“STELLA!” Brando’s “A Streetcar Named Desire” debuts on Broadway - This Day in History – Dec 3rd

Back in 1947, a young actor named Marlon Brando starred in the Tennessee Williams play, “A Streetcar Named Desire” on Broadway in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.  The success of this play lead the cast of Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter and Karl Malden to reprise their roles in the film version of this play.  Film veteran, Vivian Leigh, replaced Jessica Tandy who played Blanche in the Broadway play.

According to history.com, “The 23-year-old Brando played the rough, working-class Polish-American Stanley Kowalski, whose violent clash with Blanche DuBois (played on Broadway by Jessica Tandy), a Southern belle with a dark past, is at the center of Williams' famous drama. Blanche comes to stay with her sister Stella (Kim Hunter), Stanley's wife, at their home in the French Quarter of New Orleans; she and Stanley immediately despise each other. In the climactic scene, Stanley rapes Blanche, causing her to lose her fragile grip on sanity; the play ends with her being led away in a straitjacket.”

The Catholic Legion of Decency disapproved the explicit sexual and rape scene in the Williams screenplay.  The writer refused to take out this scene while the Legion requested that the character of Stanley receive some kind of punishment.  Williams changed the ending of the movie by having Stella leave Stanley.

A Streetcar Named Desire received 12 Oscar nominations for the actors Brando, Leigh, Hunter and Malden. All but Brando scored a win; he lost to Humphrey Bogart’s character of Charlie Allnut in The African Queen.

AMC produces last Pacer car

Back in 1979, American Motors Corporation (AMC) completed the assembly of their last Pacer vehicle in Kenosha, WI.  According to history.com, “When the car first came on the market in 1975, it was a sensation, hailed as the car of the future. "When you buy any other car," ads said, "all you end up with is today's car. When you get a Pacer, you get a piece of tomorrow." By 1979, however, sales had faded considerably. Today, polls and experts agree: the Pacer was one of the worst cars of all time.”

The AMC Pacer is now part of pop culture due to its appearance in the 1992 movie, “Wayne’s World,” and rapper Eminem’s video “The Real Slim Shady.”

All History facts provided from the link below:

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lincoln-reaches-legal-milestone?catId=9