A Streetcar Named Desire (1995)

No she isn't.

No one can do Tennessee Williams like Lange. Transcendent.

She's no Ann-Margret.

Treat Williams' version was the best.

Oh was it?

Ann-Margret was magnificent. Lange is an also ran. ESPECIALLY in Tennessee Williams' plays.

A little bit affected... trying to mimic Vivien, but some fine moments. Baldwin was the disappointment here...

Lange wipes the floor with Ann Margaret, ESPECIALLY as Blanche DuBois.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1984) with Lange and Tommy Lee Jones

R7 I found Lange's portrayal more fragile and untethered. It's a brilliant interpretation.. Leigh's is an amazing performance, too, because she plays her with a hardened edge. She's weary where as Lange is broken.

Ann Margaret played her more like Leigh, though less successfully.

Ann Margaret

Isn't "Streetcar" set in Louisiana? Why does Baldwin sound like Vinnie Barbarino?

She's no Jessica Tandy.

I wonder how Meryl or Glenn would have played Blanche.

Glenn is probably too Yankee, Meryl too tic reliant.

Glenn played Blanche in London, I believe.

I would have loved to have seen her r14!!!

Veronica Lake played it in London with Ty Hardin as Stanley.

There are lots of fine "Streetcar" productions, but that's the one I would love to be able to say that I had seen.

I would have liked to have seen Sandy Dennis as Blanche.

Or Sandy Duncan.

R17 Sandy Dennis is one of my favorite actresses. She would've been sublime.

The Lange version is dreadful, never saw the Ann-Margaret one.

Ridiculous "performance." Lange lacks the intelligence and tragic gift to do Blanche. All she can do is squeak and act pathetic.

I couldn't make it through the whole performance in one sitting. Williams would have barfed that prescription cap up if it had been playing on the TV.

Lange and Leigh are the best Blanches.

You know who was outstanding in that Streetcar production w/ Lange and Baldwin- Amy Madigan. Her Stella was just shattering. And I got to see it a few times, once early on and then towards the end of the run. She kept up that quiet intensity and focus throughout. That she didn't get a Tony nomination was the real crime.

Glenn was way too old (and mannered) as Blanche in London. Essie Davis as Stella stole the entire production.

Blanche was a hooker

I HATED Vivien Leigh's portrayal as Blanche. She was so stiff and mannered, particularly when compared with Brando's seething performance.

They should have used Jessica Tandy instead.

I saw Lange and Baldwin on stage and she was beyond dreadful. She entered the first scene utterly worn out and never recovered any energy. A hopeless performance, like she was sleep-walking through all of it.

Baldwin was extremely sexy but he had no one to play against. In the stage version, Amy Madigan was about as sensuous as a scarecrow.

Lange is fantastic in this.

Does Jessica Lange blow all you people for these compliments? It sure ain't her acting that would get anyone excited.

She's terrible in it.

R25 Hush, Matthew.

[quote] I HATED Vivien Leigh's portrayal as Blanche. She was so stiff and mannered, particularly when compared with Brando's seething performance.They should have used Jessica Tandy instead.

Yes, because when I think of sensual, earthy and freeform, my mind instantly springs to Jessica Tandy, that slattern.

The "Hotel Flamingo" scene in this version is everything. Lange plummets along with Blanche off the deep end brilliantly here. Blanchett's work in "Blue Jasmine" is reminiscent.

The worst Blanche I am sorry to say was Natasha Richardson in the 2005 revival at Studio 54. And John C. Reilly was awful as Stanley.

Maybe they were going for something different, but Blanche was so toned she looked like she just came in from the gym and not from Belle Rive.

And if Reilly had suddenly started singing Mr. Cellophane I would not have been at all surprised.

R32, I'm sure it slipped your mind that Jessica Tandy created the role of Blanche Dubois in the original Broadway production opposite Marlon Brando, and won a Tony Award for her efforts...

no it didn't at all. I've always thought it bizarre casting and it's no surprise the only actor not asked to reprise their role in the film was Tandy. She had about as much appeal as the goose who chases after Foghorn Leghorn.

[quote]You know who was outstanding in that Streetcar production w/ Lange and Baldwin- Amy Madigan. Her Stella was just shattering. And I got to see it a few times, once early on and then towards the end of the run. She kept up that quiet intensity and focus throughout. That she didn't get a Tony nomination was the real crime.

