A masterpiece of fine acting and a brilliant script. Vivien Leigh’s performance was magnificent and well deserving of her Academy Award. Her most famous role is most definitely that of Scarlett O’Hara, but I would argue that her performance here is greater. And what more can be said about Marlon Brando’s game-changing performance that hasn’t already been said? His character Stanley is deplorable but yet you can’t look away from him either. Brando is electric on screen. His Stanley is raw, real, and carnal. Sexy doesn’t begin to describe him. Kim Hunter and Karl Malden round out the main cast with excellent performances from both. Director Elia Kazan is to be commended for doing such a fine job with his actors and for the feeling of tension, heat, and seediness that pervades throughout the film. And one can’t go without mentioning Tennessee William’s rich screenplay, which he adapted from his Pulitzer Prize winning play. This one really got under my skin and I won’t soon forget the experience.

Scarlett O’Hara, part deux.

Dear Lord, is it possible for Vivien Leigh to accept a role that isn’t a melodramatic, self-centered strong Southern woman acting like a damsel in distress?

Although, I must say the “Hey Stella” scene was worth sitting through this two hour movie. It’s one of those brutally sexy scenes that we don’t have enough of anymore. (Actually, come to think of it, there’s another one in Gone With the Wind.)

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I rented “A Streetcar Named Desire”. I didn’t know anything about the story, I just had vague associations about Marlon Brando being a hearthrob. I guess I figured it was some kind of romance, possibly a musical, what with the the goofy name.

What I definitely didn’t expect was this bleak, wrenching, noirish film. Which is not to say that I didn’t like it. I could barely look away. Wow. What an intense movie.

The picture you hate to love;