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Special Features
- A Streetcar Named Desire (Two-Disc Special Edition)
- Commentary by Karl Malden and film historians Rudy Behlmer and Jeff Young
- Elia Kazan movie trailer gallery
- Feature-length documentary: Elia Kazan: A Director's Journey
- Movie and audio outtakes
- Marlon Brando screen test
- Five new documentaries: A Streetcar on Broadway, A Streetcar in Hollywood, Censorship and Desire, North and the Music of the South, and An Actor Named Brando
- Black and white, 1.33 aspect ratio
- Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Deluxe Edition)
- Commentary by biographer Donald Spoto, author of "The Kindness of Strangers: The Life of Tennessee Williams"
- New featurette Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: Playing Cat and Mouse
- Theatrical trailer
- Color, 1.85 anamorphic widescreen
- Sweet Bird of Youth
- New featurette Sweet Bird of Youth: Chasing Time
- Vintage Geraldine Page and Rip Torn screen test
- Color, 2.35 anamorphic widescreen
- The Night of the Iguana
- New featurette The Night of the Iguana: Houston's Gamble
- Vintage featurette On the Trail of the Iguana
- Theatrical trailers
- Black and white, 1.85 anamorphic widescreen
- The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone
- New featurette The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone: Looking for Love in All the Dark Corners
- Baby Doll
- New featurette
- Trailer gallery
- Black and white, 1.33
- Bonus disc: Tennessee Williams' South
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
A much-needed DVD tribute to one of the essential American playwrights, The Tennessee Williams Collection gathers six Williams titles and one vintage documentary. Taken together, it's a potent introduction to the specific terrain (geographical and emotional) of this brilliant writer. The set is anchored by Warner's deluxe two-disc treatment of A Streetcar Named Desire, which has copious extras (among them a fine 90-minute documentary about director Elia Kazan). The multi-Oscar-winning Streetcar is one of the better stage adaptations in film history, and it captures the electrifying Marlon Brando, re-creating his stage role, in the part that changed American acting: the brutish New Orleans sensualist Stanley Kowalski. Vivien Leigh won an Oscar opposite him, as the faded (except in her own mind) Southern belle Blanche DuBois, whose arrival in the Kowalski home leads to disaster.
Kazan also directed Baby Doll, which Williams scripted from a couple of one-act plays. This outrageous sex comedy casts the excellent Carroll Baker as the 19-year-old wife of middle-aged Karl Malden, who anxiously awaits the day he can finally consummate his maddening marriage; immigrant cotton magnate Eli Wallach shows up at Malden's crumbling plantation house just in time to take the bloom off the rose, as it were. Famous for being condemned in 1956, Baby Doll remains a very modern (and gloriously dirty) movie. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, directed by Richard Brooks, faithfully brings three of Williams's indelible characters to the screen, even if the script discreetly changes the original stage text: the hot Maggie the Cat (Elizabeth Taylor), her reluctant husband Brick (Paul Newman), and Brick's rich Big Daddy (Burl Ives). All three performers act the lights out.
Sweet Bird of Youth reunites Paul Newman with director Brooks, and also showcases Geraldine Page's performance as an aging film star tagging along with young stud Newman to his Southern home town. Some of Williams' more depraved touches are toned down, but the milieu is unmistakable and the movie is intense. The Night of the Iguana gives Richard Burton perhaps his finest hour onscreen: as Williams' dissolute defrocked priest, playing tour guide in Puerto Vallarta to tour groups of nattering biddies. The movie has director John Huston's sympathy for life's losers, as well as a trio of women built to torment Burton's reverend: Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr, and Sue Lyon. The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, based on Williams's novel, is not a great movie, but gives Vivien Leigh a good workout as a wounded actress dallying with Italian gigolo Warren Beatty.
