to The Great Caruso and Best Music Scoring Of A Dramatic Or Comedy Picture but lost to A Place In The Sun. It won 1 Golden Globe awards: Best Supporting Actress (Kim Hunter). It was nominated for Best Picture Drama but lost to A Place In The Sun and Best Actress Drama (Vivien Leigh) but lost to Jane Wyman in The Blue Veil. This film won three acting Oscars out of the four it was nominated for.

This is my second favourite Marlon Brando film after The Godfather. I do still love his performances in The Godfather and On The Waterfront as well. Elia Kazan's work is really amazing but I preferred A Streetcar Named Desire to On The Waterfront. A Streetcar Named Desire is my favourite film of the 1950s let along of 1951. I am torn what performance is better of Vivien Leigh between A Streetcar Named Desire and Gone With The Wind as my favourite leading actress performance of all time is. A Streetcar Named Desire is certainly one of my all-time favourite films as well as one of my favourite classic films as well and it totally deserves it. Masterpiece with one of the best ensemble casts of all time.