Streetcar Named Desire, A

A Streetcar Named Desire depicts a culture clash between Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh), a pretentious, fading relic of the Old South, and Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando), a rising member of the industrial, inner-city immigrant class. Blanche is a Southern belle whose pretensions to virtue and culture only thinly mask her nymphomania and alcoholism.

Arriving at the house of her sister Stella Kowalski (Kim Hunter), Stella fears Blanche’s arrival will upset the balance of her relationship with her husband Stanley, a primal, rough-hewn, brutish and sensual force of nature. He dominates Stella in every way, and she tolerates his offensive crudeness and lack of gentility largely because of her sexual need for him.

Stanley’s friend and Blanche’s would-be suitor Mitch (Karl Malden) is similarly trampled along Blanche and Stanley’s collision course. Their final, inevitable confrontation results in Blanche’s mental annihilation.

Directed by
Elia Kazan

Cast
Vivien Leigh - Blanche DuBois
Marlon Brando - Stanley Kowalski
Kim Hunter - Stella Kowalski
Karl Malden - Mitch
Rudy Bond - Steve
Nick Dennis - Pablo
Peg Hillias - Eunice
Wright King - Collector
Richard Garrick - Doctor
Anne Dere - Matron

Production Co.
Group Productions

Produced by
Charles K Feldman

Studio
Warner Bros. Pictures

Writer
Tennessee Williams
Oscar Saul
Elia Kazan

Music
Alex North
Ray Heindorf