A Streetcar Named Desire

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Elia Kazan directs. Harry Stradling Sr. behind the camera. Alex North scores. David Weisbart cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Shot for just $1.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 2Made its money back 4.4× over at the box office.
• 375 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 4Directed by Elia Kazan, shot by Harry Stradling Sr.. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 5Original score by Alex North. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 6Editor David Weisbart shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 7Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando and Kim Hunter carry the top of the cast.
• 8Marketing tagline: "...Blanche, who wanted so much to stay a lady...".
• 9IMDB entry: tt0044081 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 10Classified under 12 themes, including "loss of sense of reality", "rape", "sibling relationship", "southern usa".

The technical file

Cinematography

Harry Stradling Sr.

Original score

Alex North

Editing

David Weisbart

Makeup / hair

Gordon Bau

Sound

C.A. Riggs

Runtime

122 min · 2h 2m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$1,800,000

Box office

$8,000,000

Return

444% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

PG

IMDB

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) ↗

Also by

Elia Kazan

• 
  On the Waterfront

  1954 · ★ 7.8
• 
  A Face in the Crowd

  1957 · ★ 7.6
• 
  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

  1945 · ★ 7.5
• 
  East of Eden

  1955 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Splendor in the Grass

  1961 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Wild River

  1960 · ★ 7.2

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

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Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Stella! Stella!

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  New trailer - back in cinemas 7 February

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Wuchak2022-04-30
  ★ 4/10

  Interesting themes, but an overrated melodrama Released in late 1951 and directed by Elia Kazan based on Tennessee Williams play, "A Streetcar Named Desire" stars Vivien Leigh as the neurotic Blanche DuBois, who moves in with her sister (Kim Hunter) in the French Quarter of New Orleans where she is antagonized by her brutish brother-in-law, Stanley (Marlon Brando). As she seeks a relationship with one of Stanley's friends (Karl Malden) her reality crumbles around her. The story is thematically rich and I enjoy evaluating and interpreting it. For instance, Blanche represents the dying Southern aristocracy, its airs of sophistication, its morality and delusions of superiority, whereas Stanley Kowalski represents the simple primal world of working class immigrants and the moral decay of modern society or, at least, its veneer of morality (which is the root of legalism). But the way the conflict between Blanche and Stanley plays out shows that Williams doesn't advocate either side, which leaves the audience uncertain on who to support. While Blanche's initial arrogance shouldn't be condoned and deserved rebuked, I squarely side with Blanche as Stanley's ongoing (and increasing) assaults become less and less justifiable. What Blanche did or didn't do with the Dubois estate is a legitimate issue of contention and the truth needed to be pursued, aggressively if necessary; but most of the other issues Stanley has with Blanche are basically none of his business. After all, everyone has shameful skeletons in their closets, even Stanley, but he's too oafish to likely ever admit it. One critic erroneously criticized Blanche for being a "pedophile," but he obviously doesn't know the definition of the word. Pedophilia refers to a persistent sexual fascination with pre-pubescent kids. The worst Blanche can be accused of is ephebophilia, which is an attraction to those in their later teens, 17 and up. This condition is balanced out by her serious romantic interest in Mitch (Malden). People rave about Brando's acting in "Streetcar," but there are far better examples of his genius, such as "The Young Lions" (1958), "One-Eyed Jacks" (1961), "Mutiny on the Bounty" (1962), "The Missouri Breaks" (1976) and "Apocalypse Now" (1979), to name a handful. Marlon's portrayal of Kowalski is undermined by the needlessly antagonistic nature of the character. In other words, the performance might be excellent, but the character is so distasteful it's hard to appreciate it. This is one of the main eye-rolling problems with the story and the movie: The characters are too one-dimensional and unbelievable. Blanche is the drama mama with airs of sophistication, Stanley is the animalistic brute, Stella is the blindly loyal wife and Mitch is the infatuated dumbaxx. Leigh's depiction of Blanche is so over-the-top and artificial it would've received a Razzie if the film were released a mere decade later. And I'm not blaming Vivien; she did the best she could with the melodramatic script. Even worse, you have ridiculous elements, like the idea that Mitch was never able to see Blanche in the full light of day, so to speak, even though he took her on a date to the pier. The whole "dimming the lights" component is absurd and poorly executed, especially in light of Vivien's obvious beauty, whatever her age. In reality, Mitch would (and should) be worshipping at her feet for eternity, regardless of any skeletons of her past. Then there's the preposterous explanation of the suicide of an off-screen character. In the play the reason was that he was caught in a homosexual affair, which is interesting and works (particularly considering the time period), but they changed this for the movie due to the moral codes and they failed to pull it off, to be nice. BOTTOM LINE: The movie is thematically rich and has a great cast, but the execution is seriously problematic. The story's not compelling, the characters are aggravatingly one-dimensional and there are too many eye-rolling elements. If you want to see a good Tennessee Williams movie check out 1964's "The Night of the Iguana" or even 1960's "The Fugitive Kind" (the latter has its problems, but it's better than this). The ongoing praise of "A Streetcar Named Desire" is a good example of the emperor having no clothes. The movie runs 122 minutes (125 minutes re-release) and was shot at Warner Brothers Burbank Studios in California, with the bowling scene done in Los Angeles and the opening railway station filmed in New Orleans. GRADE: C-

  Read full review ↓
• Cinema_Snobb2024-05-11
  ★ 10/10

  "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

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• CH

  Charles K. Feldman Group

  US

• 

  Warner Bros. Pictures

  US

Key crew

• Theatre PlayTennessee Williams
• Makeup ArtistGordon Bau
• Sound DesignerC.A. Riggs
• Set DecorationGeorge James Hopkins
• Art DirectionRichard Day
• ProducerCharles K. Feldman
• EditorDavid Weisbart
• HairstylistRay Forman
• Music DirectorRay Heindorf
• Construction CoordinatorDonald P. Desmond
• Makeup ArtistOtis Malcolm
• Boom OperatorFrancis E. Stahl
• SoundNathan Levinson
• Assistant DirectorDon Alvarado
• OrchestratorMaurice De Packh
• Assistant DirectorJohn Prettyman
• Supervising Art DirectorBertram Tuttle

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• loss of sense of reality
• rape
• sibling relationship
• southern usa
• brother-in-law
• violent husband
• new orleans, louisiana
• family relationships
• black and white
• light bulb
• expectant father
• sister sister relationship

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere1951-09-18· Beverly Hills, California
• Theatrical1951-09-19PG
• Physical1999-05-18PG

Also known as

International titles

• Uma Rua Chamada PecadoBR
• Un tranvía llamado deseoAR
• Endstation SehnsuchtAT
• Tramlijn BegeerteBE
• Tramvaj zvan čežnjaHR
• 慾望號街車HK
• 욕망이라는 이름의 전차KR