A Streetcar Named Desire Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

Warner Home Video’s Blu-ray of "A Streetcar Named Desire" won't induce passionate yelling in the street, but it delivers a solid presentation and set of extras that should please existing DVD owners and first time purchasers alike.



A Streetcar Named Desire
Release Date: April 10, 2012
Studio: Warner Home Video
Year: 1951
Rating: PG
Running Time: 2:04:55
MSRP: $34.99

The Feature: 4.5/5
Blanche DuBois (Vivian Leigh), a fading southern belle reeling from a series of personal setbacks, relocates to New Orleans to be with her beloved sister, Stella (Kim Hunter). Though the two women could not be more different in temperament and sensibility (Stella being much more down-to-earth and practical), they share a close bond that transcends their individual differences.

The same cannot be said for Blanche and Stella’s husband Stanley (Marlon Brando), who are at odds almost immediately upon meeting (though that encounter is not without its own twisted pleasantries). Blanche objects to Stanley’s primitive and violent nature, which manifests in drunken brawls and generally loutish behavior; Stanley sees Blanche as pretentious and falsely superior with her mannered speech and fancy clothing that mask destitution and mental fragility. Neither party is off base, but their differences come to a head when they begin battling over the only thing they have in common, Stella.

During Blanche’s stay she quickly gains the attention of Stanley’s friend Mitch (Karl Malden), who could offer her the fresh start and stability she so desperately needs. But Stanley is determined to get to the truth behind Blanche’s past, for no other reason than to put her in her place. Its revelation will no doubt break the already humbled woman, but it could also undo the very relationship that keeps Stanley going.

Though not every critically acclaimed Broadway production gets adapted into a film, and not every film adaptation is successful, there’s no questioning the wisdom and power of Elia Kazan’s adaptation of “A Streetcar Named Desire.” Having already proved his salt in directing Tennessee Williams’s award-winning play for the stage, it was no guarantee that Kazan would do the same for the screen, but he made the transition with hardly a stumble, leading to 12 Academy Award nominations and four wins for the film. This in spite of (or perhaps because of) some changes to the original material, minimizing the moral ambiguities in order to conform to Hollywood’s production code, but never diminishing the work’s emotional heat and sultry overtones.

Casting the majority of the core actors from the Broadway production, most notably Brando in the first of many iconic roles, was certainly a major reason for the film’s success. Since the story is centered on intricate sexual dynamics and power struggles between an ensemble of characters, having actors who could deliver the dramatic goods was critical. The replacement of Jessica Tandy as Blanche for an actor the studio considered a box office draw was unfortunate, but the strength of Leigh’s performance (which she first shared with audiences in the London West End production) is obvious. The manners and speech of her ethereal, fading flower more than keep pace with Brando’s bullish, brutish physicality, giving us one scene after another thick with tension. Hunter and Malden have the less dynamic and flamboyant roles by comparison, but prove able foils to their more high maintenance counterparts.

If there’s one minor criticism about the adaptation, is that it doesn’t seem quite adapted enough, never straying too far from the sense of the physical stage or proscenium arch. However the aesthetic does act as a compelling counterpoint to “Streetcar’s” sometimes blunt emotionalism and melodrama, imparting a sense of what made the play such a great success on the stage.

Note: The version presented on the Blu-ray is the uncensored cut that restores the content that was deemed morally objectionable by the National Legion of Decency in 1951. To avoid the stigmatizing “C” (for condemned) rating, the film went through a series of edits that minimized some of the more overt sexual tones to some of the scenes. By today’s standards, it’s hard to see how the cuts made any difference (it’s not like we’re counting f-words, right?), but the restoration of the original version is welcomed regardless of the questionable reasons behind its censoring.

