Film #35: A Streetcar Named Desire

Director: Elia Kazan

Initial Release Country: United States

Times Previously Seen: once (about twelve years ago.)

Teaser Review (no spoilers)

Loopy, pretentious southern belle moves in with sister and her abusive, salt-of-the-earth, meat-head husband in New Orleans.

Uncut Summary (The full monty, spoilers included. Fair warning)

In a rough quarter of 1950s New Orleans, the young and beautiful Blanche Dubois (Vivien Leigh) steps off of a train. She finds her sister, Stella, at a nearby bowling alley with her husband, Stanley (Marlon Brando). Blanche is searching for refuge at Stella and Stanley's house since the last bit of the family estate, Belle Reeve, is now lost. Stella welcomes her sister to stay with her and her husband, though Blanche is far from forthcoming and Stella and Stanley's place is modest, to say the least: a tiny tenement shared by several other people.

At Stella and Stanley's, things become trickier. Upon hearing Blanche's tale of the sale of Belle Reeve, Stanley begins to show the man he is. The handsome and imposing but territorial man that he is realizes that anything sold to his sister-in-law is, according to Louisiana law, half his. He sees Blanche as an interloper, and perhaps even a con artist who will merely take up limited space in his apartment.

One of Blanche & Stanley's earliest confrontations.

Months wear on, Blanche stays, and things become gradually more tense. Stanley and Stella show themselves to have a textbook abuser/victim, co-dependent relationship. Blanche quite heavily puts on the airs of a southern sophisticate, though the job is a bit poor and neurotically desperate. The brutish Stanley grows ever more frustrated and begins to dig into Blanche's past. What he finds is that Blanche, far from being an innocent victim of encroachment, was at the heart of a scandal in her and Stella's hometown. She had an “inappropriate relationship” with a 17-year-old student and was relieved of her duties. In addition to this salacious story, Stanley also uncovers various rumors that Blanche had been a months-long resident in the nearby town of Auriol, where she “entertained” many different men until she was kicked out of her hotel.

Just before and as Stanley is uncovering these dark details of Blanche's past, his friend, Mitch (Karl Malden) falls deeply in love with Blanche, seeing her as a true southern gentlewoman. Mitch is a lonely man, getting on in years, and sees Blanche as an undreamed of chance at marital happiness with a beautiful woman. One evening, while out with Mitch, Blanche has a moment of clarity, drops her guard, and confesses to a traumatic experience from her past: As a teenage girl, she had inspired the love of a young man. However, the young man learned that he could not be with her and killed himself. This seemed to create a fracture in Blanche's mind. One that never fully healed in the subsequent years.

The psychological fissure continues to be pulled apart by the forces at play in New Orleans: Mitch's desperate desire for her hand in marriage, her sister's need to know just how she can help, and, most strongly, Stanley's scalding rage at her mere presence and demand that she move out. Everything comes to a head on the night that Stella goes into labor and is brought to the hospital. Left alone with the mentally fragile Blanche, Stanley unloads on her. He bullies her, both physically and mentally, culminating in rape, and she snaps. Stella returns to her apartment to find her sister in mental shambles.

In the end, Blanche is taken away by people from a mental institution, under the auspices of taking a cruise with a past gentleman caller. Unable to any longer tell fantasy from reality, Blanche eventually goes, uttering the well-known line, “I've always relied on the kindness of strangers.” Watching impassively all through the heart-rending affair is Stanley, all but counting the seconds down that he will get his tortured sister-in-law out of his life. Mitch is present and is disgusted with Stanley's insensitivity, but nowhere near as disgusted as Stella. She takes their baby to the upstairs neighbors, swears never to return to such a callous man, and closes the door behind her.

Take 1: My Gut Reaction (Done after this most recent viewing, before any further research)

This is a weird one for me. Great story, great acting, fantastic direction. In fact, I can only think of one thing that I didn't like. Unfortunately, that one thing will keep me from ever watching this movie or the play again. What was the one thing?

