Played some four minutes of the original movie of A Streetcar Named Desire to a class today with Brando eating up the screen. I'd half-forgotten how good Vivien Leigh is as Blanche, but it's impossible to take your eyes off the young Brando just being Stanley. You can smell the sweat off that t-shirt. And he's just so subtle. The insecurity behind his eyes when he spells out the Napoleonic Code to Stella is perfection. Oh, and the actress playing her is no slouch either, though I've forgotten her name. (And I know I'm not supposed to say 'actress' but I'm too old to care.)
Just thought. Is it Karl Malden who plays Mitch? Must look it up.
Postscript: Yep, got that right. More perfect casting from Kazan (and me, I suppose.) Painfully brilliant in the role. What a phenomenal generation of actors (ok, I'll be a bit woke) that was, eh?
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