Speaking of Amy Madigan, I think her husband Ed Harris would've been a great Stanley.

I don't suppose you actually saw the goose perform the role 71 years ago?

What if I did? What if I was the understudy for the paperboy all those many years ago? Wouldn't you feel like an ass.

Lange and Madigan are close friends. She insisted she be cast as Stella. Lange was also pals with Harris, whom she did Sweet Dreams with in '85.

Lange mentioned in a few interviews how Madigan saved her on a few occasions when she blanked from being emotionally exhausted. She also admitted not being ready for the stage in '92. She also admitted tackling the role more like she would've a film role, which she admitted was a mistake. She received mixed reviews in NY and raves on the west end 5 years later in 97.

Funny enough, her 92 performance of Blanche has many fans. It's Ryan Murphy's favorite performance ever. Also, many critics admitted that Lange's major problem was projection, not authenticity of emotion.

Her work in the television version is ethereal and shattering.

Now, I want Ryan Murphy's to produce an HBO version of "Long Day's Journey into Night" with Anthony Hopkins and Michael Shannon.

Close got mixed reviews as Blanche.

"There’s nothing remotely soft about Close’s robust, theatrically florid, scarcely vulnerable approach toward a woman riding her own streetcar toward despair." - Variety

"We know that Close is a dab hand at projecting implacable resolve. But is vulnerability within her compass? On the evidence of her performance here, the answer, I'm afraid, is a pretty emphatic no. With that determined cut of jib, she comes across as a tough cookie who is engaged in an arch impersonation of Blanche. The ladylike airs on her arrival at her sister's New Orleans apartment are too confidently imperious." - The Independent

R41 Ouch

I think Tandy was not cast because the film production needed a Hollywood name for Blanche. Brando had only done The Men and was not yet a star so they needed a woman who could ensure some box office for what was not a commercial property. True the stage version had been a hit but stage and film are very different mediums and, let's face it, the play is hard-going. Thank God Olivia de Havilland as the first one offered Blanche turned it down. It was way beyond her meagre talents, even with Kazan directing.

Also, Vivien Leigh was a huge sensation in the London production of Streetcar (directed by Laurence Olivier) so her version of the character was already admired and a guaranteed success.

And the idea of the actress who created Southern Belle Scarlett O'Hara playing the dissolute version in Streetcar was too hard to resist.

Sorry, Jessica! You didn't stand a chance.

What's interesting about the casting of Jessica Tandy and possible casting of Olivia de Havilland is that it shows when Blanche was originally conceived for the stage, a proper lady-like actress was thought to be what was needed.

Certainly not a Jessica Lange or Ann-Margret type, if you know what I mean.

If anyone is going to insult Olivia de Havilland, it's going to be me.

For god's sake. It's Ann-Margret, not Ann Margaret, you morons.

Even Brando thought that Jessica Tandy was miscast. And perhaps she was. Brando stole the play away from her.

Whether or not you like Vivien Leigh's performance, it is undeniable that she is not the tough cookie that Jessica Tandy readily projects. There was a strong dramatic reason to cast her. Her innate fragility restored a balance between Blanche's broken state and Stanley's brutishness than had been lost with Tandy as Blanche.

But, hell yes, Ann-Margret was the best.

For me Ann-Margret swallowed the language and this is a play where you need an actress who can enunciate it's beauty. Also no one would believe that she was no longer sexy. Lange has some brilliant moments but is too physically sturdy, so my preferred casting is still Leigh.

I watched the Lange version at school, which everyone hated because Vivian Leigh was prettier.

This version is also the only unedited filmed version, which is nice.

Oh God. She's awful.

That Jess version's worth looking at. Not the whole thing, of course, no; but enough to remind to you of how good Leigh was.

Apparently Tennessee wrote it for Lillian Gish, who couldn't play it because her mother was ill. Tallulah did a revival on Broadway and was booed off the stage. My ideal pairing, like so many others, was Vanessa Redgrave and Sylvester Stallone. There was talk of it.

[quote] It's Ryan Murphy's favorite performance ever.

Well, considering Ryan Murphy has the taste of the bottom of one's show, that tells you all you need to know.

[quote]Vanessa Redgrave and Sylvester Stallone.

Ooh. That sounds fascinating.

That sounds like a joke.

You all must have missed my turn as Blanche at the Burt Reynolds Jupiter Theater. Jim Nabors as Stanley, Charles Nelson Reilly as Mitch, Marilu Henner as Stella? People are still talking about it.

