A Streetcar Named Desire
Short description
Blanche DuBois, a former schoolteacher from a ruined Southern family, arrives in New Orleans to stay with her sister Stella, who lives in a crowded working-class neighborhood with her husband Stanley Kowalski. Blanche presents herself as refined and respectable, but she has lost the family home, her job and her standing, and she drinks to keep her past at a distance. Stanley, a Polish immigrant laborer, is blunt and quick to anger, and he resents her airs and her presence in his small apartment. Their conflict grows as Blanche reaches for a way out through Harold Mitchell, a shy friend of Stanley's, while Stanley digs into the history she is trying to hide. Stella is caught between her sister and her husband as the household comes apart.
Elia Kazan directed the film, his third feature, following A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Gentleman's Agreement in the 1940s. Tennessee Williams and Oscar Saul wrote the screenplay, adapting Williams's Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Vivien Leigh plays Blanche, Marlon Brando plays Stanley, and Kim Hunter and Karl Malden appear as Stella and Mitch. The production, made by Warner Bros. Pictures with Charles K. Feldman, cost about 2 million dollars and took roughly 8 million dollars at the worldwide box office, a strong return. On IMDb it holds 7.9 out of 10 from around 120,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 7.6 from a much smaller group of voters; the critics' rating of 8.9 from 63 reviews is the highest of the three.
What's left behind the scenes
- After filming this picture, Vivien Leigh, who had previously suffered from a serious mental illness known as bipolar disorder, began to struggle to distinguish between reality and the life of her character.
- Elia Kazan was initially reluctant to take on the production, as he believed he had done all he could with the play on the theatrical stage. He was persuaded to direct the film by Tennessee Williams himself.
- The role of Blanche was initially offered to Jessica Tandy, then declined by Olivia de Havilland, and ultimately went to Vivien Leigh because films starring this actress were box office successes.
- In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this film 47th on its list of 100 greatest films of all time.
- Englishwoman Vivien Leigh felt out of place filming with members of a New York theater troupe. And Elia Kazan skillfully used these feelings in the film.
- Miki Kuhn, who played Vivien Leigh's nephew in "Gone with the Wind" (1939), played the role of a sailor in that film who helps Blanche get on the streetcar.
- Before filming, Vivien Leigh played Blanche in the first London production of Tennessee Williams' play, directed by her then-husband Laurence Olivier. Later, Leigh admitted that Olivier influenced her portrayal of Blanche in the film more than the film's director, Elia Kazan.
- The German dub of Carl Moloden's role was voiced by actor Max Eckard.
- As many as nine members of the Broadway production of "A Streetcar Named Desire," led by Marlon Brando, reprised their roles in the film adaptation.
- Vivien Leigh, who was 36 years old at the time of filming, had to be aged with makeup.
- The film is based on the play of the same name by playwright Tennessee Williams.
- In a private conversation, Brando admitted that he hated his character.
- John Garfield refused the role of Stanley Kowalski because he did not want to be overshadowed by his stellar co-star.
- In the early stages of the project’s development, William Wyler expressed interest in adapting Tennessee Williams’ play and envisioned Bette Davis in the role of Blanche.
- The phrase “Stella! Hey, Stella!” ranked 45th on the American Film Institute’s 100 Years…100 Movie Quotes list.
- The film was shot in 36 days.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