A heaveh suhhthuhhhn drawuhl, maaahh deeyuh.

You can chalk this one up to being a peccadillo of mine, since it really makes no great sense. There aren't really too many accents that get on my nerves. When you add in the fact that I was raised in Texas, you wouldn't think that a southern drawl would bother me very much. Yet, in Streetcar, Blanche DuBois's accent is (intentionally) so put on and heavy that I couldn't take it. It merely accentuates (yuk-yuk) how flimsy the veneer is that she's trying to keep up.

Here's how I know I lost my rationality watching this film: I was actually pulling for Stanley for the better part of the movie. I did come around at the end, and see him for the detestable gorilla that he is; however, for most of the film, I wanted him to burn down the paper palace that Blanche had tried to construct around herself. I'm not exactly sure if this development was Tennessee Williams' intent, but I was so agitated by Blanche's airs that I wanted them utterly annihilated, even if it was done to satiate a modern day Thug like Kowalski.

Here's the famous "Stella" scene, which all by itself conveys the nature of the abusive relationship and primal, animalistic lust that Stanley inspires:



I can only liken this bizarre accent hatred of mine to the way that we all dislike certain foods – you can't fully explain why you don't like it – you just don't like it. I suppose its a testament to the tale that I was pulled back from the brink of seeing Stanley as some kind of blue collar hero, and actually seeing him for the lout that he is. In this spirit, let me move past my displeasure at Blanche DuBois's over-the-top Louisiana lilt and take a look at the many strengths of the film.

The story, while crushingly depressing, is brilliant. Blanche is an immediate enigma who we are interested in learning more about, just as Stanley is. Hers is one of the finest examples of character development through slow reveal that I've ever seen. I went from seeing her as merely arrogant to hopelessly selfish to pathetically abused, and finally to sadly wasted. While she does make this transition within the tale itself, the gradual revelations about her past offer different facets and causes for her twisted attempts at gaining attention. When I realized that she has, essentially, been used up and crushed by an unknowable number of people in her past, I saw her as far more sympathetic.

Stanley is, of course, the force of nature that makes things move in this story. His relationship with Stella seemed to lay bare all of the details of abusive relationships that now seem shamefully cliched: verbal bullying and physical abuse followed by the woman leaving him, only to return when he feels remorse. The remorse is certainly authentic, but born of a sad realization that he has harmed the one person who seems to understand and love him. Things calm down for a while, and then the cycle begins again. In the middle of such a dysfunctional relationship, a mentally ill person like Blanche doesn't stand a chance.

The performances are, truly, extraordinary. While his mumbling, guttural linguistic style was starting to settle in for this role, Marlon Brando is frighteningly believable as the barbaric Stanley Kowalski. As in roles like The Wild One and On the Waterfront, he was a slick-looking head-turner. This makes it all the more powerful when you see him turn into a reprehensible animal.

Vivien Leigh is the other obvious standout. As hard as I found it to sit through the interminable front that she puts up as Blanche, her performance is of undeniably brilliant quality. In a sense, she's almost like the dark, battered version of her role as Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind (a film that I really can't stomach). The nuances of shifting from manipulative to pathetic are so skilled that the uniquely sad character of Blanche is wholly plausible. When I look at it objectively, I can't deny how incredible Leigh truly was.

The semi-sleeper is Karl Malden, who does a great job as Mitch, the kindly, if somewhat dim, man who falls for the broken Blanche. Even if I didn't really identify with him, I had to come down on his side as being deeply saddened by Blanche's ultimate fate and fully sickened by the actions of his once-pal Stanley.

A Streetcar Named Desire is, without a doubt, a great story, and one which Elia Kazan did a masterful job of adapting to the screen. I almost regret not being able to get past that one trivial aural bugaboo of mine so that I would be able to watch and appreciate its merits again. Alas, I can't.

