Elia Kazan remains a controversial figure in the film world. He made very socially conscious contemporary features, and was celebrated for his intense and stirring melodramas. He never made anything else. His preference for more psychological realism onscreen brought actors like Marlon Brando and James Dean to prominence. However, his testimony to the House Committee on Un-American Activities during the Hollywood blacklist era made him a fiercely divisive figure, and his reputation never totally recovered. The quality of his work, however, has never been in dispute.
Kazan was no stranger to controversy from the beginning, often picking projects with provocative subject matter like miscegenation in "Pinky" and antisemitism in "Gentleman's Agreement." He came out of the theater world, where he collaborated with playwrights like Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller. He directed the original Broadway production of "A Streetcar Named Desire," and cast then unknown Marlon Brando in the role of Stanley Kowalski, one of the new breed of "Method" actors who had trained under Lee Strasberg. When Warner Bros. hired Kazan to direct the film adaptation, the entire cast came with him, except Jessica Tandy, who was replaced by Vivien Leigh from the London production because of her star power.
The play had to be streamlined from its original form, and significantly toned down to meet the Production Code requirements. Rape, homosexuality, and pederasty were only to be hinted at rather than explicitly referenced. Five minutes of footage were also cut to downpay the sexuality and violence of certain scenes. However, there was no hiding the brutality of the play's themes, the rawness of the performances, or the sheer physicality of Marlon Brando. "A Streetcar Named Desire" looks dated to modern eyes, but Brando's screen performance as Stanley Kowalski was a major watershed in American cinema. There is no carefully restrained, image-conscious movie star gentility apparent anywhere. When Stanley bellows for his wife, it is lurid, and animalistic, and spine-tingling.
Matching him beat for beat is Leigh as Blanche DuBois. She described the role as grueling, and the toll that it took on her is apparent in every frame. Watching Blanche disintegrate into alcoholism and mental illness is difficult, and the shattering of her illusions and carefully constructed self-image is deeply tragic. I feel such sympathy for her, even though Blanche is the kind of person who I'd find impossible in real life, and who would clearly be a contemptible villain in someone else's story. What makes the confrontations between her and Stanley so intense is that they go on for so long, and build so much roiling tension before things finally explode. Though I know the scene was supposed to be longer and more violent, I can't help feeling relieved that Kazan cut away from the final, climactic fight between the two of them.
In the supporting roles, Kim Hunter is also great as Stella, but I feel like circumstances undercut her work. Several of the cuts to the film involve downplaying her sexuality, and removing some of the ambiguities in her relationship with Stanley, so I always feel a little uncertain when parsing my feelings toward her character. The altered ending for her in particular seems unnecessary, and one of the few adaptation decisions I have serious qualms with. The performance that always quietly knocks me off my feet, however, is Karl Malden's work as Mitch. He starts out as such a milquetoast figure, a ready dupe for Blanches scheming. When her lies are revealed, however, and Mitch is humiliated, he turns ugly and threatening so fast, it takes your breath away.
Kazan would go on to make several more classics in the '50s and '60s, beloved as an "actor's director" with a knack for provoking and encouraging greatness from his actors. His work remains deeply influential in spite of his infamy, and still retains much of its dramatic power. I don't think Brando was subsequently ever as good as he was in Kazan's films. However, with melodramas having quietly receded from the spotlight in recent years, so too has much of Kazan's work.
What I've Seen - Elia Kazan
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
Pinky (1949)
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
Viva Zapata! (1952)
On the Waterfront (1954)
East of Eden (1955)
Baby Doll (1956)
Wild River (1960)
Splendor in the Grass (1961)
America, America (1963)
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