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A Streetcar Named Desire: The Original Director's Version

A Streetcar Named Desire: The Original Director's Version

List Price: $19.98
Your Price: $14.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Film that is Rock Solid
Review: Marlon Brando in His Peak&Prime Captured your attention in Film like so few before&since.Him&Vivien Leigh bring it Home in this Classic.Karl Malden is also solid.He is Very Underrated.this Film&it's subject matter where Ground-Breaking for it's time period.I like how films then you had to think things out without all the story&Graphic Nature all in your face.this is a Must have film.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Where Have You Gone, Marlon Brando?
Review: Imagine the body of work that could have been produced had Marlon Brando kept up the physique and acting dedication to craft he shows in this movie. These days you get little more than cameo appearances once in awhile as he [sells] himself to meet his bills.

Yes, this film had it censorship problems, but to get something of this intensity on the screen in those days must have been quite an achievement. It didn't become controversial with blatant language, blood, and nudity that today's films casually crank out. No, this one got in trouble because it stretched the boundaries of what writing and acting can achieve, and today's movie makers would do well to watch and take notes. This one displays it's intensity in the brute force of Brando, and the matching of wits with Vivian Leigh...

... Realize this, and you see a battle that no war movie can exceed.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: the Wicked versus the Tender
Review: Shortly after Blanche Dubois (played by Vivien Leigh) moves in with her sister Stella for temporary shelter, Stella's husband (Stanley, played by Marlon Brando) begins to suspect that Blanche is a fallen woman who's on the run and masquerading as a respectable lady. Stanley then decides he'll stop at nothing to destroy Blanche's hopes for a normal life. What happens in this movie will have you glued to the screen from start to finish. ASND has realistic , powerful acting from Leigh, Brando, Malden and Hunter .......This film makes my Top 5 Movies of All Time. If you consider yourself a "tender" person (as opposed to wicked/ruthless) then do yourself a favor and watch ASND. It's a primal reminder that the Gentle/Tender should always be watchful of their archenemy, the Wicked! It's no wonder ASND won so many Oscars. Blanche is a highly demanding role for any actress and Vivien Leigh steps up to the plate and hits a grand slam with her perfect performance ...and yes, Leigh won the Oscar for Best Actress. Even more amazing is the fact that Leigh is from the U.K. and Blanche is pure Mississippi ex-plantation debutante

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Streetcar Named Desire- 1951 movie not as good as cartoon
Review: I remember seeing the cartoon production of this play as a child. Vivien Leigh is nothing compared to Marge Simpson, and Marolon Brando just couldn't pull off the same caliber of performance as Ned Flanders.
It's your typical delicate-flower-turned-crazy-slut story. And it's jammed packed with poetic moments- one after another after another until you want to smash something- which is what Stanley does.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: stunning classic
Review: Tennessee Williams' classic A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE is a telling and true drama of brutality crushing the gentle.

Blanche Dubois (Vivien Leigh - GONE WITH THE WIND), arrives in New Orleans to visit her sister Stella (Kim Hunter) and Stella's husband, Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando). Instantly, tensions and tantrums flame, with the twittering Blanche coming under scrutiny from the boorish Stanley.

Emotionally unstable and prone to bouts of depression, Blanche finds herself at odds continually with Stanley, and becomes terrorised by him.

A stunning, very chilling acting tour de force by Leigh, in her last great screen role, is more than matched by Hunter and Brando, recreating their stage performances.