Take 2: Why Film Geeks Love This Movie (Done after further research)

Not much that's terribly surprising about this film in the articles and reviews, though the adaptation process contains some familiar plot-lines.

Tennessee Williams' original play apparently was even more brutal, dark, and vague in terms of the character representations. In the film, it's rather clear that Stanley in meant to be seen as more of a villain, and Blanche more sympathetic, even if neither one of these characterizations is black or white. This is more pronounced by the “punishment” of Stanley in the film version, by way of Stella leaving him at the end. The play is far less clear-cut, with Stella actually seeking comfort in her brutish husband's arms.

According to articles, including the original TIME magazine article, Streetcar was one of the earliest movies to truly deal with “adult” themes. Or at least, deal with them as much as it could within the confines of the Production Code, which was still in evidence, even if its grip was beginning to loosen.

Within the original TIME review, it was interesting to see that the reviewer was not really impressed with Vivien Leigh's performance, thinking that she was outdone by the surrounding cast. I can't say that I agree, as I think that Leigh was excellent. Just couldn't get past that da-yuhmn ayk-se-yunt.

That's a wrap. 35 down. 70 to go.

Coming Soon (I hope): Umberto D. (1952)


The list finally turns back to some foreign-language entries, though this is one I know nothing about. We shall see how it goes.

Please be sure to pick up all empties on the way out.

Film #9: Baby Face (1933)

Director: Alfred E. Green

Release Country: United States

Times Previously Seen: none

The Story (In which I shamelessly give away the plot, key points and all. Fair warning.):

Lily Powers is a young, beautiful and intelligent, though jaded and cynical woman who works in her father/pimp's run-down speakeasy "parlor" in their apartment. When her father offers her up to a local politician in exchange for police protection, she becomes fed up and splits town for New York, with her trusty friend and father's former servant, Chico, in tow. She vows to herself to use her beauty and smarts to her, and only her, advantage.

In New York, she uses her brains and feminine wiles to sleep her way up the ladder of a major banking firm, abandoning each man after getting what she wants from them. Eventually, one young executive becomes obsessed enough to kill Lily's current meal ticket, the bank's vice president, and then commit suicide. In the face of public scandal, the bank executives quickly decide to fire the president and bring in Courtland Trenholm, playboy descendant of the bank's founder. Trenholm quickly and astutely sizes up Lily for the opportunist that she is and sends her to work in Paris, assuming that she will soon quit and leave the company in peace.

In Paris, Lily takes the job, does masterful work, and stays very quiet, all just to prove Trenholm wrong. During a visit by the young president, Lily and Trenholm find fondness for one another, begin an affair, and are soon married. This all sets off another firestorm of controversy back in New York, ruining Trenholm's career with the bank. Lily initially tries to abandon the now-ruined Trenholm, sticking to her self-serving mantra; however, she comes to realize that she loves him and rushes back, prepared to offer up all of the vast amounts of money that she's gathered from her past conquests. As she returns to him, she finds that he has just attempted suicide. The film ends with the both of them in an ambulance, where the couple is told that Trenholm should recover, and with Lily ceasing to care about the money that will be lost.

Whew.

Take 1. My Gut Reaction (done after one viewing & before any research):

Quick note: there were 2 versions of the film on this disc. I watched the unedited/pre-theatrical release version.

This is a pretty much the kind of movie that I was hoping to find when I conceived of this blog: a previously unknown (to me) gem. There are a few reasons I liked it so much, but the hands-down winner is Barbara Stanwyck. I really only knew her from Double Indemnity (1944; film #25 on the TIME list), but she is now becoming one of my favorite classic film actresses. She had such incredible sex appeal that she was perfect for this role. Sure, she's good-looking enough, but very few actresses could pull off the natural intelligence, cunning, and allure that Stanwyck did with such ease. In fact, her steely, manipulative gaze is so convincing that I felt a true sense of change during the few moments when, for just a few seconds, her eyes would soften and suggest that she's not just a mercenary to the bone.

