A Streetcar Named Desire

I have seen this movie over the decades of my life as I grew from a naive and innocent teenager to a blossoming twenty something, then a mature thirtyish, the wisdom of my forties and now an aging baby boomer. In each part of my life I saw this movie through different eyes. Now I have come back to it once more, with much life experience, heartache and losse and have an even deeper appreciation for this brilliant movie.Elia Kazan manages to make the transition from the stage play that he directed to this scintillating movie version with almost all of the original cast intact. The casting of Vivien Leigh as Blanche Dubois was the only change, due to the necessity of having a marquee name to get the movie made. Karl Malden and Kim Hunter were Broadway stage actors and unknowns in Hollywood. Marlon Brando had only made one previous film, "The Men", but was also still unknown to movie audiences. Of course, all that would change after the world saw his mesmerizing, fiery, sexually raw, intense portrayal of Stanley Kowalski. In the hands of a lesser actor, Stanley Kowalski could have come off as a two-dimensional, cardboard cartoonish caricature of a neanderthal brute. However, in Brando's hands, he comes across as a multi-layered, complex, ambivalent, mercurial man who can change in a heartbeat from a wife-beating drunken brute to a lost, needy, vulnerable, childlike man who has a surprising tenderness at the most unexpected times. This is the genius of Brando. One never knows quite what to expect from one scene to the next and this adds to the already tense, tightly wound, emotionally charged atmosphere.Vivien Leigh's Blanche Dubois is a faded southern belle, desperately clinging to a lost past, an aristocratic upbringing on the family estate Belle Rive, a life that is dead and gone forever. Blanche has created an artificial world of fantasy and illusion to hide how lonely and desolate her reality has become. She has never gotten over the trauma of falling in love with a young man who betrayed her love. She turned on him cruelly and he killed himself. Blanche is still haunted by this tragedy and has never really been able to get beyond it. She seems to be a woman incapable of coping with life's tragedies and losses, the setbacks and difficulties that one encounters along the way. She must pretend to be that ageless southern belle, but in reality she has stooped so low as to seduce a seventeen year old student, causing her to be fired from her job as an english teacher. After the loss of Belle Rive she took up residence at a second rate hotel and essentially prostitued herself with a long line of strange men, until finally she was asked to leave. She has fallen a long way, but is determined to keep up the fragile facade of her past, holding a tenuous grip on reality.Stanley is Blanche's nemesis, the one who discovers the truth about her past. It's interesting how my view of Stanley and Blanche has changed over the years. I can now understand why Stanley unmasked Blanche and ended her chance of marrying his best friend Mitch. After the scene in which Stanley beats Stella in a drunken tirade and causes her to run to the upstairs neighbor, but finally come back home, the next morning he overhears a conversation between Blanche and Stella. He hears Blanche describe him as "common", a "survivor of the stone age" and say that she has a plan to get them both out of there. Once Stanley realizes that Blanche is a threat to his very survival, to his territory, his family, then there is no question that he will do whatever he must to destroy her. The battle lines are drawn between Stanley and Blanche and Stella and her conflicting loyalties are caught right in the middle. However, as I watch this movie today, I see that it is inevitable that Blanche will lose this epic battle. She is no match for Stanley, who is tough, uncompromising, strong, determined and outraged at this woman who he sees as a two-faced, pretentious hypocrite without a job, money and totally destitute. I also believe that Stanley is aware enough to realize Blanche's precarious mental state. He senses that she is on the edge, a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown. All he has to do is help it along.I no longer see Blanche as a victim. I feel empathy for her plight and her slow descent into madness. It's not a pretty site. However, I can also see that her lies, constructed out of her own necessity to keep up this sham existence, have also caused pain and