RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / A Streetcar Named Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon
Bookmark and Share

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
98 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:46

Fresh:45

Rotten:1

Average Rating:8.5/10

Runtime: 2 hrs 11 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Tennessee Williams based his screenplay on Oscar Saul's adaptation of Williams' Pulitzer Prize-winning play set in a grimy New Orleans project. The story of the fragile sentimentalism of a former... Tennessee Williams based his screenplay on Oscar Saul's adaptation of Williams' Pulitzer Prize-winning play set in a grimy New Orleans project. The story of the fragile sentimentalism of a former prostitute who visits her sister only to be taunted mercilessly by her childish brother-in-law. Academy Award Nominations: 12, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Marlon Brando), and Best Screeplay. Academy Awards: 4, including Best Actress (Vivien Leigh), Best Supporting Actress (Kim Hunter), and Best Supporting Actor (Karl Malden). The director's cut contains three minutes of previously censored footage. [More]

Starring: Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden

Starring: Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden, Rudy Bond, Nick Dennis, Wright King, Richard Garrick

Director: Elia Kazan

Director: Elia Kazan
Producer: Charles K. Feldman
Screenwriter: Tennessee Williams, Oscar Saul
Composer: Alex North

[See More Credits]

Get This Movie

Rent DVD
 
 

Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.

 
 
Buy DVD
 
 
Release:

May 2, 2006

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • Streetcar Named Desire, A: Special Edition
  • A Streeetcar Named Desire: The Original Director's Version is the Elia Kazan/Tennessee Williams film moviegoers would have seen had not Legion of Decency censorship occurred at the last minute. It features three minutes of previously unseen footage underscoring, among other things, the sexual tension between Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh) and Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando), and Stella Kowalski's (Kim Hunter) passion for husband Stanley. Catch all of the classic - nominated for 12 Academy AwardsO including Best Picture and winner of 4* - that introduced a new era of filmmaking. Step aboard this Streetcar.
  • Source: Warner Home Video
  •  
     
     
     

    Reviews for A Streetcar Named Desire

    • T-Meter Critics
    • Top Critics
    • RT Community
    • My Critics
    • My Friends
    • DVD
     
     
    1 - 20 (sorted by date)
    Bubble View | 1 2 3 >> >|
    Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
     
     
    Reviews
    Tomatometer Critic Review Category
    tomato

    Andrew L. Urban

    Has a permanent place amongst the classics, not only for the performances but for Tennessee Williams' raw writing about people raw with pain, fear, longing and complicated feelings

    Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Feb., 20 2009 06:52 PM

    Urban Cinefile

    tomato
    5/5

    Between them Kasan, Brando and Leigh take all the blood, sweat and tears of Williams' text and create one of the most potent productions of the post-war years.

    Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Nov., 14 2008 05:24 AM

    Channel 4 Film

    tomato

    James Christopher

    The blistering sexual repression is the entire point of the 1950s. Quite simply, fabulous.

    Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Nov., 14 2008 05:14 AM

    Times [UK]

    tomato
    3/5

    Peter Bradshaw

    The film is perhaps best regarded as an intelligent and engaged recreation of the original Broadway experience, in which Jessica Tandy first played the role. There's no denying the awful horror and pity of the final scene.

    Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Nov., 14 2008 04:55 AM

    Guardian [UK]

    tomato

    Tim Robey

    it's a close-to-definitive example of how to make a great play work on film, for all the very slight air of Hollywood compromise.

    Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Nov., 14 2008 04:29 AM

    Daily Telegraph

    tomato
    5/5

    Jane Crowther

    Simply a masterful adap of Tennessee Williams' sultry, searing play and an affirmation of Marlon Brando's acting genius.

    Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Nov., 14 2008 04:03 AM

    Total Film

    splat
    2/5

    Anthony Quinn

    There's an inevitable staginess to Tennessee Williams' devastating portrait of delusion and cruelty, but director Elia Kazan catches the squalid, claustrophobic atmosphere of a New Orleans tenement just right.