Lily begins coolly working her way up the ladder. She'll soon be trading in that polka-dotted secretary garb for furs...

Another intriguing thing is the story itself. On the surface, it may seem to be merely seedy, but there a fair bit of thought put into it. In the beginning, as Lily is working in her scumbag father's speakeasy, an older, uptight German patron tries to convince Lily to read the works of Nietzsche and empower herself. Keep in mind that this was 1933, not long before Hitler used some of Nietzche's ideas to promote his notions of racial superiority and the "Ubermensch". In Baby Face, such philosophy is suggested as a tool for the empowerment of women. Once Lily adopts this strategy and executes it effectively, the only question that remains is: will she get what she wants and crush all the men in her path; will she herself go down in flames; or will she find her heart again. In the end, just when it seems not to be, she does find that she has a heart. This is quite touching and plausible, oddly enough. Right up to the end, Lily has shown herself a master of manipulating men, and has all but banished sentimentality to do it. And yet, her character and Stanwyck's performance are such that you can sense a true caring somewhere deep inside of her.

Another quick note about the story is the pacing. As you can see from the long summary, a lot happens, and this film is only 75 minutes long!! And yet, it doesn't ever feel rushed. Thanks to good scripting, directing and editing, it flows very smoothly, with not a scene wasted.

The overall acting is solid, even by most of the supporting cast. At this point in film history, I'm starting to notice a gradual but steady evolution of both scripting and screen acting. Sure, the dialogue is still a wee bit forced and the lines are delivered in an unnatural, staccato way in many cases, but not quite as much as I noticed in King Kong and other, later films that I've seen. The actors seem more at ease from head to toe, and don't overdo too many of their gestures. Stanwyck was the standout in this. Up to this point, she's the most relaxed actor I've seen, both with her lines and with her general postures.

I suppose the only minor gripe I have is that the ending, while not bad, felt a touch sugary. It seems odd to say, since it involves an attempted suicide, but it seemed to let off of the gas just a bit. I'm quite alright with Lily rediscovering her heart, but my eyebrows raised just a bit upon discovering that Trenholm will recover. As with the end of City Lights, I feel like a more powerful ending was abandoned. If the film had ended with Trenholm, Lily's new-found love, dying, I think it would have had more impact.

This is where the film shied away a bit, so as not to upset too many viewers. Personally, I think having Trenholm succeed in killing himself would have been far more impacting. 

Amazing how an extra 51 seconds can completely alter a story. Alas, it's a much happier ending for all.

If you like older movies that touch on darker subjects, or even like film noir flicks like Double Indemnity, Out of the Past, or Sunset Boulevard, I'm pretty sure you'll love this one.

Take 2. Or, "Why Film Geeks Love This Movie" (Done after some research on the film):

Well, well, well. I guess I wasn't the only one who didn't like the slightly more upbeat ending. Apparently, the original writer and director didn't like it either. The production studio, Warner Brothers, forced them into it, not wanting alienate too many viewers with such a downer ending as Courtland Trenholm killing himself, leaving Lily Powers only her money and the crushing guilt of having destroyed the one man that she loved. As I suggested, a missed opportunity.

I guess the critic at TIME Magazine wasn't too crazy about the film as whole. Here's their write-up.

Another interesting note is that this film was part of the "pre-Code" Hollywood, a roughly six-year period when studios released a number of films that dealt with seamier topics. This was all in order to attract any Depression-era dollars that they could. Hence Barbara Stanwyck's sexual predator character. At this point, in 1933, Hollywood had only about one more year before the real crack-down began, and we could no longer see women in their "undergarments," interracial relationships, open references to drug use, or any other sorts of fun stuff.

That's a wrap. 9 shows down. 96 to go.

Coming Soon: It's A Gift (1934):

I can't wait to watch this one. I love W.C. Fields, even though I've only seen a handful of his short and full-length movies. We'll see what kind of antics he gets up to in this one.

Please be sure to pick up all empties on the way out.