“I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.”
Nothing’s more fun than The Wildey’s Tuesday Night Film Series. The 1951 film A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE starring Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando will be on the big screenwhen it plays at The Wildey Theater in Edwardsville, IL (252 N Main St, Edwardsville, IL 62025) at 7:00pm Tuesday February 8th. Tickets are only $3 Tickets available starting at 3pm day of movie at Wildey Theatre ticket office. Cash or check only. (cash, credit cards accepted for concessions) Lobby opens at 6pm.
Ahead of its time in how it showed raw and naked sexual and emotional passions on the screen, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE made 27 year-old Marlon Brando, who also played the role of Stanley Kowalski on Broadway, an overnight sensation and one of the all-time greats of the silver screen. Blanche Dubois (Viven Leigh) is a Southern belle, one who had every man in the palm of her man. Blanche moves in with her sister Stella (Kim Hunter) and her husband, Stanley (Brando) in a small, grotty New Orleans apartment. Blanche’s family owned an estate but lost it and now Blanche has gone to live with her sister, much to the animal-like Stanley’s dismay. Stanley hates her, hates her with a passion. Once she arrives, hell breaks loose between Stanley and Stella, who is pregnant. Stanley gets his contacts and finds out some unsavory stuff about Stella. The ending is a real punch in the gut, even when you see it coming. Now you can see A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE again when it plays at The Wildey
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, 1951
Tennessee Williams at his desk. Courtesy of Harry Ransom Center. The University of Texas at Austin. Courtesy of Kino Lorber.
Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams were literary giants of the mid-20th century but they were also friends. TRUMAN AND TENNESSEE: AN INTIMATE CONVERSATION is more a tandem biography of these legendary authors than a conversation, but the documentary’s use of only the authors’ own words, read by actors Jim Parsons and Zachary Quinto, does give it a conversational feel at times. However that conversation is not between the two great authors but rather with us, the listeners, as they discuss their lives and their work. Truman and Tennessee talk about each other, rather than to each other, as this excellent, insightful and entertaining documentary explores their lives and work through the lens of their long friendship.
It was a friendship had its ups and downs, but it was a long connection. Novelist Truman might be best remembered now for “In Cold Blood,” his “non-fiction novel” about a real crime told as if it were a fictional story, and his novella “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” Tennessee Williams’ plays are still performed, including “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”
Both Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams were known for their sharp minds, witty remarks and biting humor, making them favorites of the media and the wealthy. TRUMAN AND TENNESSEE is directed by Lisa Immordino Vreeland, whose previous film was a biography of her husband’s grandmother, fashion design icon Diana Vreeland. The film features still photos, archival footage, images of books covers, playbills and scripts of the many film adaptions of the work of both. There are also several clips of the film adaptations of their works, featuring stars such as Marlon Brando, Vivian Leigh, Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn.
The two writers had a striking number of things in common, including links to St. Louis and New Orleans. Both were considered literary geniuses in their lifetimes, among the best of their time, and their works still are read and performed. Both were Southerners, gay, and used names other than the one they were given at birth. Both had difficult, wandering childhoods and distant or absent parents. Both knew they wanted to be writers early in life and were driven to make their work the bast they could.
The surprising number of things they shared in common are fascinating, revealed throughout this well-made, thoroughly researched documentary, The film starts with when the young Truman met the older Tennessee, starting a long friendship despite the 12-year gap in their ages. Although they were both gay, they were never lovers but had a bond built on mutual admiration and their common profession.
There is footage of interviews, with both men, with famous TV talk show hosts Dick Cavett or David Frost, which are featured several times in the documentary. Sometimes we hear the voices of the authors themselves and sometimes their comments, on life, love, friendship, writing or each other, are read by Jim Parsons as Truman Capote and Zachary Quinto as Tennessee Williams.
This wide-ranging documentary follows a chronological track but it covers quite a broad field to topics, and alternates between the two authors. The men each reveal their views on fame, love, and the process of writing. Both had concerns about the many film adaptations of their works, and concerns that the movie versions would be how many remembered their work. They reveal worries and pressures in their careers, and struggles with alcohol and drugs. And they talk about each other – sometimes in admiring terms and sometimes with bitchy dishing.
The resulting documentary is both informative and entertaining, with hardly a dull second. One of the nice things about this well-research documentary is the exhaustive list of sources included in the end credits, which has to be a boon to serious fans of either writer.
Fun and fascinating, TRUMAN AND TENNESSEE: AN INTIMATE CONVERSATION opens Friday, June 25, at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinema and streaming through KinoMarquee.com.
“The tables have turned, yes, the tables have turned with a vengeance! You’ve come around to my old way of thinking and I to yours like two people exchanging a call on each other at the same time, and each one finding the other one gone out, the door locked against him and no one to answer the bell!”