Ann Margret was my favorite. I was genuinely surprised by what she brought to the table. It was a great mix of strength and fragility. It's been awhile since I've seen the Lange version, but I remember her seemingly batshit crazy and defeated from her first entrance. There was nowhere to build to. It was like Imelda Staunton's Rose in GYPSY (at least the taped BBC version) - she's ready to play the finale on her first entrance. It's just bizarre to watch.

That's how Lange has played everything since Frances Farmer though: troubled but horny woman on the edge who really wants critics to know the struggle even if she has grind her teeth to do it.

You can pull that "I've never seen it!" shtick with some things but 1951's STREETCAR is too big. Which makes you wonder why she'd bother. It would be hard not to be influenced by it, since is so definitive, but it wouldn't really have have much bearing on reviews.

One of the things I like about Leigh's performance is that it doesn't have the... heaviness... of Lange's. It's lighter and frothier (that's just how I can best describe it) at first, making the story's conclusion so much more devastating. I agree with the above poster(s). Lange enters at full dramatic force (as if Blanche is playing herself in a play rather than believing she's actually fooling her sister) and it leaves her nowhere to go.

It's a recurring problem with Lange. All her performances seemed to be tailored for maximum "for-your-consideration"-ness.

Yes. Leigh works because her Blanche seems, at first, just a bit kooky and maybe a bit vain. It builds throughout. I thought Ann Margret was much the same way. Blanche just works better when she's still living on some plane of reality for at least the first act.

Did anyone see Patricia Clarkson in the role? I've often wondered how she was. She definitely has that great husky voice that seems perfect for Williams dialogue.

That's also the problem with her Maggie: It's too obviously sexual, robbing the film of its 'mystery'. I don't think Taylor is perfect but she's more subtle than Lange which is better.

God, the Lange hater's shit stains are all over this thread.

Lange's Blanche is defeated at the onset but resilient against accepting it throughout. That's what makes her interpretation so mad and brilliant: she doesn't play Blanche as if she's trying to fool anyone about her state as much as she is squirming to fool herself.

She's descended so far already - why else would a woman of her tastes and opinions resort to moving into a one bedroom slum with her sister and husband? - that she really has no facades left other than the ones she creates for herself. Everyone's already in on her gig. No one is fooled by Blanche or her faux heirs and stoicism. Lange shows why and brilliantly so.

Side Note: I ADORE Leigh's version and think Ann Margaret paid great tribute to that iconic performance - they both played her using variations of the same notes - but of course Leigh is better.

I saw Clarkson in DC and thought she was excellent.

Another favorite: Cate Blanchett as Blanche. Phenomenal.

[quote]Lange's Blanche is defeated at the onset but resilient against accepting it throughout. That's what makes her interpretation so mad and brilliant: she doesn't play Blanche as if she's trying to fool anyone about her state as much as she is squirming to fool herself.

No, she doesn't do that at all. You sound unfamiliar with the material, or at least hold same tenuous (subjective) grasp of it that Lange's performance would suggest she did.

[quote]She's descended so far already - why else would a woman of her tastes and opinions resort to moving into a one bedroom slum with her sister and husband? - that she really has no facades left other than the ones she creates for herself. Everyone's already in on her gig. No one is fooled by Blanche or her faux heirs and stoicism. Lange shows why and brilliantly so.

Blanche isn't stoic though. She's deluded. She mightn't be fooling anyone but she *thinks* she is. Jess doesn't show that which is part of the reason why her characterization fails.

I appreciate the air of Old World Southern charm Leigh imbues the character with now. It's harder to imagine Jess' Blanche being all that scandalized by her past -- again she's too 'raw' and 'visceral'.

She did narrate a Vivien Leigh documentary in 1990. Could she really not have seen it? This seems to imply it, unless it's out context.

[quote]Earlier this year, as the Broadway revival of "A Streetcar Named Desire" was nearing the end of its run, Jessica Lange told a theater magazine writer she was going to quit acting when the show closed.

Even back in 1992 she was still pulling that "I'm retiring now" stuff.

R69 Fails in your opinion. We can argue until the cows come home about character motivation and what truly drove Blanche DuBois, but the bottom line is: more than one answer,/interpretation are true.

Leigh plays her like a woman who believes she's fooling everyone whereas Lange plays her as someone who isn't sure she's fooling herself. Both are brilliant interpretations executed with grace, precision and truth.

