A Streetcar Named Desire

PG

Now Playing

2 hr. 2 min.

Drama

List

97%

63 Reviews

Tomatometer

90%

50,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Based on the play by Tennessee Williams, this renowned drama follows troubled former schoolteacher Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh) as she leaves small-town Mississippi and moves in with her sister, Stella Kowalski (Kim Hunter), and her husband, Stanley (Marlon Brando), in New Orleans. Blanche's flirtatious Southern-belle presence causes problems for Stella and Stanley, who already have a volatile relationship, leading to even greater conflict in the Kowalski household.

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Critics Consensus

A feverish rendition of a heart-rending story, A Streetcar Named Desire gives Tennessee Williams' stage play explosive power on the screen thanks to Elia Kazan's searing direction and a sterling ensemble at the peak of their craft.

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Joe W

Good story. A classic. However, the acting style of the period was very theatrical. Other than Marlon Brando, who is a genuine person, the performances would today be considered amateurish.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

04/09/24

Full Review

a a

Saw this classic for the first time in 2023. Man, had I been missing out! I love the sets, the acting, the cast, the dialogue! Definitely one of my favorites! Check it out!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/18/24

Full Review

Merick H

I love this movie. Tennessee Williams is one of my favorite playwrights and Marlon Brando is exceptional in the role of Stanley. I have mixed feelings about Vivien Leigh's performance. I can see why it is highly regarded and she has some wonderful moments, but overall I think her performance is over-the-top and it weighs on you over the course of the film. The changes that were made to the original play due to the content codes of the time also bother me, but I understand; there is nothing they could really do about that. There are things that the film alludes to that, if you had no prior knowledge of the story, it would be incredibly difficult to have a clear understanding of what happened. Ultimately, I love Tennessee Williams, and this is a beautiful film.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/15/24

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Tim M

A pitch perfect adaptation of Tennessee Williams's seminal play, A Streetcar Named Desire gets top-tier performances from its powerhouse cast.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/14/23

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Rami A

A 1950s classic that went on to become a major motion picture. Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh stole the show in this film! They both gave wonderful performances.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/27/23

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Matthew B

A Streetcar Named Desire proved to be a landmark movie that anticipated the direction in which cinema was going to develop in the 1960s. It seems surprising to me that it was made at the beginning of the 1950s. The film's frank sexual content, and the early use of Method Acting by its lead male star seem to belong to the next decade. Marlon Brando was one of the pioneers of a new style known as Method Acting. Nowadays this approach is more familiar to audiences, and even a little dated. It seems mannered and artificial now, and yet at the time it was an exciting and more naturalistic approach to playing a role. The little gestures and mannerisms did not seem like hamming then, but were felt to be more real. The actor was expected to become the characters that s/he played. Brando approached the role without the usual restraint or falsity with which actors generally approach the task of playing lower-class characters (both before and since the film). Here was no refined actor slumming it with a fake plebeian voice. Brando genuinely seems to be Stanley Kowalski, a man of greedy appetites with an unrestrained violent temperament. Actors often speak in defence of the characters they play, but Brando is on record as saying that he detested his character. This makes his performance all the more impressive, as he throws himself into the part, and is utterly convincing. This emotional identification with the character is the essence of Method Acting. The theme of the story is desire, as the title implies, and all of the characters are riding that streetcar in different ways. What they desire is different. Some desire love, comfort, security, companionship, or a buffer against loneliness, or simply they desire kindness. However the most obvious desire expressed in the film is of course sex. Two characters are practically embodiments of desire. These are Stanley Kowalski and Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh). Kowalski is intensely physical. In nearly every scene, he is stuffing food in his mouth. Nonetheless he has a powerful and beautiful physique that often fills audience members with awe, and a sense of sadness that he lost his figure in later life. This is accentuated by his tight shirts, when indeed he is wearing a shirt at all. Often he is bare-chested. In the famous scene where he shouts his wife's name from the bottom of the stairs, his clothes are draped about him, increasing his resemblance to a Stone Age Man. Vivien Leigh's performance is the antithesis of Brando's. Leigh had previously undertaken the role of Blanche in a stage production managed by her husband Laurence Olivier, and she acts the part in a highly theatrical way. In the film, this approach is a jarring contrast to that of Brando's hyper-realist mannerisms, but in this story, the two approaches are a perfect combination that reflects the two clashing personalities involved, and indeed the play's overall theme about how sensitive and gentle people are destroyed by those who are harsh and brutal. At the end, Blanche famously declares, "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers," a comment that reflects her sexual past, but also contains a truth. This flawed but softer person must seek kindness and gentleness in strange places because it cannot be found in the familiar places where she is looking. What Blanche needs is not the kindness of strangers, but the strangeness of kindness. I wrote a longer appreciation of A Streetcar Named Desire if you would like to read more: https://themoviescreenscene.wordpress.com/2019/06/24/a-streetcar-named-desire-1951/

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/18/23

Full Review

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Elia Kazan

Director

Marlon Brando

Stanley Kowalski

Vivien Leigh

Blanche DuBois

Kim Hunter

Stella Kowalski

Karl Malden

Mitch

Rudy Bond

Steve

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Ed Potton

Times (UK)

Elia Kazan's claustrophobic close-ups do a fine job of recreating the intensity of the stage.

Rated: 4/5

Feb 10, 2020

Full Review

Bob Thomas

Associated Press

Some movie goers will be bored by its unlovely subject and wealth of talk, but others will admire it as an excursion into art.

Aug 7, 2019

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Pauline Kael

New Yorker

Vivien Leigh gives one of those rare performances that can truly be said to evoke pity and terror.

Jan 3, 2018

Full Review

Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

It’s rough, depressing, and unstarched, but it's so potent because of the characters. They are overflowing with energy and life and it is impossible not to be mesmerized by them despite their dysfunction.

Rated: 4.5/5

Aug 19, 2022

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André Bazin

Cahiers du Cinéma

Its international success doubtless arises mostly from its relative boldness as well as its eroticism. But this work is not without theatrical qualities: authentically dramatic, it also develops a certain poetic atmosphere.

Jan 5, 2022

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Matt Neal

ABC Radio (Australia)

The emotions are dialled up to 11 by the sweltering New Orleans heat and Marlon Brando's physique, which is matched by his titanic performance.

Rated: 5/5

Oct 26, 2021

Full Review

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Synopsis

Based on the play by Tennessee Williams, this renowned drama follows troubled former schoolteacher Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh) as she leaves small-town Mississippi and moves in with her sister, Stella Kowalski (Kim Hunter), and her husband, Stanley (Marlon Brando), in New Orleans. Blanche's flirtatious Southern-belle presence causes problems for Stella and Stanley, who already have a volatile relationship, leading to even greater conflict in the Kowalski household.

Director: Elia Kazan
Screenwriter: Oscar Saul, Tennessee Williams, Tennessee Williams
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Warner Brothers
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 1, 1951, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 2, 2013
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.37:1)

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