Wonderful post from Jose about Blanche’s monologue about her husband (“he was a boy”) in Streetcar, and how it had to be made much less explicit (meaning: not explicit at all) in the film version, due to the Production Code. You would never know, in the film version, just from the words, that her husband was gay. You have to read between the lines, whereas in the play script, it is completely clear what was going on.
When the movie was made, the League of Decency and their strict Production Code reigned over Hollywood with a firm, prudish hand. The notion of homosexuality being mentioned in film was unthinkable (how could you talk about something that didn’t”exist” back then?), this left the filmmakers and cast with a void that needed to be filled. Blanche’s monologue is one of the most crucial moments in the plot and Kazan was already having trouble with other elements featured in the play which included shameless lust, domestic violence, nymphomania and rape.
Therefore Kazan had to work his way around a controversial twist that revealed key traits in the lead character without alienating audiences who had to at least try to understand her. What he does then is turn the monologue into an atmospheric confession where Blanche reveals how she “killed” her husband.
Observations follow about how Kazan handles this limitation (and not just Kazan, but Leigh herself) – wonderful stuff. Please watch in the clip how Leigh puts the stress on “unendurably” – like the word itself is hot and she has to force herself to say it. She’s so good here.
