The role of Stanley Kowalski in the stage version of A Streetcar Named Desire was offered to John Garfield and Burt Lancaster, but neither was able to do it.
When the name of Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh came up, everyone said that he was too young. Marlon Brando was 23 years old and Elia Kazan, the director, left the choice in the hands of the play's writer, Tennessee Williams. "It never occurred to me how valuable it would be to cast a very young actor in this role. It humanizes the character to the extent that he takes on the brutality or toughness of youth rather than an older, evil man," he said. The play opened in New York on December 3, 1947, to favorable reviews. Kowalski marked Brando, to the point that many people thought that the actor was the typical muscular type, unable to express himself clearly and aggressively. "I was the antithesis, I was sensitive by nature," the actor recounted in his succulent memories.
From Jessica Tandy to Vivienne Leigh
The success of A Streetcar Named Desire on Broadway encouraged the filming of the film version. In the stage version, the role of Blanche DuBois was played by Jessica Tandy, but for the film Vivien Leigh was hired, who knew the role of her because she had played it on the London stage. Brando never liked Tandy and was glad for the change. "In many ways, she was Blanche. She was incredibly beautiful, one of the great beauties of the screen. But she was also vulnerable, and her life was very much like that of the injured Tennessee butterfly," the actor recalled in his biography.
In the book, Brando draws a profile of the actress that is similar to her character, revealing details. "Vivien Leigh's life was similar to Blanche's in several ways, especially when her mind began to slip and her notion of herself became vague. Like Blanche, she slept with almost everyone and was falling apart. mentally and physically wearing herself out. I would have shown an interest in her if it wasn't for Larry Oliver," she says, mentioning the famous actor, who was Leigh's husband at the time.
Brando was convinced that the relationship between Vivienne Leigh and Lawrence Oliver was not going well. They met in 1937. He was married to Jill Esmond, but he couldn't help but fall in love with her. They married in 1940, but their relationship was stormy and both were unfaithful. "I'm sure he knew she was fooling around, but like many husbands I've known, he pretended not to notice her. I was too fond of him to invade her roost," Brando says in those memoirs.
The film was as successful or more than the play. The Hollywood Academy awarded her 12 Oscar Award nominations and four of them were for the two leading actors and the two secondary ones. All but one did. Marlon Brando was the favorite of the night, but he was snatched away by Humphrey Bogart for his performance in The African Queen. Vivien Leigh won the second Oscar of her career and also took the Golden Globe, the Bafta, and the Volpi Cup in Venice.
After A Streetcar Named Desire, Vivien Leigh only made three movies, and none of them were relevant. Her state of health worsened, wounded in body and soul by tuberculosis and depression. For Brando, it had been her second film and later she shot another 40 titles and won two Oscars, for The Law of Silence and The Godfather. He died in 2004. This is a critically acclaimed movie that is well-appreciated by the public. His influence is notable, passing from the cinematographic universe to popular culture: even in television series such as The Simpsons and Modern Family, an amusing nod to Kowalski is made. By the way, Paul Mescal, the fashionable actor, will play him on stage in the coming months.
