Our next summer movie is this 1951 classic from Elia Kazan, featuring some of the all time greatest acting from all four of its leads (three of whom won Oscars for their roles), but particularly Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh, who tower over everything, and nearly burn up the screen doing it. This is the movie that gave the world Brando of course, as the brutish Stanley Kowalski, a violent depiction of masculinity that both scares and excites his wife Stella (Kim Hunter), and threatens her sister Blanche Dubois (Leigh). Brando debuts his method acting style, which soon took over the world and became the new way of performing, and he's sensational in the part, but Vivien Leigh is every bit his equal as the desperate and abused Blanche, who falls victim to yet another man who mistreats her. The movie takes place in a hot, sweaty, claustrophobic tenement in New Orleans, where the characters are constantly forced to interact, with ultimately tragic consequences, as with most Tennessee Williams plays. This is a classic for a reason, and the one who didn't win that coveted Oscar for his role here? Funnily enough, it was Brando, the man who revolutionized film acting. How's that for irony?
Original 1951 Trailer:
