It's back to the stage basics for this TV version of the Tennessee Williams classic (one of two made for the small screen) directed by John and starring Ann-Margret in the lead that gives an indication of what Jessica Tandy might have been like as Blanche DuBois, the aging beauty desperately trying to stay desirable while dealing with recovery from a breakdown and not quite cured. She definitely does know how to accept kindness from strangers, failing to seduce a young college kid who stops by selling newspaper subscriptions, and is completely oblivious to the fact that he's repulsed. She is repulsed by the brother-in-law (Treat Williams) whom she has never met, married to her long-suffering sister Stella (Beverly D'Angelo), stunned by the treatment that she gets every time that Stella stands up to husband Stanley.
After initial polite conversation with Stanley, Blanche gets to see what he's really like during a card party he has which introduces "Mitch" (Randy Quaid) into the story and also features Pablo (Rafael Campos) who is obviously just looking for a good time and find Stanley's rude antics amusing. Mitch later meets Blanche out for a date, and it's obvious he's one of the few men to treat Blanche like a lady. But when your mind is already that far gone, no amount of respectful treatment is going to cure you, and Blanche once again heads towards her destiny of drunkenness and straight jackets.
With all of the Broadway revivals that there had been of "Streetcar" between the original play, the 1951 movie and this, it was obvious that the original text had to be brought to the screen in one way or another, and this version is excellently cast. By the mid-1980s, Ann-Margret had proved herself to be perfect for these type of fragile heroines, and she's absolutely mesmerizing. It's ironic that in the TV mini-series of 'Scarlett" that she'd play Belle Watling. No one will ever forget Vivian Leigh either as Scarlet or Blanche, but that doesn't mean that they own the role, not when someone else can put their own take on it and make it seem fresh.
Williams is quite good, but he seems to be doing more of a Brando impression than the rest of the cast with their parts and the 1951 film cast. Quaid highly resembles Karl Malden, but I never once thought he was playing the part as Malden had. D'Angelo is also quite different than Kim Hunter, just as good, and completely disappearing into the role. Campos (a one time teen actor) really doesn't get much to do, but it's obvious that his straw hat wearing character is a follower, just like the pint sized teen thug he played in "The Blackboard Jungle", and he has terrific reactions to Williams' buffoonery. This certainly deserved all the acclaim that it got when it first aired on TV, and is certainly a lot better than the television version of Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" a decade before.
After initial polite conversation with Stanley, Blanche gets to see what he's really like during a card party he has which introduces "Mitch" (Randy Quaid) into the story and also features Pablo (Rafael Campos) who is obviously just looking for a good time and find Stanley's rude antics amusing. Mitch later meets Blanche out for a date, and it's obvious he's one of the few men to treat Blanche like a lady. But when your mind is already that far gone, no amount of respectful treatment is going to cure you, and Blanche once again heads towards her destiny of drunkenness and straight jackets.
With all of the Broadway revivals that there had been of "Streetcar" between the original play, the 1951 movie and this, it was obvious that the original text had to be brought to the screen in one way or another, and this version is excellently cast. By the mid-1980s, Ann-Margret had proved herself to be perfect for these type of fragile heroines, and she's absolutely mesmerizing. It's ironic that in the TV mini-series of 'Scarlett" that she'd play Belle Watling. No one will ever forget Vivian Leigh either as Scarlet or Blanche, but that doesn't mean that they own the role, not when someone else can put their own take on it and make it seem fresh.
Williams is quite good, but he seems to be doing more of a Brando impression than the rest of the cast with their parts and the 1951 film cast. Quaid highly resembles Karl Malden, but I never once thought he was playing the part as Malden had. D'Angelo is also quite different than Kim Hunter, just as good, and completely disappearing into the role. Campos (a one time teen actor) really doesn't get much to do, but it's obvious that his straw hat wearing character is a follower, just like the pint sized teen thug he played in "The Blackboard Jungle", and he has terrific reactions to Williams' buffoonery. This certainly deserved all the acclaim that it got when it first aired on TV, and is certainly a lot better than the television version of Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" a decade before.