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How much difference can three minutes of film make? In the case of A Streetcar Named Desire—a ton! A previous VHS copy of the 1951 version is considerably tamer than the version that director Elia Kazan fought for. Warner Brothers feared offending the public, but now the "special edition" cut restores those few minutes and adds additional layers to the powerful drama.
Implied before were suggestions that Blanche DuBois left Mississippi due to promiscuity and scandal, but now direct references to her special attraction for young teen age boys makes her far less sympathetic. Most noticeable in the director's cut is Kim Hunter's reaction in the famous "Stella!" scene where Marlon Brando plants himself on the street screaming her name. The censored version does a quick take from Stanley to Stella before we see them embrace, like she takes pity on him. Nothing like Kazan's intentions, as the camera lingers on Hunter's face, filled with animalistic passion for Stanley. She slowly saunters down the steps like foreplay and the two lustfully cling to each other. No nudity is necessary—this moment is as sexually charged as anything you'll see on the silver screen.
More recent film versions have been made for television viewing—including a 1984 version with Ann-Margret, Treat Williams, and Beverly D'Angelo; and a 1995 version with Alec Baldwin, Jessica Lange, and Diane Lane. But no modern version surpasses Kazan's. Of course, Marlin Brando is always cited for his landmark performance as Stanley Kowalski, but the ensemble cast works flawlessly—Kim Hunter as Stella, Vivian Leigh as Blanche, and Karl Malden as Harold "Mitch" Mitchell. Amazingly, the Academy rewarded these three with Oscars. Equally amazing is the fact that they neglected to grant a statuette to Brando (but this was only his second film).
Credit Kazan for his brilliantly controlled work on the set and beautifully composed shots. The opening reveals bewildered Blanche emerging from the New Orleans train station amidst foggy clouds. She appears bewildered and not in touch with reality. Coming from Belle Reve ("beautiful dream") she is initially disgusted with the gritty reality of her sister Stella's existence—the appearance of her squalid apartment in the French Quarter, and her crude and animalistic husband, Stanley. But Blanche has no where else to turn—she has lost the family house, lost her job, and lost any confidence she might once have had.
She does lash out at Stella initially, as she's very defensive about losing the family homestead:
The long parade to the graveyard. Father, mother...You just came home in time for funerals Stella, and funerals are pretty compared to deaths. How did you think all that sickness and dying was paid for? Death is expensive, Miss Stella. And I, on my pitiful salary at the school. Yes, accuse me! Stand there and stare at me, thinking I let the place go. I let the place go! Where were you? In there with your Pollack!
She sets herself up to be disliked. Something is amiss in Blanche's fantasy world, and we want Stanley to cut through the illusion and find the reality. Although the first few minutes telegraph the eventual outcome, the fun lies with the delivery, and this film is a true acting tour de force.
Much has been written over the years about Brando's method acting, and the stellar performance he gives in A Streetcar Named Desire as he prowls his apartment like a sweating panther, ready to pounce on any provocation, and oozes male sexuality. His relatability rises with the added few minutes restored to the director's cut, and contains a great deal of humor. His blood first rises when he hears that the aristocratic acting Blanche has lost the family homestead, citing Louisiana’s Napoleonic Code that makes Belle Reve his business too. Going through and "unpacking" Blanche's trunk is a natural reaction, and also fun:
Now will you just open your eyes to this stuff here. Now I mean, what—has she got this stuff out of teacher's pay?
Will you look at these fine feathers and furs that she comes to bring herself in here. What is this article? That's a solid gold dress, I believe ...
Now what is that? There's a treasure chest of a pirate...That's pearls, Stella, ropes of 'em. What is your sister—a deep-sea diver?
Bracelets, solid gold. Where are your pearls and gold bracelets?...And here you are. Diamonds. A crown for an empress...Here's your plantation Stella, right here!
Stanley may be simple, straightforward, and "primitive" (Blanche's description), but he is no dummy. He quickly calls Blanche on her flirtatious manipulative tactics, and suspects that Blanche is hiding something. It doesn't take him long to discover the truth, and he only withholds his evidence for a spell out of love for his wife. When Stella joins in with judgmental remarks about Stanley being vulgar, greasy, and pig-like, he explodes, clearing the table forcefully and giving the two sisters a severe tongue-lashing. After smashing his cup against, his offer to clear their spaces is nearly as funny as his birthday present to Blanche.
Homosexual content from A Streetcar Named Desire remains absent (the original play refers to this directly with Blanche's deceased husband), but Tennessee Williams' often explored theme of "illusion vs. reality" is highlighted. Stella and Stanley have grown to accept reality while Blanche prefers to live fancifully, bathing in steamy hot baths to calm her nerves, wearing cheap costume jewelry, turning down soda pop in favor of scotch, denying her past sexual misadventures, and refusing to venture into well-lighted areas. Mitch, very much attached to his aging and dying mother, seeks a replacement and nearly succumbs to Blanche's seductive world until Stanley intervenes. In a crucial scene, a drunken Mitch tears away the paper lantern, leaving a naked light bulb to expose Blanche's true features. Embarrassed, she proclaims,
I don't want realism. I want magic! Yes, yes, magic. I try to give that to people. I do misrepresent things. I don't tell the truth. I tell what ought to be truth.
Over a dozen Tennessee Williams plays have been translated on celluloid 41 times to date, yet none match this production. Kazan's film is definitive, and continues to hold him today, especially with the three minute added footage. A few years ago, I showed A Streetcar Named Desire to a high school class to test out whether the black and white film would work with this age group, and I was pleased to see how well the students responded to it, discussing the relationships and conflicts between the characters and the themes running through the film. And that was the old censored version! The sexier special director's cut will work even better.
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