Local Talent: A Streetcar Named Desire

Howdy all and welcome to Day 1 of Local Talent This man I speak of has been a general to Julius Caesar, a Wild One, been through Guys and Dolls, he has been to The Appaloosa and even has portrayed The Godfather. Native to these plains of wheat,corn and beef production, he debuted on Broadway in October 19^th of 1944 in "I Remember Mama" as an astounding success that he made his first film debut in Fred Zinnermann's The Men in 1950, about a paralized war vet trying to adjust to the world without his limbs. I speak of none other than Marlon Brando. This particular blog covers one of his earliest films of heartache, woe and an excellent performance. This is A Streetcar Named Desire.

The face of every domestic disturbance.

Named after the play by playwright and author Tennessee Williams (The Glass Menagerie, Summer and Smoke, The Rose Tattoo, Cat on a Hot Tin Room, Suddenly, Last Summer and The Night of the Iguana) this drama with a hint of film noir hails from a story of a southern belle, Blanche Dubois (Vivien Leigh of Fire Over England, Storm in a Teacup, A Yank at Oxford, Gone with the Wind 21 Days Together, Waterloo Bridge and Ship of Fools) an aristocrat seeks refuge after an series of losses along with her sister and brother-in-law in a rickety, run-down tenement in New Orleans. Blanche a high school teacher leaves her beloved home of Auriol Mississippi with her sister Stella Kowalski (Kim Hunter of Actor's Studio, Anything Can Happen, Storm Center, Playhouse 90, Lamp at Midnight, Planet of the Apes, All My Children and Born Innocent) and her brother-in-law Stanley (Marlon Brando of The Men, Viva Zapata!, The Wild One, On the Waterfront, Guys and Dolls, The Chase, The Godfather, Last Tango in Paris and Apocalypse Now). As she tells her sister, Blanche explains that the family estate, Belle Reve has been claimed by the town and there is nothing to be done about it. Stanley convinced otherwise, proceeds to go through her papers only to end up fighting with Blanche's poems sent to her by her late husband. Our thuggish brute simply defends his actions by saying his was looking out for his family and tells Blanche that Stella is going to have a baby. Clearly reason enough to behave like a thoughtless jackass.

Clearly I am superior to Jessica Tandy.

A collection of Stanley's poker buddies come over and one stands out above the rest, a fella named Mitch (Karl Malden of On the Waterfront, How the West Was Won, Patton, The Streets of San Francisco, Captains Courageous, Meteor, Skag and Nuts) who is decent, fair and honest. Blanche takes a liking to him but Stanley's drunken rage causes his buddies to vamoose when he up and slaps Stella. Hiding at Eunice's (Peg Hillias of A Streetcar Named Desire, The Wayward Girl, That Night! And Peyton Place) until Stanley redeems himself by carrying Stella to bed, Blanche has curbed her tongue long enough. That morning she is adamant about Stella leaving her subhuman animal of a husband and coming away with her.

Does Stanley stand for this abuse? Is Blanche hiding deep seeded secrets? Will these two kooky kids work out?

A few points of interest on our film now. Nine members of the original Broadway cast repeated their roles in the movie, only Vivien Leigh was chosen over Jessica Tandy for the roles of Blanche given Leigh's popularity of Gone With the Wind. Despite the incredible performance of Brando's part he loathed and detested his character to no end. Nominated for 12 awards winning four at the 24^th Academy Awards, this film set an Oscar record being the first film to win three acting categories. Best Actress (Vivien Leigh), Best Supporting Actor (Karl Malden), Best Supporting Actress (Kim Hunter) and Best Art Direction (Richard Day and George Hopkins)

Toss the wife in the pot and the game is gonna heat up!

Local Talent

Welcome one and all. Today, I was thinking about the local entertainment as my co-star Shawn of Rotten Ramblin' On was on about. Artists, musicians and film makers...hell we could interview the collection of coplayers, costumers and creators. That being said I decided to cover more than a handful of movie stars that have made it in Hollywood hailing from our plains.

Just a Midwestern boy.