As for assuming I'm not familiar with the text, what a sophomoric tactic, lol.

Move on, Matthew.

R73 is the Lange Loon. F&F and ignore.

R74 Must you be stricken and muzzled again, Matthew?

Lange was dreadful when she played Blanche on broadway opposite Baldwin and the equally dreadful Amy Madigan (who played Stella as a redneck). She's much better on film. I saw Sandy Dennis play both Blanche and Maggie the Cat in stock. She was, as you would imagine, quirky, heartbreaking and sublime.

R76 omfg. You lucky bastard. Which was Dennis better in?

I know she was perfect in both.

Sandy Dennis was a bag of tics and neuroses her entire career. Sandra Bernhard wasn't wrong when she said, "Let's go see Sandy Dennis give the same performance for the next 20 years." I remember being a kid and seeing her for the first time watching The Four Seasons and thinking- what is wrong with her?

The very thought of Sandy Dennis in a white slip and little else is.......deflating.

Leigh's performance in Streetcar is one of the greatest in cinema history.

But for me she beats all the other filmed Blanches because her film was shot in the period in which it takes place and therefore, the period detail is perfect.

If Lange hasn't seen these various classic films, it just proves that she is as dull and incurious as she appears.

I just love watching her little cray cray eyes go round & round.

Lange has listed Leigh in Streetcar and Gone With the Wind along with Elizabeth Taylor in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? as three of her favorite performances. She did it for AFIs 100 Stars special.

Where does she say she hasn't seen those films/performances?

R77 Loved Sandy in both but her Blanche was heartbreaking. I loved Sandy tics and all. I saw her on stage numerous times and you just could not take your eyes off her, much like Geraldine Page. David Selby played opposite Sandy in Cat and he was just fucking sex on a stick. God, I miss summer stock.

R84 Yes about Sandy and I LOVE Geraldine!

And the winner is...

Ann-Margret can play nothing but a drugged whore. Can't stand the whispering old lady with her spatulate mouth and lateral lisp. She's terrible in everything but Carnal Knowledge and Viva Las Vegas. Druggy whores. She's not bad as a drunk drugged whore in that Second Mrs. Greenwich thing.

When Glenn Close did the play in London did she play Blanche or Stanley?

"Sylvester Stallone"

Yo, Stella!

R78, the talent-free Sandra Bernhard is ALWAYS wrong.

Sandy Dennis did a lot of interesting summer stock performances in the 80s. She did Agnes of God and 'night Mother. I'd love to have seen those.

the mom in 'night Mother was Eileen Heckart and Peggy Cass was her co-star in Agnes of God. Interesting.

I'd love to see those too R91. But Sandy Dennis is no Blanche Dubois. Blanche can't stutter all her lines and have hips bigger than Belle Reve. How does Sandy Dennis portray a psychotic break? Does she begin to act sane?

I'm imagining Sarandon and Judy Davis as Blanche in this production now. Could they have done it? Well, they'd have been better than Lange, naturally, but interesting enough to bother?

But the 1951 version was perfect. What did this remake add? The original text you could say, but although the 1951 version is less overt it still (skillfully) tells us all we need to know. In fact, the slight trimming actually helps and is usually necessary for a move to film. Despite the acumen of the intervening forty four years, its the original that feels less leaden, less stagebound. And its stifling, almost noirish take on Southern Gothic in B&W (which fits perfectly) could never have been recreated.

So what's the point?

Leigh's performance is definitive. She did so much more with it than Lange could've even imagined. Jess had nothing to add.

Yes but when a movie star does stage they often do a film version to capture what they might have been like on stage. I recall the criticism of Lange acting on stage "to the camera" showing her lack of stage projection. Naturally in the TV version she can whisper and the mike will pick it up.

IF one believes that male slut who claims to have bedded Leigh while she was filming SND, one can hear an additional level in her line about finding love "in the unlikeliest places." While she registers self-disgust.

Assuming we say BLUE JASMINE is in fact a remake (or just an adaptation) or STREETCAR we can judge Blanchett's performance on that plane.

I loved it. She was superb.

What was important was that she had something to offer. She didn't just recreate Leigh's performance or show us nothing we haven't seen her do before. She created a character that felt like a real person. She was funny and sad and also amusing to watch. It stands on its own merit. Lange's performance just seems like a retread. Frances Farmer moves South. She does what Leigh does but not as well. There's obviously room for every actor's interpretation of a role... but that doesn't mean all are worthwhile.