    Full Review Source: | comment 2 Comments | Nov., 14 2008 03:15 AM

    Independent

    tomato
    5/5

    Cole Smithey

    No review available.

    comment Comment | Nov., 04 2007 06:34 PM

    ColeSmithey.com

    tomato

    One of the most potent productions of the post-war years.

    Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Nov., 01 2007 01:37 PM

    Channel 4 Film

    N/R

    David Ansen

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Nov., 01 2007 03:15 AM

    Newsweek

    tomato
    4/4

    A Streetcar Named Desire features some of the finest ensemble acting ever offered on the screen, speaking some Williams's most vivid dialogue.

    Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jun., 28 2007 01:26 PM

    TV Guide's Movie Guide

    tomato

    Dave Kehr

    ...if the hothouse style was ever justified, this is the occasion.

    Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jun., 28 2007 01:22 PM

    Chicago Reader

    tomato
    A

    Robert Roten

    The classic adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play, featuring one of Marlon Brando's legendary performances.

    Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jan., 27 2007 02:34 PM

    Laramie Movie Scope

    tomato
    4/4

    Walter Chaw

    That melancholy we feel as it closes is a mourning for me that I'll never be able to see this film again for the first time--and that I'll never be able to appreciate any film that came before it without the stain of it in my perception.

    Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jun., 15 2006 03:27 PM

    Film Freak Central

    tomato
    3/4

    Jeffrey M. Anderson

    Brando pulls off astonishing things as Stanley Kowalski, and Vivien Leigh gives a performance that must have taken everything she had as Blanche DuBois.

    Full Review Source: | comment Comment | May., 26 2006 03:16 AM

    Combustible Celluloid

    tomato
    4/4

    Phil Villarreal

    Brando's performance is probably the most influential in movie history for the way its raw naturalism smolders amid the stiff theatricality that surrounds him.

    Full Review Source: | comment Comment | May., 05 2006 05:52 AM

    Arizona Daily Star

    tomato
    8/10

    John J. Puccio

    Streetcar should have been Vivien Leigh's picture, she's the main character, but it's Brando who steals every scene he's in.

    Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Apr., 27 2006 11:15 AM

    DVDTown.com

    tomato
    4/5

    Christopher Null

    This is a film about passion, and the movie positively oozes it.

    Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Apr., 10 2006 10:20 PM

    Filmcritic.com

    tomato

    Geoff Andrew

    ...Kazan achieves a sort of theatrical intensity in which the sweaty realism sometimes clashes awkwardly with the stylisation that heightens the dialogue into a kind of poetry.

    Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Feb., 09 2006 03:16 AM

    Time Out

    tomato
    4/5

    James Plath

    With The Glass Menagerie, one of the best Tennesee Williams film adaptations.

    comment Comment | Sep., 28 2005 04:51 PM

    DVDTown.com

     
     
    1 - 20 (sorted by date)
    Bubble View | 1 2 3 >> >|
    all

    Latest News for A Streetcar Named Desire

    August 12, 2008: Taylor Hackford Revisits Tennessee Williams' Early Years Opens in new window
    Taylor Hackford has signed on to direct Tenn, a Robin Shushan-scripted drama about the formative years of playwright Tennessee Williams. More...

    June 22, 2007: AFI Announces Top 100 Movies of All Time ... Again
    Ten years ago the AFI gave us a list of the Top 100 American Films Ever Made -- and when that was done they churned out 15 other lists every few years. And then last night they... More...

    See All

    More DVDs

    Close
    Top Rentals
    Tomatometer Percentage Movie
    77% 77% The Hangover
    88% 88% Inglourious Basterds
    66% 66% Public Enemies
    24% 24% G-Force
    44% 44% Night at the Museum: B…

    More Rentals…

    New On DVD This Week
    Tomatometer Percentage Movie
    82% 82% Paranormal Activity
    58% 58% 9
    44% 44% Jennifer's Body
    58% 58% A Perfect Getaway

    More New Releases…

    See All

    RT On Current TV

    The Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current TV

    DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...

