A Streetcar Named Desire

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) is a landmark Hollywood drama you can watch online on iFILM. Director Elia Kazan brought Tennessee Williams' stage play to the screen with most of its original Broadway cast intact. Vivien Leigh plays Blanche DuBois — an aging Southern woman who arrives at her sister's New Orleans apartment carrying one suitcase and several inconvenient secrets.

Her sister Stella shares a cramped flat with her husband Stanley, played by a 26-year-old Marlon Brando in the role that made him a star. Stanley is blunt, physical, and immediately suspicious: Blanche claims aristocratic roots, but her story doesn't hold up. Every attempt at politeness curdles into confrontation. Kim Hunter and Karl Malden round out the four-way clash of wills.

Kazan kept the stage play's claustrophobic intensity and added sweat, shadow and the relentless heat of New Orleans. All four principal performances earned Oscar nominations — a record that still stands in Academy history. Vivien Leigh and Karl Malden both won. Stream A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) online on iFILM.