I suppose that's Lange's gimmick. But we've seen it before.

From the other thread. I don't think narcissistic actors playing narcissistic characters works though, maybe it has on occasion, but self-awareness is at the foundation of good acting.

"She is narcissistic. Most actors are, of course; but it's one thing to prefer your own performance of a role to another actor's and another to have offhandedly say you've never seen basic Hollywood canon.

That's what make her (for all her Great Lady posturing) less interesting than most of her contemporaries. She comes across that way in interviews: answers have to be coaxed out of her and she only really gives when she receives gushing praise.

Streep, Close, Sarandon seem to, at least, better understand the interview format. Streep and Close come off as self-deprecating and try to have Something to say beyond whatever they're promoting. And Sarandon seems quite opinionated. I love her 2016 interview with Evan Davis, if not, necessarily, agreeing with her views. It illustrates perfectly why she worked as Bette: she could imagine her bluntly just chopping down an interviewer in front of her. Like when she tells Dick Cavett she's not womyn's lib or assures Barbara Walters of cigarette's healthfulness.

Lange's air of affected aloofness (which seems to have worsened with age and spread off-camera) doesn't have the effect she trying for.

Though the same is of most of her performances."

Sarandon's always had a sort of quirky Southern thing going on. Judy Davis... mmh... would she have the imperious self confidence those reviews suggest Close did?

This is Sarandon's best interview response ever:

Lange has said she has never been in therapy. That surprises me with her background. Glenn Close has been open about depression and being on medication.

Close has also said she would've played Alex Forrest in a way completely different way today because of her experiences with mental illness.

I just want to know what "spatulate mouth" means.

I vaguely remembered (incorrectly) thinking that Bonnie Franklin of all people played Blanche Dubois! I thought I read that on DL, but I think it was actually Martha from WAOVW.

Dammit, Stella

Dammit, Stanley

Dammit, Mitch

Meryl Streep performed the famous monologue of Blanche's about her young husband when she auditioned for Yale School of Drama. And she got in.

I'd have loved to have seen Streep do Blanche.

Close also played Stella in a '70s production with Christopher Walken as Stanley.

I've always depended on the kindness of Ryan Murphy.

Ann-Margret was good. Jessica Lange was not good. Lindsay Lohan's Blanche on the Topaz in the Arabian Sea was slurry yet gut-wrenching.

There isn't an anti-Lange troll, that would mean one person. There is however a single obsessive Lange fan. They've started, among other threads, the Streetcar 1995 one.

I mean, there was wide criticism of her Blanche and Crawford.

She tends to ham. She gives showy performances. Beneath all her histrionics she isn't an intelligent actress.

That's not entirely why her Crawford failed... but she shouldn't have been cast, and had that production been done by anyone other than Ryan Murphy she wouldn't have even been considered.

I recall being impressed with Baldwin's take on Stanley. Treat Williams just did a Brando knock-off but Baldwin attempts an intelligent rendering of the man rather than play him as just a brute.

Blocking exists. If all criticism of Lange comes from one person then it should disappear when blocked (but it doesn't).

Love the clip of Lange winning the Globe for Streetcar in 95 .

A mesmerizing performance second only to Vivien Leigh.

So interesting is the international reception Streetcar received. Arletty was imprisoned in France for collaboration; she lived with a German officer in the Ritz, along with Chanel. She made the classic remark, "Mon coeur est francais, mais mon cul est interrnational." My heart is French, but my ass is international. They let her out to play Blanche in Cocteau's production of "Un tramway nomme desir." The critics liked her but was less than gushing over the production. Brando came to see it , but she wouldn't receive him because he was wearing jeans. It was right after WWII, and they had trouble heating the theater, which may have hurt the production. And who got his big break playing Mitch in the Rome production? Marcello Mastrianni!

You can always spot the Lange hater by how passionate and personal it gets when criticizing Lange. It's never just about her performances. ,but about her personal life as well. I get a real kick whenever he starts criticizing her intelligence and calling her a talentless whore. That's when you know you have him spinning in circles on the floor like Curly from the Three Stooges, lol.

It also IP hops like a bunny on crack, so blocking it won't solve anything.

His other fetishes are causing trouble in the theater threads, hating on Julie Andrews and Mary Poppins with a strange and disturbing determination. He hates "the goyim" and loves all things Faye Dungaway.

