A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) * * * 1/2

Directed by:  Elia Kazan

Starring:  Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden

In many ways, the characters of Blanche Dubois (Leigh) and Stanley Kowalski (Brando) are performances within a performance.    Blanche regales whomever will listen with grandiose, long-winded tales of suitors who desire her hand.    She speaks as an affected Southern belle you would see in Gone With The Wind.     This is likely why Vivien Leigh nails the role.    She has given this performance already, although Blanche's desperation lurks with every syllable.     One of the most powerful moments in A Streetcar Named Desire occurs when Blanche drops the high-fallutin' affectations and her voice register lowers to almost a growl.    She is the real, sad, tortured Blanche, even for just a few moments.     

Stanley, a loud, sweaty brute has it in for his sister-in-law Blanche, who visits her sister Stella (Hunter) in New Orleans.    Stanley calls Blanche out.    He suspects there is more to her than she lets on.    If there wasn't, they why would she be associating with losers like him?    Stanley's rage towards Blanche and the world is a rage at himself.     He desires Blanche and tries to drown it with alcohol.   Being mean to her is like a cold shower for him.    Perhaps he doesn't desire Blanche as much as he wants to punish her for acting superior to him.    We all know she is not superior in any way, but does he? 

Brando is the only major cast member not to win an Oscar for this film.    Leigh won Best Actress while Hunter and Malden won Supporting Oscars.    This doesn't diminish the power and sheer agony of his Stanley Kowalski.    He behaves brutishly to cover up his feelings of inadequacy.    In between outbursts and drunken rages, he simmers in the heat.    I especially liked the way he cries for Stella after an incident in which he hits her.    He is on the ground, looking up to the flat above and screaming "STELLA" in a mix of agony, sorrow, and confusion.    Stella comes out, sees him, and descends the steps slowly with a face of sheer desire and arousal.    She never takes her eyes off of him.    She is once again unable to stay away.     We sense this isn't the first time this has happened.
This scene alone was worthy of an Oscar for Kim Hunter.  

Karl Malden also commands the screen with his usual authority.    His Mitch is a lonely soul who thinks he found the love of his life in Blanche.     When he discovers the truth about her past, Mitch realizes he didn't love Blanche but the idea of her.    He thought she would be his ticket out of living and caring for his ailing mother.    We see his heartbreak because Blanche is not going to be able to fulfill his need.   

The people in A Streetcar Named Desire are wounded.    Each masks a pain that all of the alcohol in the world can't dull.    There is plenty of drinking, like in many Tennessee Williams plays, but the alcohol bottle is just something to occupy their hands.    Each suffers under a delusion about themselves or each other.    The alcohol won't mollify that.    In the end, one character finds the courage to at least attempt to break away from the miserable path she has taken.    Will it last?   We don't know.