Local Talent establishes actors, writers, directors, athletes of past and present ranging from Drama to Horror films, showcasing as much as one can. Two examples of such is dancer, singer, actor, choreographer and musician Fred Astaire (Top Hat, Swing Time, Royal Wedding, Funny Face and It Takes a Thief) and Broadway star and film method actor Montgomery Clift (Red River, The Big Lift, A Place in the Sun, I Confess,The Young Lions and The Misfits)

Steve Borden, Sr who you know better as Sting of WWE as a professional wrestler, bodybuilder and even author. Former gridiron football player, Heisman Trophy winner and NFL San Diego Chargers running back and wide receiver Johnny "The Jet" Rodgers. Actor Randy J. Goodwin (Girlfriends, CSI: Miami, Flip the Script, Big Shots, The Vampire Diaries, Annie Claus is Coming to Town, The Mind's End and The Job) and newcomer to Horror, Karrie Bauman (The Legacy of Boggy Creek, Escape to Black Tree Forest, The Dead Hour, The Eyes of Isabelle, Cheerleader Camp: To the Death and Poet) and actor/comedian Jorge Garcia (Hurley of Lost, Hitman:Bloody Money, Alcatraz, Gaspar, How I Met Your Mother, The Wedding Ringer, The Ridiculous 6 and Hawaii Five-0) just to name a handful.

This week we explore humble beginnings to stardom and having the guts to try their luck from the Midwest and push out to their dreams.

What? You thought this chin was from Hollywood?

Leonard Nimoy 1931-2015

Hey folks. By now, you are aware that Leonard Nimoy has passed away. The future just got a bit dim without this man's talented eye for photography, his writing for film and TV. Oh yeah you might have seen him as Spock for the last 35 years. He and Shatner have been thick as thieves these last few years. Between the conventions, voice work on film documentary and video games, he has been plenty busy. No one I know can kick back and play Civilization IV without recognizing that narrator's voice. Hell this was Galavatron before the age of Michael Bay and Transformers were still anime.

Nimoy has starred in the typical amount of Westerns ranging from Wagon Train no less than 5 times as 5 separate characters. 4 separate characters in Gunsmoke. Usually the tall thin guys are easy to spot. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Episode Project Strigas guest starring Shatner and Nimoy is one of my favorites.

I love the fact he owned an exotic pet shop when the Star Trek series was cancelled and became the Other Dr. Spock getting degrees in Biology and Photography. Shatner tells the tale best but the landing party of Kirk, Spock and McCoy all share something together. Tinnitus thanks to an explosion on set via Star Trek: Arena. So with that ringing in his ear, Shatner still had to wrestle a guy in a rubber mask and suit? The main reason that Nimoy had the role of Spock was producers of The Lieutenant remembered this tall thin guy that easily dominated the set. The Lieutenant also being a Gene Roddenberry creation.

The funniest story Nimoy had was he was whisked up to Caltech in Silicon Valley for a seminar. The jist of which they were talking about microprocessors, the advancement of software, circuit boards and even the potential to Artificial Intelligence and they wanted Nimoy's take on it. Given Nimoy does not have a multi-cross discipline of sciences under his belt he bluffed his way through it, pausing and looking thoughtful, offering comments to the like of: "Hmm, good point." " I think you are on the right track." According to Nimoy, the scientists seem genuinely pleased. ACTING!!

With two children and one stepson he has five grandchildren that he leaves behind, he has inspired generations in photography and had received countless letters from budding scientists that they went into their perspective fields due to his portrayal of Mr. Spock. For three seasons, eight movies and three different series he has played Spock in the original series, Star Trek: The Animated Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Last year in February he announced he was suffering from chronic obstruction pulmonary disease which makes it difficult to breathe, causes wheezing, fatigue and a horrific cough. He attributed it to smoking for many years until he quit and had advocated smokers to quit before it is too late.

Rotten Reelz Reviews salute you Leonard Nimoy for encouraging this writer's love of science fiction, literature recommended to fans and an skilled eye in black and white (my favorite in photography). His love and hate relationship with Spock is proof he could go back to him at any time. He was found of saying on talk shows and interviews as, "My folks came to the US as immigrants, aliens and became citizens. I was born in Boston, a citizen that went to Hollywood and became an alien." Thank you Leonard Nimoy for all you have done for us. Live long and prosper.

Syndey Pollack Week

Hello folks.   Well this is a bit out of my usual depth when speaking about a public figure, a man who directed and produced 40 films.  A man that frequently collaborated with Robert Redford both in acting along side Redford as well as being behind the camera, his film Out of Africa was nominated for 11 Academy Awards receiving seven wins, including Pollack’s for Best Direction as well as Best Picture.  From suspense thrillers, dramatizations to romantic comedies, Pollack had Tinsletown on a string.  Working with the likes of Meryl Streep, Dustin Hoffman, Terri Garr, Paul Newman, Barbara Streisand and Jane Fonda to name a few; his open-heart approach he was a strong advocate for the Director’s Guild of America and founded with production office with screen writer Anthony Minghella (Maybury, Grange Hill, Inspector Morse, The English Patient and The Talented Mr. Ripley) calling it Mirage Enterprises.  

It is this we will be exploring this week.  A body of what I would constitute Pollack’s finest works and proof there will never be another like him.  I hope this informs and entertains.