R111, R112, R114 Hi, Matthew

Would Streep be able to get away with Blanche today or is she too old?

Sorry, there's one Lange loon, and several people who just have eyes, ears and taste.

R118 Streep looks great - 10 years younger than her age, (that skin!) - so she could pull it off and I'd be front and center to watch.

R119 The Lange Loon is also responsible for Lange s 2 Oscars, 3 Emmys, Tony, SAG. 5 Golden Globes, Critics Choice, Outer Critics Choice., Drama Desk and all of her other awards.

Try again, Matthew, lol.

The Lange Loon is also Jabba

I have them on block.

Mental illness. Such fun.

There was an infamous production of Streetcar with Miss Faye Dunaway and Jon Voigt back in the 70's. I can't imagine those two in the same room much less on the same stage.

Sandy Dennis did Agnes of God opposite Geraldine Page in Westport. Peggy Cass did the bus and truck opposite Susan Strasberg. I know at one point Sandy was announced for night Mother opposite Mercedes McCambridge. Not sure if Mercedes replaced Heckert or the other way around. Sandy also played Julie Cavendish in The Royal Family and, I think, Gale Sondegard played Fanny.

I wish I could have seen Miss Nettleton's Blanche.

[quote]Miss Faye Dunaway and Jon Voigt back in the 70's

Sounds like a powder keg. Did Miss Dunaway throw anything at him?

I would imagine much shade and un-rewound videotapes, r127.

The most brilliant Blanche I've seen onstage was Rosemary Harris in Ellis Rabb's revival at Lincoln Center in 1973. She was incandescent and James Farentino as Stanley had a brief UNFORGETTABLE nude scene. The entire production was wonderful. Lois Nettleton replaced Rosemary after the production moved to Broadway.

r125 do you know who played Agnes in those productions?

[quote]James Farentino as Stanley had a brief UNFORGETTABLE nude scene.

frontal?

Yes, frontal. It was the scene the morning after the big Stella!!!!! scene and Farentino was seen getting out of bed with Stella in the nude. UNFORGETTABLE.

According to the play, Blanche is only 30 years old...young! But she seems to think she's over the hill, washed up, youth gone "up the spout", so she lies about her age and will only go out with Mitch someplace where it's dark. I've noticed the actresses who play Blanche tend to look much older than 30, I guess to make it seem like Blanche really is getting up in age. But 30 is considered "old?" I guess it was when Tennessee Williams wrote the play.

R133, she may be 30, but she's already seen the family home lost to creditors and nursed and buried her closest family members. Along the way, a bad drinking problem developed. She's not feeling fresh.

I saw Jessica Lange in ASND on Broadway in 1992. Audience HATED her because she would not (couldn't?) SPEAK THE FUCK UP! BUT In the scene where drunk and volitale Stanley is forced under the shower, a dripping wet, shirtless Alec Baldwin slipped and fell storming out of the bathroom and almost slid into the orchestra pit! Not a night of theatre magic unfortunately.

Leigh was about 38 years old in the film and she looked every worry of it. She was perfect. just perfect. Even her wig was perfect. That movie illuminates genius levels of performance at times. Casts a bit of a spell.

I can't see a thirty year old play Blanche. Maybe the character is 30 years old but her spirit is bucking and cracking and madness plays in the shadow of her downcast lashes.

Was Leigh already having her own mental issues when she did Blanche?

Saw this on VHS in the 90s. I didn’t find Lange to be a convincing Blanche. She’s a great actress but didnt love her in this.

I have read some Leigh biographies but don't remember the chronology of her mental illness R137. She had a full psychotic break during the filming of Elephant Walk but no doubt the signs of manic illness were there for many years prior.

[quote] Tennessee Williams commented that Leigh brought to the role "everything that I intended, and much that I had never dreamed of". Leigh herself had mixed feelings about her association with the character; in later years, she said that playing Blanche DuBois "tipped me over into madness".

[quote]"I had nine months in the theatre of Blanche DuBois. Now she's in command of me."

Leigh's own feelings about the role are clear.

these days even the Stellas they cast are just about at the point where they can stop buying tampons.

Leigh's costuming and makeup in the film led someone to comment that she looks like something out of The Munsters, compared to how the others look. This is different to the other versions I have seen where Blanche is designed to look more contemporary.

So I assume from her IMDB page that Jess has finally left acting and begun her new career as a falconer?