hurt to others. I can understand Stanley telling his friend Mitch the truth, rather than stand by and watch him make a fool of himself. I don't believe that Mitch or anyone else can ever save Blanche from her fate. At one point in the movie, after the birthday party for Blanche in which Mitch has failed to show up because of what Stanley told him, we see Stanley and Stella arguing heatedly. Stella asks what will Blanche do now if Mitch won't marry her. Stanley utters a line which seems to be a precursor of Blanche's fate. He says - "Oh, her future is all mapped out for her". He gives her a ticket back to Oriole and Blanche is devastated and Stella is angered at this callous gesture.When I watched this movie earlier in my life, I actually felt as someone else did here in their review. I wasn't sure if Stanley raped Blanche or not. That scene that passed for a rape back in 1951, seems somewhat ambiguous now. I never read the play and now I wish that I had done so a long time ago. It would have cleared up a good deal of my confusion. I totally understand the constraints in which the creators of this movie were working back in the days of strict censorship. There are controversial and taboo subjects in this story and some of it had to be removed or at least watered down. I have researched the play online and know the actual story as Williams originally wrote it. Stanley does rape Blanche in a final act of domination and control. In doing so, he pushes her over the edge and the last vestiges of her sanity are destroyed.What I have also come to understand, is that Tennessee Williams didn't write a story about good versus evil, right versus wrong. This is not a morality tale. This is reality versus illusion. Stanley represents the modern world in all its raw coarseness, survival of the fittest. Blanche represents a bygone world, a halcyon existence that has faded into the past, a world of frivolity, elegance, gentility and grace. She cannot adapt to this new world and retreats into a world of make-believe. After the scene in which Mitch angrily confronts Blanche and leaves, having found out the truth for himself, we see Blanche alone in the darkened apartment. She has gotten all dressed up with a tiara and ballgown and is conversing with imaginary guests, retreating into a long ago night of partying at Belle Rive. She is once more the southern belle, humming along to imaginary music. Her reverie is interrupted by Stanley arriving home from the hospital. The two of them will spend the night alone there together. The final confrontation will inevitably take place in the ugliest possible way. Their destinies will collide one last time and, when it is over, Blanche will have gone completely out of her mind.The original ending was changed at the insistence of the censors, but I believe that they didn't achieve what they intended. Somehow Kazan filmed the ending in such an ambiguous way with Stella running upstairs to the neighbor vowing that this time she won't ever go back. It isn't convincing, not with what we know of her relationship with Stanley. I always felt that she never really left for good. Now that I know the real ending, it's almost as though I knew what Tennessee Williams had in mind without ever reading the play. The censors just succeeded in muddying everything, clouding it with doubt. That's why the ending never really made sense to me. I think that people will come away with their own ideas about the ending. The triumph is that this movie got made at all. The basic story is still intact, the actors stayed faithful to their characters and Kazan's brilliant direction made it all come together in the end.Truth has a way of coming through even when some are determined to try to cover it up. The censors didn't really change the ending. They didn't take away a powerful story of passion, betrayal, deceit, lust, brutal truth and a climactic battle that ended inevitably. This movie has stood the test of time and is as powerful and unsettling and relevant today as it was sixty years ago. Everyone owes it to themselves to watch true greatness.

This movie was on the classic movie channel for a while until I got it. Love Vivian Leigh in Gone With the Wind, so this is very enjoyable, Stanley is a jackass! But it all works together well. Is extremely noisy.

Expectations met or exceeded.

Film Noir At It’s Best! The acting is superb and dynamic. Most scenes are in the apartment or on the apartment grounds. I can see why this was a successful play in New York.

