A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

Written by Cinema_Snobb on May 11, 2024

"I've always relied on the kindness of strangers." - Blanche Du Bois

Blanche Dubois has had some problems back home. She rides into New Orleans on a streetcar to stay with her sister Stella and her brutish husband Stanley. It's an immediate clash of cultures as Blanche and Stanley butt heads.

Though their ideology is different there is also an undeniable sexual tension around them as well. That tension continues to build to tragic effects.

To call this film one of the all time greats almost seems like an understatement. Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning play by Tennessee Williams, it ushered in a more mature dramatics that film needed. It also was important as a new kind of acting style. Marlon Brando had made the film "The Men" the previous year, but it was this movie that projected him to the forefront of his generation of actors. Vivian Leigh matches him as Blanche. She is strong, but incredibly fragile. Leigh, Karl Malden, and Kim Hunter all won acting Oscars.

Ironically the most magnetic performance of Brando was only nominated. This is probably in my Top Ten films of all time.italic text