[127] Dunnaway and Voight have appeared together on film. The re-make of The Champ comes to mind.

Thirty in 1948 is a world away from thirty in 2018.

She must've been really bad on stage because had she been halfway decent she would've scored a Tony nom -- stunt-casting Hollywood actress, stage debut, iconic role, big production, etc.

But nothing.

It's one thing for people to say they didn't like what she did with the character. But people were saying they couldn't even hear her! Yikes.

[quote]So I assume from her IMDB page that Jess has finally left acting and begun her new career as a falconer?

Who knows? She's been announcing her retirement annually for the last five years. Just Google and you'll see articles from 2013, 2014, and on about how's so over the industry. And then - BOOM - a Marc Jacobs commercial comes along and she's back working.

One of the funny things about a Southern accent is how a lot of real ones DO sound fake. Some Southern women, not all, actually like to play up their accents (not even consciously). The ones who like seeing a Confederate flag flying; for whom 'Southern' is part of their identity. I don't know if that exists anywhere else in the world. Do pro-independence Scots sound more Scottish?

I bet Blanche DuBois is one of those women. It allows for leeway, but Lange's Southern accent sounds begrudgingly Minnesotan doing Southern, i.e., kinda flattened and missing the rhythm.

I saw Lange on the Charlie Rose show when she was doing Long Days Journey. She said her first two attempts on Broadway were not successful productions. He asked why and she said they just didn't come together as a whole. (She was talking about Glass Menagerie and STreetcar) She also joked that she maybe should have tried less classic plays for her stage debut. Then Charlie Rose took his pants off.

The film version of Streeycar was so watered down. The word "goddamn" could not be uttered. When Stanley asks Blanche when she intends to get out of the bathroom she tells him "possess your soul in patience" and he says it's not his soul, it's his kidneys he's worried about. He couldn't mention his kidneys in the movie; I guess that was considered too suggestive. And Blanche's young husband is simply a sensitive soul who writes poetry instead of a closeted homosexual. Blanche has "meetings" with strangers, not '"intimacies." When she tells Mitch to get out she merely starts screaming instead of screaming "Fire! Fire! Fire!" And there was the stupid ending that seemingly shows Stella leaving Stanley for good, which goes against one of the main themes of the play: the sexual hold Stanley has on her. And how could she leave him, anyway? Where would she go, how would she live? And with a baby, no less. Maybe some people thought the ending was a good one because Stanley was getting punished for his behavior, but I thought it just fucked the whole story up. And in my mind after Stella runs up the stairs vowing never to go back to Stanley again Stanley comes out, yells up at her again, and she comes back down and they go back to their bedroom to rut. And life goes on.

[quote]And Blanche's young husband is simply a sensitive soul who writes poetry instead of a closeted homosexual.

There's a whole thread (perhaps more than one) devoted to old euphemisms for gay. Most people knew.

Befits Lange anyway. She never really did subtlety.

R151, that's an uninformed comment. Lange's training as a mime has taught her how to act with the slightest of gestures and movements and turns of phrases. However, when the script calls for her to be grandiloquent, then she will let loose with abandon. She knows that that's what her fans want to see.

R146 re. Falconry, a "jess" is the short leather strap tied to the leg of a hawk used for hunting.

[quote]Lange's training as a mime has taught her how to act with the slightest of gestures and movements and turns of phrases

Mimes are slight in their gestures and use turns of phrase?

[quote]However, when the script calls for her to be grandiloquent, then she will let loose with abandon.

No, she "let's loose" in her very first scene and maintains to her very last scene.

[quote]She knows that that's what her fans want to see.

Correct. I suppose it's easier than trying to attract a better caliber of fan.

Poor Matt, Lange hater, still trying. Then again, when your fave looks like this, what else can you do, lol?

[quote]Mimes are slight in their gestures and use turns of phrase?

Yes. Corporeal mimes know how to communicate using their bodies, from big, expressive gestures, to slight, barely noticeable movements. And if you've ever seen physical theater, the actors will sometimes use text to counter what the body is actually conveying. The focus is on creating the drama through the moving human body.

R130 I believe Agnes was Deirdre O'Connell. I have a playbill from it somewhere. AUTOGRAPHED!

Gabourey Sidibe will be doing Blanche at the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theater.

Stanley Kowalski will be portrayed by Peter Dinklage.

Fantastic adaptation.

I want reviews of this from you withered cunts.