Tennessee Williams' South is a 1973 documentary featuring some marvelous observations from Williams, as he holds court for filmmaker Harry Rasky. It also has long scenes from his plays, enacted by good folks such as Maureen Stapleton, Colleen Dewhurst, and Burl Ives. Especially valuable is a Streetcar sequence with Jessica Tandy re-creating her original role as Blanche. Williams himself reads the narration from The Glass Menagerie, a privileged moment. This is not an exhaustive Williams set (Joseph Mankiewicz's Suddenly, Last Summer and Sidney Lumet's The Fugitive Kind are among the best Williams films), but it maps out the steamy, tortured landscape awfully well. --Robert Horton
Product Description
Streetcar Named Desire 2 Disc SE Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Deluxe Edition Sweet Bird of Youth Night of the Iguana Baby Doll Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
50 of 52 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This review isn't of the great movies contained but the DVD set and their respective presentations.
first..let me say the bonus DVD "Tennesse Williams South"...is exceptional..its a film made about and with him in 1974 and besides his own readings of his work , which are illuminating, it features legends like Burl Ives and Jessica Tandy re-creating his dialog..simply timeless!
now..onto the Discs/Movies
the bonus featurettes are all very well done however, seemingly shorter than they should/could be. By that I mean...they have current interviews with Karl Malden and Eli Wallach for BABYDOLL and Rip Torn for Sweet Bird of Youth and the ever beautiful Jill St John for The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, and yet the amount of face time these actual stars of the films in question get is barely a line here or there? Not that the featurettes aren't good...they are..it just seems they could be a could 10minutes longer each...
now...the opposite problem is in the second disc of Streetcar Named Desire....the feature length (90min) Elia Kazan: A directors Journey is wonderful..its a decade or so old but was done while he was still with us and his participation raised it above the level of talking heads documentaries of the day. The strange thing is that the new featurettes on this disc feature way too much culled from the aforementioned feature. I don't understand....WB has wonderful featurettes on all the movies that seem truncated and then BLOATS out the Streetcar featurettes with duplicate material from itself? Only the current footage of Karl Malden saves the Streetcar featurettes from their own plagerism.
Now..the films themselves are all in very good shape considering they go back half a century. I wasn't a particular fan of Tennesse Williams..but after viewing all these films and the bonus film...i most certainly put him in the genius category and am looking for more.
Also, the press is making a big deal about Marlon Brando's screen test which is being included in the Streetcar DVD bonus features...its only a curiosity , not amazing by any stretch. What is far more interesting is Karl Malden's lovely memories of his friendship and admiration for Mr Brando....truly touching and mezmorizing. Malden is a treasure of an actor who starred in more fine films than any but the most ardent fan would know as he was usually second billed...but he IS the star of this set.
Great American films and unlike Universals shameless packaging..WB continues to present these types of films lovingly with extras..oh yeah..and the commentaries aren't bad either...much to enjoy in this set.
first..let me say the bonus DVD "Tennesse Williams South"...is exceptional..its a film made about and with him in 1974 and besides his own readings of his work , which are illuminating, it features legends like Burl Ives and Jessica Tandy re-creating his dialog..simply timeless!
now..onto the Discs/Movies
the bonus featurettes are all very well done however, seemingly shorter than they should/could be. By that I mean...they have current interviews with Karl Malden and Eli Wallach for BABYDOLL and Rip Torn for Sweet Bird of Youth and the ever beautiful Jill St John for The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, and yet the amount of face time these actual stars of the films in question get is barely a line here or there? Not that the featurettes aren't good...they are..it just seems they could be a could 10minutes longer each...
now...the opposite problem is in the second disc of Streetcar Named Desire....the feature length (90min) Elia Kazan: A directors Journey is wonderful..its a decade or so old but was done while he was still with us and his participation raised it above the level of talking heads documentaries of the day. The strange thing is that the new featurettes on this disc feature way too much culled from the aforementioned feature. I don't understand....WB has wonderful featurettes on all the movies that seem truncated and then BLOATS out the Streetcar featurettes with duplicate material from itself? Only the current footage of Karl Malden saves the Streetcar featurettes from their own plagerism.
Now..the films themselves are all in very good shape considering they go back half a century. I wasn't a particular fan of Tennesse Williams..but after viewing all these films and the bonus film...i most certainly put him in the genius category and am looking for more.
Also, the press is making a big deal about Marlon Brando's screen test which is being included in the Streetcar DVD bonus features...its only a curiosity , not amazing by any stretch. What is far more interesting is Karl Malden's lovely memories of his friendship and admiration for Mr Brando....truly touching and mezmorizing. Malden is a treasure of an actor who starred in more fine films than any but the most ardent fan would know as he was usually second billed...but he IS the star of this set.
Great American films and unlike Universals shameless packaging..WB continues to present these types of films lovingly with extras..oh yeah..and the commentaries aren't bad either...much to enjoy in this set.