With Karl Malden.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Streetcar Named Prozac
Review: Basically, the only normal person in this movie is Stella. Stan is clearly bipolar or manic depressive: one minute he's cooing and caressing Stella; next minute he's throwing radios out of the window. Blanche is just kooky and belongs in a loony bin: she's got her 50-cent rhinestone tiara and her worn out Mardi Gras dress to create enchantment with Mitch; on the other hand, she's bringing male victims into her lair. Even the neighbor upstairs is problematic. One minute her husband is beating her up. Next minute they're walking together lovingly arm-in-arm. Mama's-Boy-Mitch wants a woman but makes bad choice in Blanche. It's all such a mess. It's a pretty good movie though. The lines that made Brando & Leigh are just plain funny to me now.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Stella!!!
Review: If you don't know why Elaine yelled "Stella" during a truly funny Seinfeld - you've been deprived of an awesome experience. Brando and Vivien Leigh have crafted a fine piece of acting. "Streetcar" has powerful elements: lust, desperation, deceit, love, jealousy, loyalty, etc. You can feel the heat of Stanley's and Stella's marriage. An essential for any movie collection.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Keep a fire extinguisher near by.
Review: Burn baby burn! This film should not be watched in the summer due to the fact that the excessive heat may cause dehydration and death! This film is so well acted and so well cast that it amazes me every time I watch it. Vivian Leigh truly fought for this role she wanted to be know as an actor jusr like her husband Laurence Olivier and she accomplished that goal. She gives Blanche depth and a masked beauty that is truly a marvel to watch and the entire cast does an amazing job of resting and falling into every scene-infact nobody miss-acts or seems to be reaching to get the emotions just right that the whole damn cast deserved to win Oscars that year and for Marlon Brando not to win for his gut wrenching Stanley was just plain criminal! This film is drenched in lust and sexual overtones that the gritty black and white color seems not to cool the steam but add another layer of white hot heat. When Brando swaggers or Leigh demures or Malden whimps it's pure magic. And more than a few people confuse this film with reality when it is based on moral stucture only the characters are based on different parts in everyones personality and when the "raw" and "animalistic" Stanley "rapes" the "dumure" and "self conceited" Blanche to me it symbolizes human nature winning over the false pretenses of human culture. But buy this film and decide for yourself.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Astonishing Movie, Adequate DVD
Review: With hesitation, I decided to revisit "Streetcar." While I had vague memories of it, time has a way of not being kind to a certain genre of film, namely stage adaptations. What an extraordinarily thrill, therefore, to report that "Streetcar" not only holds up but frequently delivers those thunderbolts of excitement that one can only describe as truly great cinematic moments. Not only the acting of Brando, Leigh, Malden and Hunter but the choices of director Kazan as to camera angles and lighting as well as his vivid use of the wonderful jazz score of Alex North make this a must-own for DVD afficianados.

That being said, I can only rate the DVD itself four stars. It can't be helped. "Streetcar" is in need of the restoration process used so successfully in recent years with such marvels as "Rear Window." That, and the lack of any bonus features detailing the importance of this film as a major player in the 1950's assault on Hollywood's Production Code, make the DVD, but not the film, fall short of greatness.

In the end, I'll be purchasing this DVD and keeping my fingers crossed that someone will have the sense to release the definitive version.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Grim, Dark, Brilliant
Review: Watching this l950 movie was a truamatic experience for me, the three times that I've viewed it. For anyone who fell in love with the enchanting, charismatic, beautiful Vivien Leigh in "Gone With the Wind", this is a real shocker, as she portrays the fragile, tragic Blanche DuBois. Leigh's Scarlett was so courageous, fearless and gutsy. In Blanche, it's like watching Melanie without her steely backbone and elegant courage. Several Leigh biographers describe how Leigh casually underwent shock treatments throughout the filming of "Streetcar," because her emotional state had deteriorated to an alarming degree. In a somewhat sadistic touch, Director Elia Kazan had the identical male actor who portrayed Melanie's son in "Gone With the Wind" (you can see him briefly in the playroom scene where Rhett puts Bonnie Butler in his lap and tells her they're going to London)play the military man who helps Vivien from the Streetcar at the very beginning. Despite the watered down ............ element that was played on Broadway, Streetcar is a mesmerizing experience--but if you're a Vivien Leigh worshipper like myself, then watching this 50-year-old movie a depressing experience.


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