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Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden, Rudy Bond ... see more see more... , Nick Dennis , Peg Hillias , Richard Garrick , Ann Dere , Edna Thomas , Mel Archer , Marietta Canty , Chester Jones , Wright King , Mickey Kuhn , Lyle Latell , Charles Wagenheim , Maxie Thrower

In the classic play by Tennessee Williams, brought to the screen by Elia Kazan, faded Southern belle Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh) comes to visit her pregnant sister, Stella (Kim Hunter), in a seedy s... read more read more...ection of New Orleans. Stella's boorish husband, Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando), not only regards Blanche's aristocratic affectations as a royal pain but also thinks she's holding out on inheritance money that rightfully belongs to Stella. On the fringes of sanity, Blanche is trying to forget her checkered past and start life anew. Attracted to Stanley's friend Mitch (Karl Malden), she glosses over the less savory incidents in her past, but she soon discovers that she cannot outrun that past, and the stage is set for her final, brutal confrontation with her brother-in-law. Brando, Hunter, and Malden had all starred in the original Broadway version of Streetcar, although the original Blanche had been Jessica Tandy. Brando lost out to Humphrey Bogart for the 1951 Best Actor Oscar, but Leigh, Hunter, and Malden all won Oscars. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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PG, 2 hr. 2 min.

Directed by: Elia Kazan

Release Date: September 19, 1951

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DVD Release Date: May 18, 1999

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Flixster Reviews (3,216)

  • blkbomb
    May 1, 2012
    blkbomb
    Stanley Kowalski: You think I'm gonna interfere with you?... You know, maybe you wouldn't be bad to interfere with. 

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

    I just watched this for the third time in an English class, and... read more it reminded me of why I seldom watch movies with my friends. None of them liked this movie. It's too talky for them. There's not much in the ways of action or humor(at least, the over the top humor we are given today), and if there isn't action and humor; I guess it isn't a good movie. Movies like A Streetcar Named Desire are the types of films I like to watch. Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh, and Elia Kazan; this is filmmaking at its best. Sure this adaption switches some things up in order to not be too much for the 1950's audience and it suffers somewhat because of that, but this is still one hell of an achievement. 

    Marlon Brando gives one of his best performances of his amazing career as the greasy and caveman like Stanley. The rest of the performances seem over the top in comparison to his perfect performance, but for the time, that wasn't  unusual; especially since this is an adaption of a play and in plays, the acting is normally melodramatic. The underlying themes are well done here. The sexuality is ever present, while still remaining restrained enough for the easily offended audience of that time period. 

    Despite some changes, especially the ending, the major themes are realized and the picture as a whole doesn't suffer too much from them. A Streetcar Named Desire is another one of those must see films for film buffs. You see the movie everywhere in pop culture especially Brando's famous yelling, "Hey, Stella!" It's an extremely important film, not just for filmmaking in general, but for storytelling. 
  • cosmo313
    August 11, 2011
    cosmo313
    As I was watching this, I quickly realized that it was basically just a melodramatic soap opera that made me uncomfortable and pissed because the characters are so horrible and pathetic, albeit a meoldramatic soap opera that was artistically executed and filled with excellent per... read moreformances. I kinda feel bad i enjoyed this. In a lot of ways, this is kind of like, to use that old cliche, a bad car wreck. It's not pleasant, but you can't help but look.

    The story concerns a fading beauty who is delusional and unwilling to accept reality and come to terms with the fact that, as a member of the Old South, she is no longer socially dominant and she can't stay or look young forever. This lady is named Blanche. She comes to one of the seedier sides of New Orleans to stay with her pregnant sister Stella and volatile brother-in-law Stanley. Stanley a Polish American blue collar worker, is down to Earth, brutally honest, and immediately gets into a class conflict with Blanche, hating her for her pretenses, delusions, and her issues, mostly that of dealing with her past and comeing to terms with reality. Then there's poor Stella, hopelessly caught in the middle. When she does take a side, there's some real potent social commentary due to which side she chooses, and how this might be an even worse choice than the other.

    Under normal circumstances, the audience might side with Stanley. He is after, seemingly a voice of reason and practicality. However, he is a true beast. He's hateful, abusive, sadistic, and really hard to sympathize with. He's a real force of nature, and it is damn hard to not get caught up in this juicy but ugly world the characters inhabit.

    If this wasn't so well written and acted, and if it didn't have such wonderful cinematography and art direction, I'd probably hate it. It is cruel, ugly, and depressing. The music is a little bit on the nose, but it works decently enough, I suppose. The audience can't really sympathize too much with the characters, but no one can say that they don't know of people or situations like this.

