This is the start of a new series on my blog called Favorite Performances, where I am going to be highlighting….well some of my favorite performances in film. All of these aren’t awards winners but normally they will have contributed something special to cinema.
Although most weeks I will pick just one person, but after watching Elia Kazan’s Splendor in the Grass I mentally revisited another one of his great films, A Streetcar Named Desire (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044081/). I watched this movie on a whim one night when it came on Turner Classic Movies and man, I’m glad I did. There isn’t much that hasn’t been said about this landmark story set in New Orleans. It was a ladmark play on Broadway and the West End and proved to be just as potent a film garnering several Oscars. In fact each of the principal cast members was nominated for the Academy Award that year and everyone (Vivien Leigh, Kim Hunter and Karl Malden) except for the legendary Marlon Brando won (he lost to the equally legendary Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen).
This film isn’t so much a testament to the words (which written by Tennessee Williams is saying a lot) but the actor embodying them. The foursome tear so dive so fully into the material, eschewing vanity and over the top-ness, in favor of complete transformation.
I believe movies are at their best when even the supporting characters threaten to walk off with the movie. Stella and Mitch are two characters, wronged boyfriend and torn wife, that could have easily been turned into caricatures, but Kim Hunter and Karl Malden manage to restrain them in their human qualities. The wide eye glee of Mitch taking Blanche out on a date is made even more memorable by his reactions to her confession. Mitch has extreme affection for Blanche and maintains it throughout the movie, even when his heart is broken.
Stella in my mind is the glue that holds this film together and I loved what Kim Hunter did with role. If I may offer a controversial statement, Stella is just like Stanley. No she’s not a drunk or someone “common”, but she represents the exact same values. Stella loves, cares, gets angry, and has an animalistic side when people attack her family. She is torn betweeen her overwhelming lust (not love) for Stanley and her desire to protect Blanche in any way possible. My favorite scenes with Stella are where she’s right in between the two main character like the dinner scene or when she’s walking down that staircase back to Stanley. Its in those moments that she’s the basis of human emotion. Its heartbreaking when she agrees with her husband to send Blanche to an institution but luckily she makes the right choice to leave him in the end.
Stanley, played with searing intensity by Marlon Brando, is the audiences vessel into the basics of human nature. He’s overwhelmingly brutish, intensely sexy, and completely territorial. But then again, how would you feel if a crazy, child molesting woman came and lived with you? Marlon Brando, who could get it all in this movie and would get breakfast in the morning, completely owns this role. I loved that Stanley is so unabashed about his opinions but also has a soft side. When he yells “Stella” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1A0p0F_iH8you ) can feel his pain for having wronged the woman he loves, but you also loathe him for what is believed to be the rape of Blanche. I found that despite all his flaws, I came out of the movie with an appreciation for this character, which is a testament to Brando’s acting.
But the best part of this film is Vivien Leigh as Blanche. I look at this character as the continuation of the Southern Belle she played in Gone with the Wind. Blanche is delusional in all the best ways and hanging by a thread, she wants the world desperately to be perfect but alas its not. Its amazing to see her interactions with Harold, whom she gravitates to because she enjoys being admired. I love when acting is about emotion rather than technical precision (its what made Mo’Nique so amazing in Precious) but Vivien makes some remarkable choices with Blanche. Take the scene where she’s seemingly confessing her sins to Harold. She’s warding him off with her usual light voice and quick charm, but when she finally reaches her breaking point she loses all pretenses. The swish of her arms is no longer dainty, her voice deepens drastically, and we are transported into the lair of “Tarantula Arms”. Vivien brings out Blanche’s vulnerabilities as well as her confidences in a vivid portrayal. It’s a performance for the ages, one every actress should be required to watch before starting any “prestige” picture.
I cannot rave enough about this film, everything about it is great. the set design, cinematography…I could feel the heat through the screen. This movie is a Landmark in cinema, and I can’t recommend it more highly.
Favorite Lines:
“I’ve always depended on the kindness of strangers”
“Tarantula was the name of it. I stayed at a hotel called the Tarantula Arms…Yes, a big spider. That’s where I brought my victims. Yes, I’ve had many meetings with strangers.”
” Listen, baby, when we first met – you and me – you thought I was common…”
