A Streetcar Named Desire

I know most will say the original 50's version of A Streetcar Named Desire is without competition and that this adaptation shouldn't even exist, but if people could get over their prejudices and watch it for what it is, they might enjoy it.

Not only is this take on the material more faithful to the original play (by the time the 80's rolled around, you could get away with more on TV than you could get away with on screen in the 50's), but it features a wonderful performance by Ann-Margret as Blanche DuBois. At first, Margret's interpretation of the character is a bit jarring. She's far from the nervous, shrinking violet we're so used to seeing. She has more strength than most other Blanches I've seen, but as the story progresses, one starts to see how this is simply a mask she wears to hide her fear and vulnerability. It's a wonderfully fresh interpretation of the role.

Beverly D'Angelo and Randy Quaid are equally excellent as Stella and Mitch. Treat Williams can't quite seem to escape the shadow of Marlon Brando, but he looks the part and is appropriately brutish as Stanley. Broadway vet Marvin Hamlish's music score is gorgeous and sexy.

Ann-Margaret turned in one of the best performances of her career in the 1984 TV version of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, a well-mounted remake of the Tennessee Williams play that became the 1951 classic film that made a star out of Marlon Brando and won a 2nd Oscar for Vivian Leigh. Ann-Margaret gives an intense and chilling interpretation of Blanche, the mentally fragile southern belle who is brutalized by her boor of a brother-in-law (Treat Williams)when she arrives in New Orleans to visit her sister Stella (Beverly D'Angelo). Ann-Margret has never lost herself in a role the way she lost herself in this one, a performance that lacks the china-doll fragility of Leigh's Blanche but adds an underlying layer of strength that was missing from Leigh's interpretation. Treat Williams lacks the electricity that Brando brought to Stanley but D'Angelo brilliantly conveys the tattered emotions of the conflicted Stella. The other plus of this production is that it restores the original Tennessee Williams ending to the play which was drastically changed in the theatrical film in order for the story to be more acceptable to audiences in 1951; however, it completely dilutes the power of the original piece but it is restored to its original beauty here and packs the emotional punch felt by audience at the 1947 premiere of the play. Coupled with the performances of Ann-Margret and Beverly D'Angelo, this is a remake which can proudly stand up next to the original.

The TV remake of A Streetcar Named Desire does not measure up to the classic film starring Vivien Leigh, one of the finest actresses who has ever lived. Ann- Margret gets and A for Effort in this remake, but her essential personality is simply too robust to portray the fragile Blanche. The essence of Blanche Dubois is great delicacy and vulnerability. Ann Margret is about as delicate and vulnerable as an atomic bomb. The rape scene is not convincing, since anyone who tried to rape Ann-Margret would probably end up in the hospital. Treat Williams is by no means as primal as the crude Brando; he almost seems a gentleman in comparison, which lowers the dramatic tension. This film is well-acted and well-directed, but does not compare with the Brando/Leigh original.

There were some aspects of the original play changed when it was adapted into the film version starring Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, and Kim Hunter. This play adaptation is not great but decent to our standards. I think the best performance in the role is Randy Quaid playing MItch. The 1951 film version had Karl Malden. Randy was perfectly cast as Mitch in my opinion. Ann Margret's Blanche Dubois was decent. It's hard to compare her to Vivien Leigh. Ann Margret portrayed Blanche to the best of her ability. Beverly D'Angelo was fine as Stella and Treat Williams was sufficient as Stanley Kowalski. As much as I liked the original film, Ann Margret holds her own to this adaptation. If you want to see the original adaptation, go ahead but don't make comparisons. In this film, the storyline and features remained the same. It didn't have to make adjustments or adapt to today's audience like the original. This was more faithful to Tennessee Williams than the original 1951 film production itself. It lacks some things but it's still pretty good.

Maybe there is a viewer who will watch this production, having absolutely no familiarity with Elia Kazan's film. If you have seen the earlier film, you may have difficulty in evaluating this version without reference to the earlier film. I personally think that a more gifted director would have been able to draw from this cast a more satisfying show. The credits indicate that Tennessee Williams wrote the teleplay, so he would have been around to help a talented director get the most from the cast. Too often it seemed to me that the cast was merely reciting the lines. And Treat should have avoided a "Southern" accent: Blanche, yes; Stanley, no. He would have profited from a director who might have focused on the animal in Stanley, and not simply the pig.