A Streetcar Named Desire (film)

A Streetcar Named Desire is an Academy Award-winning 1951 film adaptation of the play of the same name by Tennessee Williams. It was directed by Elia Kazan, who had also directed the original stage production, and stars Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh, Kim Hunter and Karl Malden; all but Leigh were chosen from the Broadway cast of the play, while Leigh had starred in the London West End production. It was produced by talent agent and lawyer Charles K. Feldman, and released by Warner Bros. Studios. The screenplay was written by Williams himself, but had many revisions to remove references to homosexuality among other things.

Adaptation, censorship and re-release

The play's themes were controversial and the screenplay for the film was watered down to accord with the Hollywood Production Code. In the film, Stella renounces Stanley's rape of Blanche, perhaps to the point of leaving the household; in the original play, the ending is more ambiguous, with Stella, distraught at having sent off her sister Blanche, mutely allowing herself to be consoled by Stanley.

In the original play, Blanche's deceased husband, Allen Grey, had committed suicide after having a homosexual affair. This material was removed for the film; Blanche says only that she showed scorn towards Allen, driving him to suicide.

Some of these changes were in the screenplay; others were present but cut are filming was complete in order to avoid condemnation by the National Legion of Decency. According to the audio commentary track for the DVD version, these cuts were made without the knowledge of the director.

In 1993, the film was re-released with the cut scenes restored, and this is the version available on VHS and DVD. The restored scenes include the following:

• Stella says "Stanley's always smashed things. Why, on our wedding night, as soon as we came in here, he snatched off one of my slippers and rushed about the place smashing the light bulbs with it...I was sort of thrilled by it."
• The dialogue makes it clearer that Blanche's husband was a homosexual and that she made him commit suicide with her insults.
• Blanche's line explaining that she wants to kiss the paperboy "softly, sweetly" now has the words "...on the mouth" at the end.
• When Stella takes refuge upstairs after Stanley punches her, her emotions are made clear as she is shown in close up, her face blank with desire.
• Stanley's line "Maybe you wouldn't be so bad to interfere with." and the resulting rape scene.

Production

Casting

Jessica Tandy, who had played Blanche DuBois on Broadway, was bypassed in favor of Vivien Leigh, star of the London production, at the insistence of the producers. This was because her fame from films such as Gone with the Wind provided the star power which they felt the film needed; Brando had not yet achieved the fame necessary to draw audiences^[1]

Locations and design

Most of the filming was on sets in California, but a few exteriors were filmed in New Orleans, most notably the opening scenes of Blanche's arrival. The streetcar visible in the film is Perley Thomas #922, still in service in New Orleans.^{[citation needed]}

During studio shooting, Elia Kazan made the set walls movable so that, with each passing scene, the walls could close in on Blanche Dubois (thus mirroring her insanity).^{[citation needed]}

Brando's iconic tight T-shirt had to be made specially, as one could not buy fitted T-shirts at the time; a regular T-shirt was bought, it was washed several times and its back was sewn in order to tighten it for Brando.^{[citation needed]}

Soundtrack

The music score, by Alex North, was a radical departure from the major trend in Hollywood at that time, which was action-based and overly manipulative. Instead of composing in the traditional leitmotifstyle, North wrote short sets of music that reflected the psychological dynamics of the characters. For his work on the film, North was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Music Score, one of two nominations in that category that year. He also was nominated for his music score for the film version of another play, Death of a Salesman, which also was composed with his unique technique. However, he lost to Franz Waxman's score for A Place in the Sun.

Awards and recognition

The movie won Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Karl Malden), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Vivien Leigh), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Kim Hunter), and Best Art Direction -- Set Decoration, Black-and-White. It was also nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Marlon Brando), Best Director (Elia Kazan), Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, Best Costume Design, Black-and-White, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, Best Picture, Best Sound, Recording and Best Writing, Screenplay.

In 1999, A Streetcar Named Desire was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Cast

• Vivien Leigh - Blanche DuBois
• Marlon Brando - Stanley Kowalski
• Kim Hunter - Stella Kowalski
• Karl Malden - Harold 'Mitch' Mitchell
• Rudy Bond - Steve Hubbel
• Nick Dennis - Pablo Gonzales
• Peg Hillias - Eunice Hubbel
• Wright King - A Collector
• Richard Garrick - A Doctor

Footnotes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

A Streetcar Named Desire (film)

• A Streetcar Named Desire at the Internet Movie Database

de:Endstation Sehnsucht (Film)

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