"A Streetcar Named Desire" (Warner Bros., 1951) was director Elia Kazan's seventh film.A troubled Southern belle, Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh), arrives in New Orleans to live with her sister, Stella (Kim Hunter), and brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando). The seemingly genteel and delicate Blanche is shocked by the decrepit state of her sister's French Quarter flat and by the brutish manners of her husband. She quickly latches onto one of Stanley's friends, the comparably well-mannered Mitch (Karl Malden), and sees in him a safe harbor in the storm. Stanley resents Blanche's intrusion and haughty demeanor and soon discovers the secrets of her sordid past, which he reveals to Mitch and Stella. Mitch rejects Blanche and she descends into madness. In a rousing climax to their game of "cat and mouse," Stanley rapes Blanche and she is subsequently dispatched to a sanitarium.Elia Kazan directed Tennessee William's Pulitzer Prize-winning play on Broadway where it had a two-year run and adapted the play to film. Although a few scenes were shot on location in New Orleans, most of "Streetcar" was filmed in studio.Nominated for twelve Academy Awards, "Streetcar" won Best Actress (Leigh), Best Supporting Actress (Hunter) and Best Supporting Actor (Malden). Kazan had been nominated for Best Director and Brando for Best Actor. Although he didn't win an Oscar, Brando's performance was a stunning tour de force and revolutionized film acting. Jessica Tandy played the part of Blanche on Broadway but Leigh was brought aboard for the film version due to her draw power. Although Leigh won an Academy Award, her portrayal is a bit over-the-top. Malden is great and Hunter is okay. Alex North's jazzy score is wonderful. The cinematography is good but the viewer tires of seeing Leigh's fading beauty through a cheesecloth. Richard Day and George Hopkins deservedly won the Oscar for art direction.As an interesting aside, William's choice of a Polish American character for the role of the brutish brother-in-law was no accident. The working-class, "dumb Polak," stereotype was quite prevalent throughout America in the 1950's and it would peak in the 1960's and 1970's. Surprisingly, Polish American academia has not addressed the "dumb Polak" phenomenon in a substantial way.This package contains two DVDs; one for the film and the other for special features. Commentary is provided by Rudy Behlmer, Jeff Young, and Karl Malden. Very little of the commentary is devoted to scenes from the film, most is a discussion of the personalities involved with the play and film.Special features include: "Elia Kazan: A Director's Journey," a wonderful 1995 documentary of the filmmaker narrated by Eli Wallach. Also included are five documentary shorts: A Streetcar on Broadway, A Streetcar in Hollywood, Censorship and Desire, North and the Music of the South, and An Actor Named Brando. These documentaries basically rehash the same information provided in the commentary but the clips of Karl Malden and Kim Hunter are priceless. Also included are film and audio outtakes and a Brando screen test. Censored by the film industry at the time of its initial theatrical release, this DVD presents "Streetcar" in its original version."A Streetcar Named Desire" is considered a cinematic milestone and is ranked # 45 on the American Film Institute's 1998 listing of the 100 Greatest American Films. This is a nice DVD package of a very important movie which elevated Kazan to the ranks of America's finest directors.

Glad I found on DVD.

A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE [1951] [60th Anniversary Edition] [Deluxe Limited Edition DigiBook] [Blu-ray] [US Import] Perhaps The Most Thrilling Display of Ensemble Acting in this All American Film!`A Streetcar Named Desire' [1951] [The Original Restored Version] is the Elia Kazan and Tennessee Williams film moviegoers would have not have seen, because of the Legion of Decency censorship occurred at the last minute in 1951. Here it makes its Blu-ray debuted, stunningly restored and digital re-mastered to brilliant 1080p clarity. This classic is presented in a collectable, premium 40 page Deluxe Limited Edition DigiBook, with behind-the-scenes photography, production notes, biographies and more! Plus Three minutes of previously unseen footage underscoring, among other things, the sexual tension between Blanche DuBois [Vivien Leigh] and Stanley Kowalski [Marlon Brando], and Stella Kowalski's [Kim Hunter] passion for husband Stanley Kowalski. This is the Original Restored Version.FILM FACT: `A Streetcar Named Desire' won Four Awards at the 1951 24th Academy Awards® where the film set an OSCAR® record when it became the first film to win in three acting categories and they are as follows: Won: Vivien Leigh for Best Actress. Won: Karl Malden for Best Supporting Actor. Won: Kim Hunter for Best Supporting Actress. Won: Richard Day and George