28 of 30 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing Box Set Collects Some of the Finest Film Performances of Mid-20th Century American Cinema
May 23, 2006
Format:DVD
If playwright Tennessee Williams's Southern gothic writing style makes his works feel more ornately melodramatic than those of O'Neill or his closest contemporary Arthur Miller, they do provide resonant showcases for the actors inhabiting his characters. This is clearly evidenced in this six-film, eight-disc collection that epitomizes some of the most powerful acting to come out of Hollywood in the 1950's and early 1960's, all directed by true filmmaking masters. Probably because they are the least censored by the studio system at least in the form presented now, the best of the set are Elia Kazan's "A Streetcar Named Desire" and John Huston's "The Night of the Iguana". The others are Kazan's "Baby Doll", Richard Brooks' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", Jose Quintero's "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone" and Brooks' "Sweet Bird of Youth".
A feral, smoldering Marlon Brando justifiably made his reputation as brutish Stanley Kowalski in 1951's "A Streetcar Named Desire", and his animalistic charisma still leaps off the screen. Intriguingly, one of the extras included in the two-disc set for the movie is footage from a 1947 screen test of Brando when he was 23, and his stardom seems assured even then. The plot of the movie amounts to the inevitable clash between Kowalski and his visiting sister-in-law, Blanche DuBois, a fading Southern belle on the verge of a mental breakdown. Having proven her ability to be a convincing Southerner in "Gone With the Wind", Vivien Leigh expertly handles all the florid dialogue with her particular blend of defiance and vulnerability.
Strong supporting work comes from Kim Hunter as Blanche's naive sister Stella and Karl Malden as Blanche's seemingly respectful suitor Mitch. Now over ninety, Malden is on hand to provide his own eloquent recollections of the production on an alternate track, and film historians Rudy Behlmer and Jeff Young provide more objective commentary on another track. Film critic Richard Schickel's 1995 feature-length look at Kazan is the centerpiece of the second disk, and there is also a more interesting five-part documentary on the film and original Broadway show, the best portion focusing on censorship and the several minutes that have been reinserted in the DVD version of the film.
1964's "The Night of the Iguana" deals with a similarly dysfunctional group of people, but this time the setting is a dilapidated Mexican beach resort where Reverend Shannon, newly defrocked, has taken a group of spinsters from a women's college. Huston made his reputation on his strong literary adaptations, and his affinity shows in the fulsome characterizations, striking visuals and dark humor. Richard Burton is in peak form as Shannon, and there is also sterling work from Deborah Kerr as the spinsterish Hannah and especially Ava Gardner as the slatternly resort owner, Maxine Faulk. The DVD contains a recent making-of featurette and a vintage video, both fascinating.
"Baby Doll" is an entertaining hoot that doesn't seem as sensationalistic as I'm sure it was when the film was first released in 1956. It's simply a Southern-fried farce about the potential deflowering of a nineteen-year old child bride with a nice, pouty turn by Carroll Baker in the title role and a surprisingly funny one by Karl Malden as her randy husband, cotton mill owner Archie. 1958's "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" is far more vaunted but ultimately hamstrung by the overly careful portrayal of Brick as an asexual protagonist, this in spite of stellar performances from Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman and Burl Ives.
Newman is even better as gigolo Chance Wayne in 1963's "Sweet Bird of Youth", and he is matched all the way by Geraldine Page's all-cylinders-on performance as faded movie queen Alexandra Del Lago (a role that would have ironically been ideal for Ava Gardner). The weakest film of the set is 1961's "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone" about an aging American actress living in Rome who falls recklessly in love with an indifferent gigolo. A decade after "Streetcar", the glamorous-looking Leigh excels in the title role, while a young Warren Beatty fits the physical requirements as the gigolo Paolo even though his faux-Italian accent is a little too emphatic. All four of these movies come with making-of featurettes and original trailers, and "Cat" also includes commentary from Williams' biographer Donald Spoto.
The focal point of the eighth disc is a 1973 documentary, "Tennessee Williams' South", which highlights insightful interviews with Williams in the New Orleans area. The film also includes classic scenes from his plays reenacted specifically for the documentary. You can have the privilege of seeing Broadway's original Blanche DuBois, Jessica Tandy, and compare her work to Leigh's, as well as an impressive turn by Maureen Stapleton as Amanda Wingfield in "The Glass Menagerie". This is an incredible film collection for anyone who wants to see some of the greatest performances of mid-20th century American cinema.
