A Streetcar Named Desire

directed by Elia Kazan
USA 1951

The film in which the Marlon mumble and scratch gave the Method a bad name and Tennessee Williams a yellow paper reputation as the playwright of steamy sex. Actually pretty mild (Stanley's 'liberating' rape of Blanche is coyly elided while we watch a hose washing away garbage with portentous symbolism), it remains impressive largely because of Brando's superbly detailed performance (which rather wipes the floor with Leigh's showy but superficial bundle of mannerisms). Directing with his camera sticking as close to the characters as if they were grouped on a stage, Kazan achieves a sort of theatrical intensity in which the sweaty realism sometimes clashes awkwardly with the stylization that heightens the dialogue into a kind of poetry. What the film lacks, in fact, is some sort of perspective - and perhaps a dash of the dark humour that made Baby Doll both Kazan's best film and the screen's best Williams adaptation.

Excerpt from the TimeOut FilmGuide located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: September 18th, 1951

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

DVD Comparison:

Warner - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Warner (2-disc Special Edition) - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC

(Warner - Region 1 - NTSC LEFT vs. Warner (2-disc SE) - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC RIGHT)

DVD Box Cover

The 2-disc SE is part of the Tennessee Williams Film Collection which contains A Streetcar Named Desire 1951 Two-Disc Special Edition / Cat on a Hot Tin Roof 1958 Deluxe Edition / Sweet Bird of Youth / The Night of the Iguana / Baby Doll / The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone

Other Individual Reviews:

Distribution

Warner Home Video

Region 1 - NTSC

Warner Home Video (2-disc Special Edition)

Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC

Runtime

2:04:40

2:04:44

Video

1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 4.5 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 5.73 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate : Warner (old)

Bitrate: Warner (Special Edition)

Audio

English (Dolby Digital 2.0)

English (Dolby Digital 1.0)

Subtitles

English, Spanish, French, None

Features

Release Information:
Studio: Warner Home Video

Aspect Ratio: - 1.33:1

Edition Details:
• Cast Bios/Production Notes/Awards (text screens)

DVD Release Date: April 10th, 2001
Snapper case

Chapters 26

Release Information:
Studio: Warner Home Video (Special Edition)

Aspect Ratio: - 1.33:1

Edition Details:
• Commentary by Karl Malden and film historian Rudy Behlmer
• Elia Kazan movie trailer gallery

Disc 2
• Feature length documentary Elia Kazan: A Director’s Journey
• Movie and audio outtakes
• Marlon Brando screen test
• 5 new documentary featurettes: A Streetcar on Broadway, A Streetcar in Hollywood, Desire and Censorship, North and the South and An Actor Named Brando

DVD Release Date: May 2nd, 2006
Keep Case inside cardboard box

Chapters 28

Comments

I don't know whether the new SE image quality is a vast improvement over the old edition - it is smoother and brighter, but that is not necessarily a good thing. It can depend on your tastes but when blowing the image up using projection the new image does show less damage marks, dirt, artifacts and digital noise.

I tend to agree with Cliff from our ListServ. He stated (about digital cleanup):
'With sharpness, it seems that you are always going to see more thin lines and small pieces of dirt that seem to show up invariably on film UNLESS great efforts are made to remove them. I suppose some of the digital clean-up must be done "by hand" if it's going to be done right, i.e., a human must get in there and make sure that ropes and gnats and fishing lines which are present in the film image aren't digitally erased... or you can just opt for the blurriness. I prefer sharpness without the overzealous cleaning of dirt and emulsion scratches...'

The screen shots definitely expose a possible excessiveness in digitization and we hope the trend is not overused in future transfers.

In regards to extras, the new package is stacked with a 2nd disc of featurettes and, the most anticipated, recently surfaced, 5-minute, Brando screen test for Rebel Without a Cause. It is actually a long time before Nicholas Ray's film and is from a book adaptation that Warner, at one time, owned. Still, it is very interesting. Other keen supplements include the full-length Kazan bio-documentary, outtakes and more (5 other documentary featurettes!).

Our niggling over the image shouldn't distract anyone from this outstanding package. Warner really delivers on this dynamic and emotionally realistic film - atmospherically set in the seedy French Quarter of New Orleans. Days of cinema like this are long gone and I'm so very happy to have this masterpiece in such a complete digital package. Bravo Warner!

- Gary Tooze

DVD Menus

(Warner - Region 1 - NTSC LEFT vs. Warner (2-disc SE) - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC RIGHT)

Disc 2

Screen Captures

(Warner - Region 1 - NTSC TOP vs. Warner (2-disc SE) - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC BOTTOM)
Subtitle Sample: Not exact frame