Rent A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

Southern Drama. - A Streetcar Named Desire review by Steve

Tennessee Williams' classic of American theatre was adapted for the screen by its stage producer Elia Kazan with reluctance as he felt he had achieved as much as he could with the play on Broadway. It was controversial in New York- in Hollywood, it was a scandal. But, despite the censorship problems, the play survives remarkably intact.

This was the first Hollywood film to feature a jazz soundtrack. Some of it was suppressed for being too sexy! Language and insinuation formed battle lines. While the play is about changes in the American South and the precariousness of enlightenment, it is just as true to say it is about Williams' own heart. He felt violated by the furore.

Kazan took three of his main players with him to Warner Brothers: Karl Malden, Kim Hunter-who is superb- and Marlon Brando. And Brando was a sensation. We'll never know what a shock his performance must have been. Nothing like it had been on the screen before. It's crazy he didn't win the Oscar.

The three other stars did, including Vivien Leigh as the ethereal, vulnerable Blanche. Her and Brando's scenes together are extraordinary. They made two of the great dramatic roles their own. Blanche's fight for survival is a heartbreaker. And she becomes an exotic figure of southern gothic, destroyed by the way the world changes.