When Blanche Met Brando: The Scandalous Story of A Streetcar Named Desire
Exhaustively researched and almost flirtatiously opinionated, When Blanche Met Brando is everything a fan needs to know about the ground-breaking New York and London stage productions of Williams' "Streetcar" as well as the classic Brando/Leigh film. Sam Staggs' interviews with all the living cast members of each production will enhance what's known about the play and movie, and help make this book satisfying as both a pop culture read and as a deeper piece of thinking about a well-known...
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"WHEN BLANCHE MET BRANDO: The Scandalous Story of 'A Streetcar Named Desire' promises something salacious but delivers something better…a witty, insightful probe of Tennessee Williams' most famous play in all its variations."—The Dallas Morning NewsThe play launched Marlon Brando's career, and the movie shot his star into the stratosphere. The film also redefined Vivien Leigh as another kind of Southern belle: Blanche as Scarlett on the skids. And the movie as modern audiences know it barely escaped the unforgiving knife of censorship. "A Streetcar Named Desire" is more than a classic piece of American art—it's a daring and raw masterpiece as alive with meaning today as it was when first performed in 1947. Witty, rich with detail and exuberantly opinionated, WHEN BLANCHE MET BRANDO is the full behind-the-scenes story of "A Streetcar Named Desire." Moving from the opening of Tennessee Williams' groundbreaking play and the scandalized audiences it left on Broadway to its London debut to Elia Kazan's exceptional movie version, Staggs illuminates "Streetcar's" surprising complexities and the powerhouse personalities behind them. "Staggs' book is an excellent companion piece, giving a fine and often funny account of the many difficulties Williams' story faced on the way to becoming history."—ReutersPublishers WeeklyTennessee Williams's 1947 masterpiece took Broadway by storm and made the brooding Marlon Brando a star. Blanche DuBois's last line, "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers," has become a cliche, but Staggs (All About All About Eve; Close-Up on Sunset Boulevard) argues that the whole play is a seminal work, which still "seduces with its disordered exoticism and its power to engulf." He has crafted an entertaining behind-the-scenes narrative of both the play and the film-from Williams's early drafts to the film's battles with Hollywood censors. Rather than dwell on academic interpretations of Streetcar, Staggs takes a more personal tack. He profiles everyone from director Elia Kazan to Jessica Tandy (Broadway's Blanche) as well as backstage personnel. The result is a comprehensive minihistory of 20th-century American stage and screen. And he doesn't stint on tabloid juice, either, noting that both Vivien Leigh and Kazan had voracious sexual appetites. He also incorporates playful trivia, such as a Jeopardy!-style quiz on actresses who've played Blanche. The inclusion of such lighthearted information balances Staggs's absorbing account of the creation of and continued fascination with this American classic. Photos. Agent, Jim Donovan. (June) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
\ From the Publisher"Opinionated, revealing, constantly entertaining account of the birth and growth of Tennessee Williams's most famous play." —Kirkus Reviews\ "A comprehensive minihistory of 20th-century American stage and screen and [Staggs] doesn't skimp on tabloid juice." —Publishers Weekly "With his infectious devotion to "Streetcar," Staggs surely will motivate many to revist the play and watch the film." —Los Angeles Times "as loquacious and overripe as Blanche herself and as hard to resist." —Washington Post"…a spellbinder…"—The Hollywood Reporter\ \ \
