WITH HIS STARTLING PERFORMANCE AS THE BRUTISH, ANIMALISTIC STANLEY KOWALSKI, BRANDO TRANSFORMED SCREEN ACTING IN A ROLE WHICH WAS TO FORM A CRUCIAL PART OF HIS PERSONA FOR YEARS TO COME.

The other main force behind the film is director Elia Kazan, who co-founded the Actors Studio and subsequently brought the Method style of acting to Hollywood. A melting pot of Marx and Freud, melodrama and the Method, Kazan’s films are typically a thrilling plunge into psycho-sexual whirlpools. He was well suited to tackle Williams’ florid tale of a fading Southern belle, Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh), who comes to visit her sister in New Orleans. Stanley, the sister’s husband, is suspicious of Blanche’s airs and graces and sets about exposing her sordid past. Brando was to be identified with the role for the rest of his career.