Hopkins for Best Art Direction for Set Decoration in Black-and-White. Nominated: Charles K. Feldman [Producer] for Best Motion Picture. Nominated: Elia Kazan for Best Director. Nominated: Marlon Brando for Best Actor. Nominated: Tennessee Williams for Best Writing and Screenplay. Nominated: Harry Stradling for Best Cinematography in Black-and-White. Nominated: Lucinda Ballard for Best Costume Design in Black-and-White. Nominated: Alex North for Best Music, Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture. Nominated: Nathan Levinson for Best Sound Recording. Its contributions continue to be celebrated, and holds a place on the AFI's list of Top 100 films.Cast: Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden, Rudy Bond, Nick Dennis, Peg Hillias, Wright King, Richard Garrick, Ann Dere, Edna Thomas, Mickey Kuhn, Mel Archer (uncredited), Dahn Ben Amotz (uncredited), Marietta Canty (uncredited), John George (uncredited), John Gonetos (uncredited), Chester Jones (uncredited), Lyle Latell (uncredited), Maxie Thrower (uncredited), Charles Wagenheim (uncredited), John B. Williams (uncredited) and Buck Woods (uncredited)Director: Elia KazanProducer: Charles K. FeldmanScreenplay: Tennessee Williams and Oscar Saul (adaptation)Composer: Alex NorthCinematography: Harry StradlingVideo Resolution: 1080p [Black-and-White]Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1Audio: English: 1.0 DTS-HD Master Audio Mono, French: 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono, German: 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono, Italian: 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono, Spanish: 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono and Portuguese: 1.0 Dolby Digital MonoSubtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Croatian, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Romanian, Slovenian and SwedishRunning Time: 125 minutesRegion: All RegionsNumber of discs: 1Studio: Warner Home VideoAndrew's Blu-ray Review: `A Streetcar Named Desire' originally garnered most of the drama prizes awards when it was playing on Broadway. But with director Elia Kazan and a simply superlative cast have fashioned a motion picture that throbs with passion and poignancy. Indeed, through the haunting performance England's great Vivien Leigh gives in the heart-breaking role of Tennessee Williams's deteriorating Southern belle and through the mesmerising moods with the help of Elia Kazan and with his brilliant techniques that you view on the screen, this picture has now become a fine, if not finer, than the stage play. Inner torments are seldom projected with such sensitivity and clarity on the screen.Blanche DuBois is an aging schoolteacher who leaves her hometown under mysterious circumstances and stays with her pregnant sister Stella in New Orleans. Stanley Kowalski, Stella Kowalski's brutish husband, resents Blanche DuBois's presence and accuses her of squandering the family inheritance. Stanley Kowalski sets about tearing down the fragile world of illusion with which Blanche DuBois attempts to surround herself.Of course, the first factor in this triumph is Tennessee Williams's original play, which embraced, among its many virtues, an essential human conflict in visual terms. The last brave, defiant, hopeless struggle of the lonely and decaying Blanche du Bois to hold on to her faded gentility against the heartless badgering of her roughneck brother-in-law is a tangible cat-and-dog set to, marked with manifold physical episodes as well as a wealth of fluctuations of verbally fashioned images and moods. And all of these graphic components have been fully preserved in Oscar Saul's film script and availed of by the brilliant director Elia Kazan in his cinematic tour-de-force.No less brilliant, however, within his area is Marlon Brando in the role of the loud, lusty, brawling, brutal, amoral Polish brother-in-law. Marlon Brando created the role in the Broadway stage play and he carries over all the energy and the steel-spring characteristics that made him vivid on the stage. But here, where we're so much closer to him, he seems that much more highly charged, his despairs seem that much more pathetic, and his comic moments that much more slyly enjoyed.Other actors from the Broadway cast of the stage play, Kim Hunter as the torn young sister and wife, Karl Malden as a timid, boorish suitor, Nick Dennis as a pal, and all the rest fill out the human pattern within a sleazy environment that is so fitly and graphically created that you can almost sense its sweatiness and smells. Alex North's incidental music deserves prominent commendation, too, as do all of the technical aspects of this film which Charles K. Feldman has produced.Needless to say, the filming of `A Streetcar Named Desire' was more problematic than the stage production. Vivien Leigh clashed with Elia Kazan over her interpretation of Blanche DuBois and also had problems connecting with her