The 1961 classic SUMMER AND SMOKE, based on the Tennessee Williams play and starring Geraldine Page and Lawrence Harvey screens in a continuous loop Friday, May 5 in the Public Media Commons in Grand Center in St. Louis as part of this year’s Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis. This is a free screening (actually, continuous loop of screenings). Geraldine Page’s daughter and actress, Angelica Page, will be in town for the festival and part of a dramatic reading of ‘ensemble 2.0’ , a play based on Francesca Williams’s collection of family letters. For more details of the ‘ensemble 2.0’ event, go HERE
SUMMER AND SMOKE is set in Glorious Hill, Mississippi, from the “turn of the century through 1916”. Geraldine Page received an Oscar nomination for her sterling portrayal of Alma, a small town spinster and minister’s daughter hoping to kindle a spark with John Buchanan, Jr., the ne’er-do-well doctor’s son who has lived next door since they were kids. This adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ play (in which Page scored a personal success off-Broadway some nine years before the film) is brightly-painted and full of nervous, fluttery life (it’s like a neurotic Disney movie–Pollyanna herself might just live down the street). Laurence Harvey is somewhat mild-mannered as Page’s leading man (one can’t imagine this guy getting too wild), and the supporting players are a variable lot, ranging from Una Merkel’s dotty mother to Rita Moreno’s strutting flooze. Page is the one to watch; with the tiniest sparkle of dementia in her alert eyes, and the quiver of her uncertain mouth, she nearly transforms this material, an amalgamation of Tennessee Williams and Hollywood in 1961
JoinTennessee Williams Festival St. Louisfor screenings of this timeless classic.
For more information about the Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis go HERE
“I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.”
The 1951 film A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE starring Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando will screen Sunday March 26th at Brown Hall Auditorium on the campus of Washington University. This is to celebrate playwright Tennessee Williams 106th Birthday. The screening is at 7pm and is followed by a reception that will be attended by Tennessee Williams’ niece Francesca Williams. This event is FREE and open to the public.
Ahead of its time in how it showed raw and naked sexual and emotional passions on the screen, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE made 27 year-old Marlon Brando, who also played the role of Stanley Kowalski on Broadway, an overnight sensation and one of the all-time greats of the silver screen. Blanche Dubois (Viven Leigh) is a Southern belle, one who had every man in the palm of her man. Blanche moves in with her sister Stella (Kim Hunter) and her husband, Stanley (Brando) in a small, grotty New Orleans apartment. Blanche’s family owned an estate but lost it and now Blanche has gone to live with her sister, much to the animal-like Stanley’s dismay. Stanley hates her, hates her with a passion. Once she arrives, hell breaks loose between Stanley and Stella, who is pregnant. Stanley gets his contacts and finds out some unsavory stuff about Stella. The ending is a real punch in the gut, even when you see it coming. Now you can see A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE again when it plays Sunday March 24th at Brown Hall Auditorium on the campus of Washington University. It’s FREE! Brown Hall is located in the southeast corner of Washington University’s Danforth Campus
“I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.”
Ahead of its time in how it showed raw and naked sexual and emotional passions on the screen, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE made 27 year-old Marlon Brando, who also played the role of Stanley Kowalski on Broadway, an overnight sensation and one of the all-time greats of the silver screen. Blanche Dubois (Viven Leigh) is a Southern belle, one who had every man in the palm of her man. Blanche moves in with her sister Stella (Kim Hunter) and her husband, Stanley (Brando) in a small, grotty New Orleans apartment. Blanche’s family owned an estate but lost it and now Blanche has gone to live with her sister, much to the animal-like Stanley’s dismay. Stanley hates her, hates her with a passion. Once she arrives, hell breaks loose between Stanley and Stella, who is pregnant. Stanley gets his contacts and finds out some unsavory stuff about Stella. The ending is a real punch in the gut, even when you see it coming. Now you can see A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE again and again and again when it plays on a continuous loop Friday, May 13 at the Public Media Commons in Grand Center (3653 Olive Street, St. Louis, MO 63108). It’s FREE!
Then break out those ripped white t-shirts and join the Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louisfor the city’s first-ever Stella! Shouting Contest! The hollering takes place Sunday May 15 at Strauss Park in St. Louis County beginning at 2pm. 25 Contestants will be judged by a panel of distinguished festival guests as they recreate the famous scene from A Streetcar Named Desire. Those interested in showing off their vocal chops must email tinarenard56@gmail.com to be placed on the list. First 10 to sign up get 2 tickets to a festival event! (Contestants must be 21+ to enter)
1st Prize – 3 cases of Stella Artois
2nd Prize – 2 cases of Stella Artois
3rd Prize – 1 case of Stella Artois
This is all part of Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis, an event that runs Wednesday, May 11 through Sunday May 15. The fest will include the mounting of several Tennessee Williams plays, an Al Hirschfeld caricature exhibit, a photography exhibit, a one-man Tennessee Williams show starring actor Jeremy Lawrence, an exhibit of Tennessee Williams family letters, a Tennessee Williams bus tour, some Tennessee Williams readings, a closing party, and much more.
For all of the information and complete schedule of the Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis, visit the website HERE