    Learn how you can be part of the show

    More...

    What’s Hot On RT

    RT Editors' Picks

    RT Editors' Picks

    Which films of '09 were staff faves?

    Awards Tour

    Awards Tour

    Stay up on the latest awards and noms!

    Sex and The City 2

    Sex and The City 2

    Friendship, fashion, and fun in one trailer!

    RT on DVD & Blu-Ray

    RT on DVD & Blu-Ray

    9 and Paranormal Activity!

    Other News

    Close
    • Top Stories
    • Popular
    • Interviews
     
     

    Comments

     
     
    Top Stories
    Headlines Comments
      
    • Star Trek Tops 2009's Most-Pirated Movies List Source: Hollywood Reporter
    15
    • Weekly Ketchup: Peter Jackson's Secret Sci-Fi Project
    108
    • New Toy Story 3 Clip, Photos Posted Source: Slashfilm
    26
    • Danny Trejo Talks Machete, Possible Sequels Source: Collider.com
    14
    • It's Official: Jackass 3-D Coming in 2010 Source: Collider.com
    16
    • Bryan Singer Returning to X-Men for First Class Source: Superhero Hype
    102
    • Mark Strong Talks Kick-Ass, John Carter, and Robin Hood Source: Collider.com
    1
    • How Avatar Happened: The Path to Innovation Source: CinemaBlend.com
    19
    • Rob Marshall Says Pirates 4 Is Still a Maybe Source: ComingSoon.net
    32
    • ET Teases Iron Man 2 Teaser Source: Collider.com
    28
    Popular
    Headlines Comments
      
    • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Avatar, Sherlock, and Alvin Team Up To Break Records
    247
    • RT's Best of the Decade!
    170
    • Total Recall: Jude Law's Best Movies
    59
    • Weekly Ketchup: Peter Jackson's Secret Sci-Fi Project
    36
    • Critics Consensus: Sherlock Holmes Is Worth Investigating
    33
    • RT Editors Choose Their Favorite Films of 2009!
    31
    • RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: 9 and Paranormal Activity
    16
    • Friday Harvest: Sherlock Holmes, Toy Story 3, and more!
    10
    • What We're Watching on Blu-ray from 20th Century Fox!
    0
    Interviews
    Headlines Comments
      
    • Five Favorite Films With Peter Jackson
    72
    • Robert Downey Jr. talks Sherlock Holmes & Iron Man 2 - RT Interview
    21
    • Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Zombieland
    2
    • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
    17
    • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
    12
    • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
    24
    • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
    8
    • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
    16
    • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
    24
    • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
    9
     
     

    Sponsored Links

    Around The Network

    • A Streetcar Named Desire at Rotten Tomatoes
    • A Streetcar Named Desire at IGN

    Fresh Links

    Featured
    Best Dozen of the Decade
    Best Dozen of the Decade External Link

    Last week, MSN gave us their top 09 films. Now see what their favorites of the decade are!

    Top 50 of 2009
    Top 50 of 2009 External Link

    Here's a list of the 50 best movies of 2009, according to the good people over at Moviefone.

    Santa's Naughty List
    Santa's Naughty List External Link

    Hollywood.com takes a stab at determining who in movies will be on Santa's naughty list in 2009.

    Top 10 Movies of 2009
    Top 10 Movies of 2009 External Link

    TIME chimes in with their own list of the best films released this year.

    Top 20 of the Decade
    Top 20 of the Decade External Link

    Click through to see which movies BuzzSugar placed in their Best-of-Decade list!

    Promos
    Follow RT on Twitter
    Follow RT on Twitter External Link

    Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!

     
     
    About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
    IGN Logo
    About Us | Advertise | Contact Us | Press | Careers
    IGN | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | Direct2Drive | GameSpy Technology
    TeamXbox | Game Sites | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
    AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | GIGA.DE | What They Play | Battlefield Heroes
    By continuing past this page, and by your continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
    Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. | Support | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! RSS Feeds
    IGN’s enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA.
    Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.