A Streetcar Named Desire

Kazan gave Brando, star of Kazan’s Method Acting school, free reign in the black & white adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ famous play, which was also directed by Kazan, featuring Brando as the rough Stanley Kowalski.

Composer Alex North was one of the first to take the opportunities jazz provided as soundtrack music seriously. The way he incorporates jazz and blues into the sound of a symphony orchestra is unique.

The score illustrates the characters’ moods using different instruments (saxophone, strings). In the past, film composers had accompanied characters with (recurring) themes and motifs. North used jazz – a musical genre viewed purely as party music (swing, ragtime, Dixieland) or as experimental artsy music (bebop) – as a compositional element. Before A Streetcar Named Desire jazz in films was often a gilded gimmick or location music (from a radio or in a dirty diner).

Jazz great Miles Davis (not exactly known for praising peers) said of Alex North's score; ”That’s a wild record... if anybody is going to write for strings in the jazz idiom or something near to it it’ll be North”