A feral, smoldering Marlon Brando justifiably made his reputation as brutish Stanley Kowalski in 1951's "A Streetcar Named Desire", and his animalistic charisma still leaps off the screen. Intriguingly, one of the extras included in the two-disc set for the movie is footage from a 1947 screen test of Brando when he was 23, and his stardom seems assured even then. The plot of the movie amounts to the inevitable clash between Kowalski and his visiting sister-in-law, Blanche DuBois, a fading Southern belle on the verge of a mental breakdown. Having proven her ability to be a convincing Southerner in "Gone With the Wind", Vivien Leigh expertly handles all the florid dialogue with her particular blend of defiance and vulnerability.
Strong supporting work comes from Kim Hunter as Blanche's naive sister Stella and Karl Malden as Blanche's seemingly respectful suitor Mitch. Now over ninety, Malden is on hand to provide his own eloquent recollections of the production on an alternate track, and film historians Rudy Behlmer and Jeff Young provide more objective commentary on another track. Film critic Richard Schickel's 1995 feature-length look at Kazan is the centerpiece of the second disk, and there is also a more interesting five-part documentary on the film and original Broadway show, the best portion focusing on censorship and the several minutes that have been reinserted in the DVD version of the film.
1964's "The Night of the Iguana" deals with a similarly dysfunctional group of people, but this time the setting is a dilapidated Mexican beach resort where Reverend Shannon, newly defrocked, has taken a group of spinsters from a women's college. Huston made his reputation on his strong literary adaptations, and his affinity shows in the fulsome characterizations, striking visuals and dark humor. Richard Burton is in peak form as Shannon, and there is also sterling work from Deborah Kerr as the spinsterish Hannah and especially Ava Gardner as the slatternly resort owner, Maxine Faulk. The DVD contains a recent making-of featurette and a vintage video, both fascinating.
"Baby Doll" is an entertaining hoot that doesn't seem as sensationalistic as I'm sure it was when the film was first released in 1956. It's simply a Southern-fried farce about the potential deflowering of a nineteen-year old child bride with a nice, pouty turn by Carroll Baker in the title role and a surprisingly funny one by Karl Malden as her randy husband, cotton mill owner Archie. 1958's "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" is far more vaunted but ultimately hamstrung by the overly careful portrayal of Brick as an asexual protagonist, this in spite of stellar performances from Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman and Burl Ives.
Newman is even better as gigolo Chance Wayne in 1963's "Sweet Bird of Youth", and he is matched all the way by Geraldine Page's all-cylinders-on performance as faded movie queen Alexandra Del Lago (a role that would have ironically been ideal for Ava Gardner). The weakest film of the set is 1961's "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone" about an aging American actress living in Rome who falls recklessly in love with an indifferent gigolo. A decade after "Streetcar", the glamorous-looking Leigh excels in the title role, while a young Warren Beatty fits the physical requirements as the gigolo Paolo even though his faux-Italian accent is a little too emphatic. All four of these movies come with making-of featurettes and original trailers, and "Cat" also includes commentary from Williams' biographer Donald Spoto.
The focal point of the eighth disc is a 1973 documentary, "Tennessee Williams' South", which highlights insightful interviews with Williams in the New Orleans area. The film also includes classic scenes from his plays reenacted specifically for the documentary. You can have the privilege of seeing Broadway's original Blanche DuBois, Jessica Tandy, and compare her work to Leigh's, as well as an impressive turn by Maureen Stapleton as Amanda Wingfield in "The Glass Menagerie". This is an incredible film collection for anyone who wants to see some of the greatest performances of mid-20th century American cinema.
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Being a sucker for a good box set, I have accumulated quite a few. You end up with some great DVDs, but also some titles that you might not have purchased on their own. This Tennessee Williams collection is one that I wholeheartedly recommend--each selection might not be a true classic, but each represents a significant part of Williams' lexicon and lore. Put together, they symbolize and honor a master craftsman and a time when words, dialogue and screenplays were more important than quick edits and loud soundtracks.
Of course, the undisputed champion of this set is the two disc "A Streetcar Named Desire." An absolutely perfect rendering of a brilliant play, "Streetcar" boasts some of the most powerful performances you're likely to see. With Oscars going to Vivien Leigh, Karl Malden and Kim Hunter--this is one of the most honored films in history. And Marlon Brando's Stanley Kowalski has become a legend.
