A Streetcar Named Desire

Dir: Elia Kazan, 1951, bw (8.9*)
AFI and Time Mag Top 100

Not for all tastes, but a terrifically acted version of the Tennessee Williams Pulitzer-winning play about aberrant, abusive relationships. Marlon Brando is searing as Stanley Kowalski, ironically the only main actor to not win an Oscar for his role in this. Janet Leigh as Blanche du Bois (Best Actress), moves in with sister Stella, Kowalski's wife played by Kim Hunter (Supp. Actress), and dates hopeful, and naive beau Karl Malden (Supp. Actor). This was a field day for the new school of 'method actors', while Leigh proved her Oscar® for Gone With the Wind was not a one-trick fluke. One of Kazan’s best, along with A Face in the Crowd, and On the Waterfront which won Marlon his first, and belated Oscar®. 4 Oscars®

Quote: "They told me to take the streetcar named Desire, transfer to one called Cemetaries, go six blocks and get off at Elysian Fields." - Blanche