Video Quality: 4/5
Framed at an aspect ratio of 1.37:1, the AVC-encoded, 1080p transfer features impeccable black levels and contrast, giving cinematographer Harry Stradling’s interplay with light and dark a beautiful showcase, particularly in the dim interiors of the Kowalski apartment. Fine detail is more variable, struggling a bit in wider shots, and faring better in close ups, yet film grain looks intact with no evidence of excessive noise reduction measures. Dupes and other image manipulations (one standing out more than others), made in the original edit, can be starkly obvious next to the sharper and tighter neighboring material. But the transfer ultimately proves faithful to the source elements, even though those elements may not always look the most perfect.

Audio Quality: 4/5
Dialogue in the mono DTS-HD Master Audio track is consistently clear and detailed. There are a few instances of minor hiss or low fidelity, but nothing to prove distracting or problematic. Some lines can be a little unintelligible, due to either character mumbling or talking too fast, but those are issues even a lossless track can’t solve. I did have to raise the volume on my receiver a fair bit higher than normal to get to a comfortable listening level (e.g. I usually listen at 62 but had to raise it to 67), but this will vary depending on your setup.

Special Features: 4.5/5
The extras include the same informative and in-depth material found on the 2006 special edition DVD, along with the now-familiar Warner Brothers “DigiBook” collectible booklet.

Commentary by Actor Karl Malden, and Film Historians Rudy Behlmer and Jeff Young: The track is assembled from separate interviews with the participants and contains similar information found in the video featurettes. However, those who enjoy watching films alongside informational commentary should appreciate the experience.

Elia Kazan: A Director’s Journey (1:15:32, SD): Written and directed by film critic/historian Richard Schickel, and narrated by Eli Wallach, the 1995 documentary traces Kazan’s career from his beginnings as a stage actor to his work as an award-winning film director. An extensive interview with the director himself provides much of the film’s structure and content, following a predictable pattern that alternates between the interview and material from the films. As it focuses almost exclusively on his directing work, there’s little examination of Kazan’s controversial actions related to the Hollywood Blacklist of the 1950s. Nevertheless, it provides a fitting tribute to a talented director.

A Streetcar on Broadway (22:01, SD): The 2006 featurette describes the development, production, and reception of Williams’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Karl Malden, Rudy Behlmer and Richard Schickel provide most of the interview material, though the piece also includes content from an archival interview with Kim Hunter.

A Streetcar in Hollywood (28:16, SD): A continuation of the previous featurette describes the play’s next phase as it moves from the stage to the screen. Malden, Behlmer and Schickel continue as primary interview subjects.

Censorship and Desire (16:21, SD): The piece details the National Legion of Decency’s objections to some of the content in the film, and the ultimate edits made in order for it to be “morally objectionable in part” as opposed to completely condemned. The featurette also provides helpful side-by-side views of the edited and original versions of key scenes.

North and the Music of the South (9:14, SD): Robert Townson of Varese Sarabande talks about the work of composer Alex North, and shares how he got involved with producing and releasing North’s abandoned score to Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Oddysey.”

An Actor Named Brando (8:53, SD): Fellow performers and historians talk about the impression the actor made on the theatre and film industry through his work on “Streetcar.”

Marlon Brando Screen Test (5:06, SD): Segments from Brando’s screen test for “Rebel Without A Cause.”

Outtakes (15:38, SD): The series of unused film clips is somewhat interesting, but without context hard to understand.

Audio Outtakes (17:01, DD): Similar to the film outtakes, it’s difficult to discern the context from seemingly random snippets of recordings.

Trailers

• Warner Brothers 1951 Release (2:35, SD)
• 20th Century 1958 Fox Reissue (2:09, SD)
• United Artists 1970 Reissue (1:50, SD)

Collectible Book: The nicely produced book-that-is-the-packaging includes cast and crew biographies, background on the production and numerous photographs.

Recap
The Feature: 4.5/5
Video Quality: 4/5
Audio Quality: 4/5
Special Features: 4.5/5
Overall Score (not an average): 4/5

Warner Home Video delivers a strong presentation of “A Streetcar Name Desire,” Elia Kazan’s award-winning adaptation of the equally acclaimed Broadway play. The special features port over all the items from the 2006 special edition DVD, making the release a worthwhile one for those looking to upgrade as well as for first time purchasers.