A Streetcar Named Desire (1951, U.S.)

I'm ashamed to say this, but I had absolutely no idea what A Streetcar Named Desire was about. And I have to take this opportunity to say how shameful it is the way all the DVD cases show a sexy looking Marlon Brando smoldering away. Aside from the fact that Brando is the complete opposite of sexy in this movie, he is also not the star.

Vivien Leigh as Blache DuBois was overwhelming. She was Blanch DuBois, that fragile, fading Southern lady/slightly loose/desperately lonely/mentally ill woman. Incredible. You can just feel yourself struggling to understand what's going on in her head, even though it was perfectly clear on her face—if your own mind was complex enough to comprehend. I really don't think anyone but Vivien Leigh could have played it. To be fair to Brando, he would have looked brilliant next to anyone else, but Leigh stole the show. However, he was also incredible as the scummy, crude, cruel, animalistic Stanley. The two together... Words cannot describe.

And really, that's all there is to say about it. A dark, well-written, literary play brought to the screen by the greatest director of the 1950s and two unparalleled actors with perfect photography. No wonder it's a classic.

Rating: 4.0

Anna Karenina (1948, UK)

I've heard that this is perhaps the worst version of Anna Karenina ever filmed, and I can perhaps see why. A lot of the dialogue was rather stilted and badly written. Karenin didn't really seem concerned with his wife's affair. The chemistry between Anna and Count Vronsky was so nonexistent that you couldn't understand what they even saw in each other.

I don't think it will surprise anyone to know what I thought was the key redeeming element in this film—Vivien Leigh. I loved her since the first time I saw her in Gone with the Wind. It is still one of my favorites, as is Waterloo Bridge (a very under-recognized film). Even though her chemistry with Moore was terrible, she acted brilliantly and dragged the film along on the hem of her elegant wardrobe. (She did, of course, look stunning.) While you never see why she loves Vronsky, her acting lets you see how torn up she becomes because of their relationship. You also see her deep and abiding love for her son, which is an especial feat of acting, in my opinion, considering that Leigh was not the best mother by all accounts.

It is really unfortunate that we can't go back in time and refilm this, keeping the leading lady and giving her the costars and direction she deserved.

Rating: 3.0