    It's a real shame that Brando got snubbed here, because, even though he's a real scum bag, he does any excellent job at being that way. Hunter is good as the 'caught in a crossfire' Stella, and, even though Leigh is guilty of some overacting here and there, I do think she did a really nice job as Blanche. This film might seem rather pointless, because, well, look what I've said about it so far. But it merits watching because life is like the way it is portrayed here sometimes. We all have these elements to our own characters and personalities. It's just that here, each character represents an extreme of those various qualities. Given the film's age, you might, if you wanted to, be able to look at it as not only high brow, artsy soap opera, but as that with some real campy qualities as well.

    It takes a lot of talent to make this type of story and subject matter redeemable in some way. Thankfully Kazan and Co, pulled it off wonderfully.
  • fb732260458
    May 19, 2011
    fb732260458
    This Elia Kazan classic offers probably the most gripping performance from a female lead I've ever seen - Vivien Leigh is phenomenal, and Marlon Brando does not disappoint.
  • ajv2688
    October 29, 2010
    ajv2688
    I cannot write everything I'd like to write about this movie without taking up like a whole page or something, so I'll boil it down to a few major points: first of all, if you're not a Brando fan this movie will turn you into one. His performance and his style are hard not to ad... read moremire, he's one of the greatest actors. The story is based on Williams' play, of course, which is a very powerful, intense, dramatic play. Transferred to the screen with Kazan's style, it's brilliant. The only problem with the film is that it changes the ending from the play, but other than that it's fantastic. I highly recommend this movie.
  • aliceinpunderland
    May 23, 2010
    aliceinpunderland
    Another classic that I'm meh about, and I think it's mainly because of Vivien Leigh's portrayal. The only moment that reveals her true insanity is a scene towards the end during which she actually uses her lower register. Instead of marking Blanche's pivotal change throughout, ... read moreLeigh suddenly switches from her initial frothy voice, and it rings of an actor being inconsistent.
  • bottcorecords1
    February 5, 2010
    bottcorecords1
    There actually is a streetcar named "Desire" in A Streetcar Named Desire. Blanche DuBois takes it to her sister's home on Elysian Fields Avenue in New Orleans. It's like something out of an Edgar Allen Poe story, Blanche tells her sister Stella of her and her husband's home. B... read morelanche first sees Stella's husband Stanley as he's starting a fight in a bowling alley. Blanche tells her sister she's on a temporary leave of absence from her teaching position as she's had something of a nervous breakdown. Blanche has come to stay for an indeterminate amount of time to rest, but after seeing Stanley for the first time, she must realize she'll get very little peace. Stanley at first is merely put off by Blanche's sophisticated ways, seeing her as just another phony woman, but upon finding out she's lost the family estate, he begins to suspect her of devious deceit or worse, cheating him out of his share of some money. Stanley is a brutal, angry man who only deals with things by force, whereas Blanche and Stella are the exact opposite, yielding to bellowing like branches in the wind (and obviously, this forcefulness of Stanley's, this opposition to her customary life, is exactly what attracted Stella to him in the first place). But it can't be just the clash of social backgrounds that so drives Stanley to persecute Blanche (as he married a woman of the exact same background), there seems more to it. He clearly doesn't like the fact that she feels herself superior to him due to her higher education, but maybe more than that, he hates weakness in people. Most of all, Stanley has zero empathy for anyone; he'll never know what Blanche suffered, nor will he ever care. His all consuming passion seems to be himself, whereas Blanche just seems to be trying to survive as best she can. Playwright Tennessee Williams ("Cat on a Hot Tin Roof") has a knack for capturing the ugliness of humanity and this film is no exception. Honestly, there aren't too many redeeming characters in this film and the overall vision presented is that humans aren't much better than animals. Director Elia Kazan would work with Marlon Brando and Karl Malden again a few years later with "On The Waterfront", a film about one man standing up against corruption for what he felt was right. In A Streetcar Named Desire, Brando's character again stands up against corruption, but the motives seem far less noble. Good, bad or indifferent, Brando's early roles all seem to have a similar note to them. Like Sylvester Stallone in Rocky, Brando's Stanley might be his greatest role. It's also quite something to watch Vivien Leigh's performance, as Blanche is slowly stripped of everything, including even the chance to dream, we watch her fragile shell crack and then shatter.
  • ythelastman89
    December 29, 2009
    ythelastman89
    A perfectly acted adaption of Tennessee William's play. Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh gave incredible performances that embodied their characters in the fullest extent. The visual scope of the film is a tad unoriginal, but has very little effect on the film's message.
  • MeetMeinMontauk
    September 14, 2009
    MeetMeinMontauk
    STEEEEEEEEELLLLLAAAAA..... haha!
  • tsigur
    February 3, 2009
    tsigur
    A masterpiece of over the top Southern drama. The thing that's great in this movie is that all the drama and whole brilliance of the movie lies in the screenplay (and the play itself) and how the actors play each moment to full tilt makes it a classic. This is another example of ... read morewhy Brando is the standard to what modern actors aspire to. It's everything that is great about acting which is the actual being of the character. The other performance that I really enjoyed was Karl Malden who was great. I tell everyone that not a lot of people get the New Orleans accent and this is one of the few movies that does in just about every small talk and character that they have in the movie. I credit that to Elia Kazan who is a master. Can't say enough about how much I enjoyed this movie.
  • Saxia
    January 2, 2009
    Saxia
    What's the deal with this Vivien Leigh? She plays Blanche Dubois, this dramatic, anxious, mentally unstable woman. And she is either a very good actress or a very bad one, I couldn't decide. I just couldn't help but wanting to slap her in the face! Somehow her dramatic style of a... read morecting, and the natural intensity of Brando amplify the irritation I felt towards her. I guess that's a good thing right?
    (So if you have decided on this, let me know, if there are any suggestions on which movies I should watch to find out, by all means, let me know!)

