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The following is an annotated bibliography for Elia Kazan's "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951), based on Tennessee Williams play of the same name. In this film, the beautiful yet disturbed Blanche DuBois moves in with her sister, Stella, in the French Quarter of New Orleans, only to be physically and psychologically tormented by her brutish brother-in-law, Stanley. The more Blanche's situation deteriorates, the more she loses touch with reality.
Staggs, Sam. . When Blanche met Brando : the scandalous story of "A streetcar named Desire" / Sam Staggs. 1st ed. 0312321643 series New York : St. Martin's Press, 2005.
Call#: Van Pelt Library PS3545.I5365 S83 2005
Call#: Van Pelt Library PS3545.I5365 S83 2005
In this book, Staggs recounts everything from Williams’ initial names of Blanche Collins and Ralph Kowalski to the production of the play to the making of the movie, and all of the remakes after that. A thorough, candid account of Streetcar complete with a photo journal and multiple indexes, Staggs assesses every nuance that went into Williams’ play and Kazan’s film, leaving readers with an understanding of the actual characters and the men and women who played them. From the choice of New Orleans as a backdrop to the faith-based censorship it experienced upon release, Staggs seems to tell it all. However, some of his most provocative chapters reveal the antics behind the scenes. In Chapter Twenty-One, titled “Thirteen Ways of Looking at Brando,” Staggs gives an account Brando’s antics, such as putting a fake tarantula in Kim Hunter’s bed while she slept or refusing to use theatrical, breakable plates in Blanche’s birthday scene and consequently cutting his hand open; in Chapter Twenty-Two, he describes L. Ron Hubbard’s visits to the sets before he invented Scientology.
For audiences wishing to have a thorough understanding of all of the elements that went into the production of Streetcar, Staggs delivers. Characters are vividly explained, yet the actors who played them are brought to life as well; Elia Kazan does not appear to be an unapproachable master of theater and film, but an inspired man with a multitude of artistic ambitions. His book does not feel like a work of nonfiction, but it does not feel like a novel either. Rather, it’s a collection of stories that, when put together, creates one of the most dynamic tales in 1950s Hollywood.
For audiences wishing to have a thorough understanding of all of the elements that went into the production of Streetcar, Staggs delivers. Characters are vividly explained, yet the actors who played them are brought to life as well; Elia Kazan does not appear to be an unapproachable master of theater and film, but an inspired man with a multitude of artistic ambitions. His book does not feel like a work of nonfiction, but it does not feel like a novel either. Rather, it’s a collection of stories that, when put together, creates one of the most dynamic tales in 1950s Hollywood.
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tagged a_streetcar_named_desire american_theater blanche brando vivien_leigh by kendallo ...and 4 other people ...on 09-APR-08
tagged a_streetcar_named_desire american_theater blanche brando vivien_leigh by kendallo ...and 4 other people ...on 09-APR-08