I'm not going to individually review every film, each offers its own merits. What is amazing about these films is how adult they were for their day and how well they stand up today. Southern melodrama never looked or sounded so good.
"Cat on A Hot Tin Roof" is a flawed, truncated version of Williams' play--but still an entertaining vehicle for Newman and Taylor. "Sweet Bird Of Youth" is one of my absolute favorites proving once and for all that Geraldine Page was an acting icon! Those that dismiss "Baby Doll" as a more minor work miss some of its subtlety. It's a very clever romp. "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone" and "The Night of the Iguana" are both intriguing and eminently watchable, but not without their problems.
These films represent very adult topics, some great writing--sometimes leaning toward lurid melodrama--and awesome performances. It's easy to see why so many top caliber actors and directors are attached to these pieces--and why so many were honored for their works.
If you love film (or plays for that matter) and you haven't seen some of these titles, do yourself a favor--BUY THIS SET and enjoy. Tennessee Williams was a singular talent and a unique voice. KGHarris, 10/06.
Of course, the undisputed champion of this set is the two disc "A Streetcar Named Desire." An absolutely perfect rendering of a brilliant play, "Streetcar" boasts some of the most powerful performances you're likely to see. With Oscars going to Vivien Leigh, Karl Malden and Kim Hunter--this is one of the most honored films in history. And Marlon Brando's Stanley Kowalski has become a legend.
I'm not going to individually review every film, each offers its own merits. What is amazing about these films is how adult they were for their day and how well they stand up today. Southern melodrama never looked or sounded so good.
"Cat on A Hot Tin Roof" is a flawed, truncated version of Williams' play--but still an entertaining vehicle for Newman and Taylor. "Sweet Bird Of Youth" is one of my absolute favorites proving once and for all that Geraldine Page was an acting icon! Those that dismiss "Baby Doll" as a more minor work miss some of its subtlety. It's a very clever romp. "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone" and "The Night of the Iguana" are both intriguing and eminently watchable, but not without their problems.
These films represent very adult topics, some great writing--sometimes leaning toward lurid melodrama--and awesome performances. It's easy to see why so many top caliber actors and directors are attached to these pieces--and why so many were honored for their works.
If you love film (or plays for that matter) and you haven't seen some of these titles, do yourself a favor--BUY THIS SET and enjoy. Tennessee Williams was a singular talent and a unique voice. KGHarris, 10/06.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic Tennessee Williams - film/actors do the great playright...
For the time period in the movie industry, the movie is great primarily because of the actors; but the real success of the movie can be attributed to the fabulous playright... Read more
Published 27 days ago by Tall Stranger
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tennessee fan
I enjoyed the added small documentary. Enjoyed seeing live interview of Williams, hearing him read his own writings. The other movies in the box set are also my favorites. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Katrina Quarter
2.0 out of 5 stars
boring.
Although the acting was good the stories were a bit boring and lengthy. I'm sorry to say they did not hold up very well to the test of time. Read more
Published 9 months ago by plotz
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best of Tennessee Williams
All the best movies of Tennessee Williams are here except for the "The Glass Menagerie". The documentary is good too. I'm 100% pleased with the box set!
Published 9 months ago by Big John
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tennessee on the Silver Screen
I saw everyone of these at the movie theatre in the fifties and sixties except Baby Doll. It turns out that Baby Doll is my favorite. Read more
Published 10 months ago by D. Keene
5.0 out of 5 stars
Treasures
Tennesse Williams was one of the greatest, and this collection of some of his works is well done and a real collection item
Published on September 23, 2010 by Margaret F. Ogram
3.0 out of 5 stars
Title Susbstitution in this set
I am hugely disappointed and wondering if it's just me or has anyone else experienced the problem I had with this set! Read more
Published on September 21, 2010 by Classic Film Nut
5.0 out of 5 stars
A treasure
For anyone who loves Tennessee Williams, I will recommand him that dvd box/ Classical !!!
Published on April 30, 2010 by Pierre Preira
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Classic Collection!
It gets no better than this colleciton of classic films, the very best of Hollywood by Tennessee Williams, great movies!
Published on April 26, 2010 by Ricky Lee Hicks
5.0 out of 5 stars
tennessee williams,classic movies dvd box set
This box set is a very good collection of classic films at a very reasonable price. I highly recommed this set.
Published on September 14, 2009 by William A. Ressler
