ABSTRACT
The most iconic moment of A Streetcar Named Desire —so familiar that the tone in which it is cited is almost always parody—is Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski’s late-night wail for his wife’s forgiveness and care: “Stellaaaaaaaaaaa!” The single most famous utterance in the Method canon, in other words, is the name of a female protagonist. The New York production ran for two years beginning on December 3, 1947, and the original cast was preserved nearly intact in the move to the screen. This continuity was also preserved in the film’s writing and direction, with Tennessee Williams taking the role of screenwriter and Kazan at the helm ofboth the stage and film productions. Kazan’s original view of the character of Stella was not the nuanced portrait of a woman contending with abuse that Hunter would create. Instead, Kazan’s initial reading blamed Stella for failing to hold her family together.
