Karl Malden, Kim Hunter, Marlon Brando

Set in the French Quarter of post WWII New Orleans, desperate and neurotic Blanche DuBois searches for someplace and someone to call her own when she is forced out of her hometown after trying to sedu...( read more  read more... )ce a teenage boy whom she was teaching. What she finds is a wild town filled with characters more desperate than herself -- namley the brutish Stanley who is in love with Blanche's sister Stella and deeply mistrusts Blanche and her shadowy past.

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88% liked it

45,468 ratings

Critics

98% liked it

46 critics

PG, 2 hrs. 2 min.

Directed by: Elia Kazan

Release Date: September 18, 1951

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DVD Release Date: May 18, 1999

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Stats: 2,771 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (2,771)


  • June 26, 2009
    I really didn't like the film as a whole but I really enjoyed the acting and I thought the Lighting of the film was terrific especially being black and white.
  • January 2, 2009
    What's the deal with this Vivien Leigh? She plays Blanche Dubois, this dramatic, anxious, mentally unstable woman. And she is either a very good actress or a very bad one, I couldn't decide. I just couldn't help but wanting to slap her in the face! Somehow her dramatic style of a...( read more)cting, and the natural intensity of Brando amplify the irritation I felt towards her. I guess that's a good thing right?
    (So if you have decided on this, let me know, if there are any suggestions on which movies I should watch to find out, by all means, let me know!)

    Anyways, I loved that claustrophobic atmosphere and the bad, bestial sex that Stanley Kowalsky (Brando) oozed.
  • November 19, 2008
    This movie drips with sex
  • August 5, 2008
    A Streetcar Named Desire is a dramatic, fascinating and truly memorable cinematic experience. I could not take my eyes off the screen through out, I was completely engrossed by the sharp and edgy atmosphere and tense confrontations between the characters.

    Elia Kazan did an...( read more) excellent job of bringing to life Tennessee Williams's celebrated play.

    Never before have I witnessed acting so good from all of the leads. Vivien Leigh shines as the disturbed and confused Blanche, drifting between fantasy and reality. Marlon Brando, wow. He gives an immaculate performance of the rude and brutal Stanley, definitely up with the best of his career, maybe even THE best. Karl Malden and Kim Hunter both give incredible supporting performances.

    A Streetcar Named Desire is an emotive, intelligent, thought-provoking piece of film-making. A true example of a classic.
  • August 3, 2008
    Much praised film indeed, which is why I approached it with usual skepticism. It, of course, did not disappoint. With such a fine source material as is Tennessee Williams, whose plays I always enjoy reading, and with Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando, it was difficult to fail.

    Th...( read more)e highlight is the performance, both Brando's and Leigh's, but there's something to be said for the direction too: inobtrusive, straight to the point, not experimental, not symbolist, just a plain good delivery of the story and a close faithfulness to the originality of the script.

    Marlon Brando is stunning. He becomes the quintessential macho, although one with internal weaknesses and insecurities. There are few scenes in the history of cinema as unforgettable as Brando standing on the street, crying and yelling for his wife, Stella. He is, to put it simply, powerful, and dominates the screen at all times, towering over Leigh both physically and metaphorically. This is a milestone in the history of acting, and now that I've seen it I realize how many later performances drew their essence from this one.

    Vivien Leigh is also fantastic as Brando's unstable sister-in-law. Worn down by financial and emotional crisis, probably broke, capricious, and hypocritical, she is a disturbing, mortifying figure lurking throughout the film, intermittently taking the spotlight, thrashing the place, and receding. She makes us feel sorry for her and hate her, and vice versa, for 2 hours straight.

    With that said, it's difficult to state anything previously unknown about this classic. Except perhaps "Watch it!", because it's a pleasure to witness such a display of virtuosism.
  • November 20, 2009
    A perfectly acted adaption of Tennessee William's play. Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh gave incredible performances that embodied their characters in the fullest extent. The visual scope of the film is a tad unoriginal, but has very little effect on the film's message.
  • October 20, 2009
    Now that's a movie. What ever happened to the classics?
  • October 7, 2009
    The line that separates the logic from the paranoia is very thin...
  • October 1, 2009
    great movie,really awesome from all point of view.
  • September 29, 2009
    Brilliant adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play. The cast is incredible, Vivien Leigh is amazing, Marlon Brando is perfectly cast. The direction outstanding. Superb in all respects.

Critic Reviews


January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Despite the overwhelming power of Brando's performance, Streetcar is one of the great ensemble pieces in the movies. full review

View more A Streetcar Named Desire reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • sitis0
    February 20, 2009



    Hello, my sweeter sexy friend,
    today I am already in the mood of my weekend, for I have today no delegations and no serious translation in the office. I have therefore the possibility to look at pictures and commentaries of my friends and to enjoy it :-)))! I became already a little warm. My narrow adjoining jeans, that I have on, a correct lecherous bump has and is to be burst hardly... : -)! My colleague views occasionally on my emerged bump and smiles friendlily. It enjoys also pictures of its friends on the Internet.
    I wish you a beautiful Friday afternoon and an interesting, lecherous evening and adventurous and sexy weekend!
    Kiss you warmly, my sexy friend!!!
    Manfred

  • moonrivers
    May 6, 2008
    the movie that modern actors stand on...in this corner: brando puts his foot dead into "established acting traditions'" arse and wiggles his toes. and in the opposing corner, "established acting traditions'" lone hero, a very frightened vivien leigh, who puts up a very good fight but futile...futile (and the fight only might've cost her her sanity, no less!). brando is vesuvius in this, and practically every actor since looks as if they are only copying this ugly mug, who made ugly beautiful. w/o this performance, there is no pacino, no deniro, no walken, or half a hundred or so actors, or even the latest contender christian bale (omigod! isn't he english?!? yep, and a shakespearian-trained creation, go figure, but everybody recognises plutonium once they see it)
  • Riverfan93
    January 2, 2008
    I love this movie! This was the movie that was a landmark in Marlon Brando's career. It led him to be the legend that he is today.

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A Streetcar Named Desire Trivia


  • 'Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.' Is a quote from which 1951' flim? (Hint: Marlon Brando is in this in)  Answer »
  • This movie had all the acting Academy Awards, but best actor in a leading role, on Marlon Brando first nomination. The name of the movie is...?  Answer »
  • Identify the film from this exchange of dialogue. Just a side note: if you don't know this one, you have no business calling yourself a "movie buff".   Answer »
  • Marlon Brando starred in the film adaptation of a Tennesse Williams novel. What was that film?  Answer »

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