A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

 Here is my final of five reviews for Alex who helped me decide on what movie series to tackle after I finished reviewing all of the Oscar Best Picture winners. – Thanks again Alex!

“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 truths. I tell what ought to be truth. ” – Blanche Dubois

Number of Times Seen – 1 (17 Apr 2014)

Brief Synopsis – A young southern widow moves to New Orleans to live with her sister and her husband in order to get her life back on track.

My Take on it – This is one of those movies that you have to see in order to believe how good it really is.  Word of mouth just isn’t enough.

I have avoided seeing this movie over the years because I felt that it would be impossible to enjoy it as much as all the hype makes it out to be, but it truly is great and I’m grateful that Alex “challenged” me to watch this one.

The acting in this movie is amazing. All 4 main actors got Oscar nominations (Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden and Vivien Leigh) and only Brando didn’t win (He lost to Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen (1951).

This is one of only 2 movies in Oscar history to take home Gold for 3 actors.  The other one being Network (1976).

Since the story takes place in very few locations, the actors must carry the story and the raw emotion they all evoke is done superbly with the help of Tennessee Williams’ amazing play which won numerous awards.

What’s unfortunate about this movie is the fact that due to censorship laws in place, many scenes were cut or changed since they were deemed inappropriate at the time since they dealt with rape, promiscuity and homosexuality.

Thanks again to Alex for this recommendation!

Bottom Line – Great performances, excellent script by Tennessee Williams’ award winning play.  Highly Recommended!

Rating – Oscar Worthy

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