Synopsis
"Perhaps the quintessential
Kazan film,
Streetcar Named Desire is, ironically, among the closest to his stage work. Only the urging of his good friend
Tennessee Williams convinced
Kazan to reluctantly take on the screen version of a play he had already directed successfully on Broadway.
Kazan decided eventually to retain the play's general form while also increasing the tightness and tension of the dominant interior scenes by shooting largely in close-ups and medium shots. The only aberration from the play's mesmerizing original line-up was
Vivien Leigh – forced upon
Kazan by producer
Charles Feldman, who insisted on the presence of a tested marquee star." – Harvard Film Archive
