Product Description

A Streeetcar Named Desire: The Original Director's Version is the Elia Kazan/Tennessee Williams film moviegoers would have seen had not Legion of Decency censorship occurred at the last minute. It features 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. Catch all of the classic - nominated for 12 Academy AwardsO including Best Picture and winner of 4* - that introduced a new era of filmmaking. Step aboard this Streetcar.Running Time: 122 min.System Requirements:Running Time 122 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 085393893224 Manufacturer No: 38932

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3644 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2006-05-02
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Original recording remastered, Special Edition, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .30 pounds
• Running time: 122 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
Looking for a benchmark in movie acting? Breakthrough performances don't come much more electrifying than Marlon Brando's animalistic turn as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire. Sweaty, brutish, mumbling, yet with the balanced grace of a prizefighter, Brando storms through the role--a role he had originated in the Broadway production of Tennessee Williams's celebrated play. Stanley and his wife, Stella (as in Brando's oft-mimicked line, "Hey, Stellaaaaaa!"), are the earthy couple in New Orleans's French Quarter whose lives are upended by the arrival of Stella's sister, Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh). Blanche, a disturbed, lyrical, faded Southern belle, is immediately drawn into a battle of wills with Stanley, beautifully captured in the differing styles of the two actors. This extraordinarily fine adaptation won acting Oscars for Leigh, Kim Hunter (as Stella), and Karl Malden (as Blanche's clueless suitor), but not for Brando. Although it had already been considerably cleaned up from the daringly adult stage play, director Elia Kazan was forced to trim a few of the franker scenes he had shot. In 1993, Streetcar was rereleased in a "director's cut" that restored these moments, deepening a film that had already secured its place as an essential American work. --Robert Horton

On the DVD
An exemplary selection of supporting material makes this second disc much more than a throw-in. Richard Schickel's lucid 90-minute profile, Elia Kazan: A Director's Journey, gives a fine account of the Kazan career, including lesser-known but worthy films such as Wild River and America, America. (One wonders, however, why a documentary about the art of a director can't letterbox its widescreen clips.) Kazan's work, rather than his fascinating life, is the focus, and his cooperative testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s is given a brief, neutral treatment. Clips from those Kazan interviews figure in two shorter docs, a look at the origins of Streetcar on Broadway (and the way Marlon Brando's performance threatened to tip the balance of the play) and a thorough half-hour history of the movie adaptation. A nine-minute profile of Brando is mostly an excuse for reminiscences from Karl Malden, but they are wonderful memories indeed. (Malden also contributes his sharp recollections and wise insights to a commentary track on the film, along with film writers Rudy Behlmer and Jeff Young, all recorded separately.) A ten-minute look at composer Alex North's contribution is informative and smart. Outtakes here are really a collection of snippets, of interest to fanatics. A Brando screen test is surprisingly ordinary, although one can see hints of the tiger waiting to escape. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

Blanche favors the light.
A Streetcar Named Desire is a rare film, no don't make movies like this anymore. It's based on a Tennessee Williams play of the same name, I have always enjoyed the screen adapations to his intense plays. Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, Vivien Leigh, and Karl Malden are smoldering together. All four actors are extremely talented and Leigh's performance as aging southern belle, Blanche Du Bois is so heartbreaking and real. I highly recommend this timeless black & white classic!

Good Film! Terrible DVD!
This is a very good, touching and terrifying at times film about how people use, intimidate and ill-treat each other even among families. A poor, long-suffering lady is close to a mental breakdown and comes to seek out her sister for help but in the end this only leads to a totally opposite outcome. Both Leigh and Brando put in excellent performances here and so does Karl Malden who together with Brando would go on to even better things with "On the Waterfront."

The problem is with the DVD which hasn't been restored at all making for very, very poor picture and sound quality. With the advent of Blu-Ray, here's hoping they would take this opportunity to totally remaster this film and to add good bonus features which are totally missing here. Dolby Digital 5.1 surround or DTS THX sound options would be a real treat.

This is a good film but I recommend you wait for a much better restored version to surface and not to waste your hard earned money on this very, very poor DVD version.

A line is straight, or a street. But the heart of a human being?
This is one of the greatest scores ever written for a film. North was able to make the jazz sound improvised, while working in the character leitmotifs at the same time. Track 10, Revelation, is a revelation, when Blanche tells Mitch about her sordid past while trying to desperately find someone to replace her dead, young husband.

The stereo sound on this disc is jaw-dropping. Digital recordings, especially of orchestral music, are usually too transparent, too soft, and the sound just dissipates into thin air. But this has the richness and warmth of an analogue to digital recording. It will fill your living room or your car.

Goldsmith takes some of the cues faster or slower than they are in the original soundtrack recording (which, by the way, also sounds GREAT, even in 1951 mono), but this means one can wallow in North's rich orchestration and soak up the steamy New Orleans atmosphere.

Too bad this disc is out of print. Find it, if you can, even if it means depending upon the kindness of strangers.