fellow cast members who were trained in the "Stanislavsky Method." "In many ways she was Blanche DuBois." Marlon Brando said in his autobiography, Vivien Leigh was memorably beautiful, one of the great beauties of the screen, but she was also vulnerable, and her own life had been very much like that of Tennessee Williams's wounded butterfly...like Blanche DuBois, and was beginning to dissolve mentally and frayed at the end physically.While in production, `A Streetcar Named Desire' began to encounter resistance from the film industry's self-regulating production code office with references to the sexuality of Blanche DuBois's deceased husband were removed and the harsh original ending was altered, with Stella rejecting her husband rather than remaining by his side. Still, the film encountered controversy during its release and Warner Bros. deleted an additional five minutes of material, it was later added back in a 1993 restoration, which included dialogue references to Blanche DuBois's past promiscuity and visual evidence of the lustful relationship between Stanley Kowalski and Stella Kowalski.All the troubles were well worth it in the end because `A Streetcar Named Desire' is now considered a landmark film in terms of the ensemble performances. Elia Kazan's direction and the evocative art direction by Richard Day. The derelict New Orleans tenement is given a convincing presence through the accumulation of image details, such as crumbling stucco and bricks, peeling wallpaper, streaks of dirt on the walls and the dramatic courtyard staircase with wrought iron railings. In collaboration with Harry Stradling's evocative textures of light and shadow, the sets provide crucial atmospheric support for the actors' naturalistic performances. Plus the Composer Alex North's haunting film score, which unfortunately was only nominated for Best Music, Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.While in production, `A Streetcar Named Desire' began to encounter resistance from the film industry's self-regulating production code office. References to Blanche DuBois's deceased [gay] husband were removed and the harsh original ending was altered, with Stella Kowalski rejecting her husband rather than remaining by his side. Still, the film encountered controversy during its release and Warner Bros. deleted an additional five minutes of material, it was later added back in a 1993 restoration, which included dialogue references to Blanche DuBois's past promiscuity and visual evidence of the lustful relationship between Stanley Kowalski and Stella Kowalski.All the trouble was worth it in the end because ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ is now considered a landmark classic film in terms of the ensemble performances, Elia Kazan's direction and the evocative art direction by Richard Day. The derelict New Orleans tenement is given a convincing presence through the accumulation of details such as crumbling stucco and bricks, peeling wallpaper, streaks of dirt on the walls and the dramatic courtyard staircase with wrought iron railings. In collaboration with Harry Stradling's evocative textures of light and shadow, the sets provide crucial atmospheric support for the actors' naturalistic performances.Blu-ray Video Quality – This Blu-ray has a stunning 1080p encoded transfer, with an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 that was achieved with many of the original film's black-and-white elements. It is typical of the fine work Warner Home Video has done with some it prestige titles like ‘Citizen Kane’ and ‘Casablanca.’ Fine detail is more variable, struggling a bit in wider shots, and faring better in close ups, yet film grain looks intact with no evidence of excessive noise reduction measures. Dupes and other image manipulations (one standing out more than others), made in the original edit, can be starkly obvious next to the sharper and tighter extra supplements material. But the transfer ultimately proves faithful to the source elements, even though those elements may not always look the most perfect.Blu-ray Audio Quality – `A Streetcar Named Desire' is presented on Blu-ray Disc with a 1.0 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. Considering that `A Streetcar Named Desire' is more than sixty years old, the sound quality is still impresive. Sure, there are modest limitations in fidelity, but the track is a very strong performer. Alex North’s music comes across with good sense of character. Most signs of background hiss and noise have been cleaned up in the mastering process, which leaves a generally smooth quality to the soundtrack. Dialogue is always crystal clear and easy to understand.Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:Audio Commentary: Commentary by Actor Karl Malden, and Film Historians Rudy Behlmer and Jeff Young: features supplements producer Laurent Bouzereau hosting and we get comments from co- star Karl Malden [Actor], Rudy Behlmer [Film Historian] and Jeff Young (all recorded separately). Jeff Young got to know Elia Kazan quite well when Jeff Young was an executive of Paramount Pictures and has some good anecdotes about the director Elia Kazan. Rudy Behlmer contributes more of an overall historical perspective and Karl Malden is able to give an actor's viewpoint, on both the stage and screen versions. Some of Karl Malden's comments about Marlon Brando in his early career are quite surprising, and there are some wonderful anecdotes shared about the original Broadway run, including some great stories about the "mother hen," the original star Jessica Tandy. This is an extremely worthwhile and informative piece that should appeal equally to scholars and film fans alike.Special Feature Length Profile of Elia Kazan: A Director's Journey [1994] [480i] [4:3] [1:15:30] Written and directed by film critic and film historian Richard Schickel, and narrated by Eli Wallach, the documentary traces Elia Kazan's career from his beginnings as a stage actor to his work as an award-winning film director. An extensive interview with the director himself provides much of the film's structure and content, following a predictable pattern that alternates between the interview and material from the films. As it focuses almost exclusively on his directing work, there's little examination of Elia Kazan's controversial actions related to the Hollywood Blacklist of the 1950s. Nevertheless, it provides a fitting tribute to a very talented director. We also get a very interesting insight into the journey Elia Kazan journey from his native land where he was born and eventually ending up directing top quality Hollywood and New York films that have won endless plaudits. This is a definite documentary not to be missed.Special Feature Documentary: A Streetcar on Broadway [2006] [480i] [4:3] [22:00] This feature documentary describes with the development, production, and reception of Tennessee Williams's Pulitzer Prize-winning play how it made its journey to the silver screen. Contributing to this documentary, we get intimate information from the likes of Elia Kazan [Director], Karl Malden [Actor], Rudy Behlmer [Film Historian] and Richard Schickel [Author of "Elia Kazan: A Biography"] provide most of the interview material, but also includes an archival interview with Kim Hunter [Actress].Special Feature Documentary: A Streetcar in Hollywood [2006] [480i] [4:3] [28:08] A continuation of the previous feature documentary which describes the play's next phase as it moves from the stage to the silver screen. Once again contributing to this very interesting documentary, we again get insightful intimate information from the likes of Elia Kazan [Director], Karl Malden [Actor], Rudy Behlmer [Film Historian] and Richard Schickel [Author of "Elia Kazan: A Biography"] and Kim Hunter [Actress].Special Feature Documentary: Censorship and Desire [2006] [480i] [4:3] [16:20] With this particular documentary, we get details about the National Legion of Decency's objections and moral outrage to some of the sexual contents in the film, and the ultimate edits made in order for it to be "morally objectionable in part" as opposed to be completely condemned. It also informs us how the director's sleight of hand was instrumented in making subtle changes to allow the censors to pass the film. This interesting feature also provides helpful side-by-side views of the edited and original versions of key scenes. Contribution to this documentary is Rudy Behlmer [Film Historian], Karl Malden [Actor], Kim Hunter [Actress] and Robert Townson [Record Producer]. We also get to hear how Alex North [Composer] and how he had to re-score the film music, as the censors thought certain scenes were too provocative with his original score. But luckily by accident they found a can of film with all the censored scenes and were carefully restored to the original restored version.Special Feature Documentary: North and the Music of the South [2006] [480i] [4:3] [9:14] This fascinating documentary gives an interesting insight into the composer Alex North and how he gave the film its distinctive film score. Contributions comes in the form of Robert Townson [Record Producer] of Varese Sarabande talks about the work of the award nominated composer Alex North, and shares how he got involved with producing and releasing Alex North's abandoned score to Stanley Kubrick's ‘2001: A Space Oddysey’ with the help of Jerry Goldsmith [composer, which you can now hear the full score on a CD Album. We also get to find out that Robert Townson got to know Alex North personally in his later years before he sadly passed way.Special Feature Documentary: An Actor Named Brando [2006] [480i] [4:3] [8:52] Fellow performers and historians talk about the impression the actor made in the theatre and film industry and through his work on the Academy Award® winning film ‘A Streetcar Named Desire.’ We are also informed how Marlon Brando [Actor] personality is so different from his screen persona and how he hated the character he played in the film. Contributing to this documentary, we see Elia Kazan [Director], Karl Malden [Actor], Richard Schickel [Author of "Elia Kazan: A Biography"] and Kim Hunter [Actress].Special Feature: Marlon Brando Screen Test [1992] [480i] [4:3] [5:05] Here we get to see the young Marlon Brando with Warner Bros. Test shots. Also segments from Marlon Brando's screen test for ‘Rebel Without A Cause.’ But we also get intimate shots of a well-dressed Marlon Brando, who is obviously very self-conscious. Sometimes you get no audio sound at all.Special Feature: Outtakes [1951] [480i] [4:3] [15:38] Here we get to see a series of unused film clips from ‘A Streetcar Named Desire' that is somewhat sort of interesting, but without any context and hard to understand, especially as they are not in any set order and some are very short in appearance, but you also get a lot of repeat outtakes, especially with a voice over with the director Elia Kazan.Special Feature: Outtakes [Audio only] [1951] [1080p] [16:9] [17:01] Similar to the film outtakes, which is difficult to discern the context from seemingly random snippets of audio recordings and all the time you listen to this, you get a colorized still image from the film. To be honest I cannot understand the point of this section.Theatrical Trailers: We get to see three trailers, starting with Warner Bros. [1951 Release] [480i] [2:34]. 20th Century Fox [1958 Reissue] [480i] [2:08]. United Artists [1970 Reissue] [480i] [1:48].BONUS: A Special Collectible Deluxe Limited Edition DigiBook: The nicely produced book packaging that includes cast and crew biographies, background on the production and numerous photographs.Finally, ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ is a cinematic classic that has been beautifully rendered in high definition. Warner Home Video Blu-ray delivers a strong presentation of Elia Kazan's award-winning adaptation of the equally acclaimed Broadway play. This All Region Blu-ray release comes with awesome Special Features, that have been transferred from the 2006 special edition inferior NTSC DVD, making the purchase of this Blu-ray release, which is well worthwhile for those looking to upgrade 100%, as well as for first time purchasers of this Blu-ray disc. Very Highly Recommended!Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film FanLe Cinema ParadisoWARE, United Kingdom

Wow! We really are in the midst of a great period of home movie consumption. With much revered classics looking better than ever before on Bluray discs, it really is a marvellous time for movies in the home. The Bluray in question here is simply fantastic and Streetcar has never looked so glorious! The shaky old DVD copy is quite redundant now for all who love this classic movie. Dark and brooding is the order of the day here and this Bluray transfer is just so. And intentionaly so. For a 60 year old piece of celluloid this looks fabulous.With a barnstorming and bestial performance from Brando, a fragile, mesmerising Vivien Leigh and great turns by Kim Hunter and Karl Malden the film deservedly won 4 Oscars in 1951 and is still a powerful piece today. Interestingly, 3 of the 4 leads won the Oscar in their category for acting with only Brando missing out in the lead actor category. To Humphrey Bogart no less.The sumptuous set designs and art direction also triumphed and its easy to see why.Extra features on the disc are ported from a previous edition of the movie but are extremely noteworthy. A brilliant, pieced together commentary track with the ever informative, if a little dry, Rudy Behlmer, actor Karl Malden and Jeff Young. A fascinating documentary on director Elia Kazan which is over an hour long, a couple of featurettes on the play from which the film came and its journey from stage to screen and some other interesting tidbits examining some background on the movie.Easy to recommend this is a beautiful release of a magnificent movie!

This film oozes self deception and manipulation (Leigh), sexual magnetism and menace (Brando) and sisterly love and loyalty (Hunter). Karl Malden plays a good turn Leigh's sympathetic admirer who feels betrayed when he discovers her promiscuous reputation.A must have if you enjoy gritty, no nonsense and thought provoking drama.

Subtitles in English.Sound and vision good.Wonderful to own this classic film-of-the-play.Great to have the 2 disc version as the additional information adds to the enjoyment of the film.Brando is knockout but our Viv really gives as good as she gets and both performances are worth seeing again and again.Really recommend this!!

I bought this after watching the NT's production starring Gillian Anderson at our local cinema. The performances in the film are stunning and it's fun to compare the two works on every level. The Blu-Ray only adds to the enjoyment.