    Anyways, I loved that claustrophobic atmosphere and the bad, bestial sex that Stanley Kowalsky (Brando) oozed.

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Critic Reviews

Dave Kehr
June 28, 2007
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

...if the hothouse style was ever justified, this is the occasion. Full Review

Bosley Crowther
May 20, 2003
Bosley Crowther, New York Times

Inner torments are seldom projected with such sensitivity and clarity on the screen. Full Review

February 13, 2001
Variety

The camera has done greater justice to the Williams play, catching the nuances and reflected tragedy with an intimacy that is so vital in a story of this type. Full Review

Lloyd Rose
January 1, 2000
Lloyd Rose, Washington Post

Brando's performance as Stanley is one of those rare screen legends that are all they're cracked up to be. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Despite the overwhelming power of Brando's performance, Streetcar is one of the great ensemble pieces in the movies. Full Review

Sean Axmaker
May 19, 2012
Sean Axmaker, Seanax.com

... a Hollywood landmark, both for pushing the envelope of subject matter allowed on screen by the censors and for showcasing the more naturalistic "method" approach to performance ... Full Review

Matt Brunson
April 25, 2012
Matt Brunson, Creative Loafing

An unqualified masterpiece. Full Review

Kim Newman
February 10, 2012
Kim Newman, Empire Magazine

Epic performances in a movie that seethes with atmosphere. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
March 15, 2011
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

Starring Brando and Vivien Leigh, Kazan's screen version of Williams' masterpiece is the best film made out of the playwright's theaterical work. Full Review

Charles Cassady
February 17, 2011
Charles Cassady, Common Sense Media

"Stella!" classic is powerful tale of abuse, alcoholism. Full Review

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Facts

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    • Blanche Dubois: When your sister first met me she thought I was common, well I'm common alright, common as dirt.
    • Stanley Kowalski: I am not a pollock!
    • Blanche Dubois: Funerals are pretty compared to deaths.
    • Stanley Kowalski: Don't you ever talk that way to me. 'Pig,' 'Polack,' 'disgusting,' 'vulgar,' 'greasy' those kind of words have been on your tongue and your sister's tongue just too much around here. What do you think you are, a pair of queens? Now just remember what Huey Long said that every man's a king and I'm the king around here, and don't you forget it.
    • Blanche Dubois: Sometimes there is a God.
    • Stanley Kowalski: Stella! Hey, Stella!
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A Streetcar Named Desire Trivia

  • 'Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.' Is a quote from which 1951' flim? (Hint: Marlon Brando is in this in)  Answer »
  • This movie had all the acting Academy Awards, but best actor in a leading role, on Marlon Brando first nomination. The name of the movie is...?  Answer »
  • Identify the film from this exchange of dialogue. Just a side note: if you don't know this one, you have no business calling yourself a "movie buff".   Answer »
  • Marlon Brando starred in the film adaptation of a Tennesse Williams novel. What was that film?  Answer »
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