Stella Kowalski (Kim Hunter) is married to jerk named Stanley (Marlon Brando). Stanley treats everyone like crap, and does so even with the fragile Blanche.
While at Stella's home, Blanche meets Mitch, Stanley's frined, and tries to seduce him. She also tries to seduce a young paperboy. Mitch almost goes for her.
Things go downhill for Stella and Blanche as Stanley becomes more wild than ever. Stanley drives Blanche to the edge of insanity, and then, in a single, cruel twisted act of madness, he rapes her. No one belives her.
Blanche is sent to the mad house to live out her days, alone. The sad part is that the brute Stanley, killed her inside when all she needed was someone to love and care for her.
If you've never read the play, then READ IT. When you are done, watch THIS version of the play, and you'll see why it won the Pulitzer Prize and three of four acting Oscars (A feat never duplicated). This version of A Streetcar Named Desire is a masterpiece, and so is the book.
Plot: 
Comming from the pen of Tennessee Williams, it's no wonder why this is such a great movie. The characters are all deep, and the story is nothing short of exceptional.
Visual Effects:
The Black and white cinematography takes all the credit because there are no visual effects shots.
Sets look very static and dull, like you would see on a stage. They could have been spruced up a bit; nay, a lot.
Sound:
Sound effects couldn't be better, but there are no songs.
Character Development:
Everyone changes! Blanche goes insane; Stanley just becomes meaner and more viscious; Mitch starts to love Blanche but learns of what she is really like; and Stella has a baby.
Atmosphere:
Once you are in, you are hooked. It is such a great movie (and play!) that it just draws you in like a daytime soap opera. It is very dramatic, and isn't finished untill the last curtain call.
Realism:
Fairly. You never know... there could be real people like this even now...
Warren’s Rating:
Other movies nominated for Best Picture with it:
*An American in Paris, (1951); Decision Before Dawn, (1951); A Place in the Sun, (1951); Quo Vadis?, (1951)
8.29/10Is the movie worth your time to watch?
04-06-03
Age at win: 39
Nominated for: Best Actress in a Leading Role, Blanche DuBois, A Streetcar Named Desire
Nomination: 2/2 (acting), 2/2 (total); Win: 2nd
Vivien Leigh won her first Oscar for Gone with the Wind some 12 years earlier, but matched that performance in A Streetcar Named Desire, playing another southern bell, Blanche DuBois. Tennessee Williams won the Pulitzer Prize for his famous play in which the tragic heroine, Blanche, is shunned and must leave her home town of Laurel, Mississippi. Why did she have to leave? Well, the teacher tried to seduce a teenage boy... 'nuff said.
In a paralell to Gone with the Wind, Vivien Leigh looses another southern plantation, Belle Reve (which means Beautiful Dream in French). She is forced to flee Laurel, and lands on the doorstep of her sister, Stella Kowalski (Kim Hunter), in New Orleans.
Stella is simple woman, who happens to be married to a brute of man; a drunk, arrogant, creep who thinks not but of himself. That man... is Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando). Stanley doesn't think too much of Blanche; in fact, he's suspicious of her from the word go.
Blanche Doesn't like Stanley, and it shows in Leigh's performance. She gives her all in the film, especially in the last scene where she smashes the bottle and tries to escape from Stanley... only to have him don the unthinkable -he rapes her.
Vivien Leigh plays a women with a lust for sex; she goes for anyone she can get her hands on, namely Mitch (Karl Malden) and the paper boy.
The sad thing about Blanche DuBoise is that all she wanted was someone to care for her, to love her... but only her sister would. Stanley treated her like $#!t, and finally, when he takes her soul, no one belives her. She ends up alone and commited, to spend the rest of her days in a mad house.
The Final scene between Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando is perhaps one of the best dramatic scenes ever filmed. It shows the horrible cruelty of some men who like to dominate women. It also shows just how strong some women appear to be, and just how fragile they really are.
Vivien Leigh had to go it alone in this film, as opposed to Gone with the Wind: the sets were very static and lifeless; there were minimal "other characters" to interact with, and not many props (besides the bottle) to use. She won this Oscar on talent alone.
04-06-03
Age at win: 39
Nominated for: Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Harold "Mitch" Mitchell, A Streetcar Named Desire
Nomination: 1/2 (acting), 1/2 (total); Win: Only
Karl Malden won his first of two nominations for A Streetcar Named Desire in 1952, two days shy of his 40th birthday. What a great present! His only other nomination came in 1955 for On The Waterfront.
Malden delivers sizzling performance in Streetcar as the mother loving Mitch, who is being wooed by Blanche DuBoise. Mitch, whose mother is sick, is a friend of Stanley Kowalski's. One night, while playing cards at Stanley's, he meets Blanche, and things get off from there.
Eventually, Blanch tries to seduce Mitch. But, once Stanley finds out about all the goings on, won't have it. Neither will Mitch. Promptly, Mitch casts off Blanche. He tells her that she's "not the kind of girl he'd bring home to his mother."
That's the last we see of that relationship.
Karl Malden's time on screen wasn't all that much and wasn't enough to rightly win the Oscar. But when he was on screen, he was dazzling... and that's why he won.
04-06-03
Age at win: 29
Nominated for: Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Stella Kowalski, A Streetcar Named Desire
Nomination: 1/1 (acting), 1/1 (total); Win: Only
Kim Hunter reprises her award-winning stage role, in the film that eventually won her the Oscar, as the wife of thunderous brute Stanley Kowalski.
Kim Hunter, like Karl Malden, had less screen time than their co-actors Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh. Aside from that, Hunter's portrayal of Stella Kowalski is far above other performances of Stella Kowalski.
Kim Hunter is electrifying in every scene, especially when she flees Stanley and takes refuge with her upstairs neighbours. (This is the famous scene where Stanley sit outside the window shouting "Stella! Stella!") Her chemistry with Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh is nothing short of exceptional.
There is not much to say about her performance other than that she totally deserved to win the Oscar. The fact that Streetcar won three of four acting Oscars, and that it was nominated for all four, says something about the performances, and the movie itself.
04-06-03
Vivien Leigh
DOB: November 5, 1913; DOD: July 7, 1967
Vivien Leigh's performance
Karl Malden
DOB: March 22, 1912;
Karl Malden's performance
Kim Hunter
DOB: November 12, 1922; DOD: September 11, 2002
Kim Hunter's performance
