BOOTLEG FILES 928: “A Streetcar Named Desire” (1984 made-for-television film starring Ann-Margret and Treat Williams).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: As a VHS video release only.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: I have no idea why this is out of circulation.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Nothing on the immediate horizon.
Remaking a classic film is always a thankless task, for nine times out of ten the remake is a pallid shadow that is eons removed from the artistry that made the original a beloved work. During the 1970s and 1980s there were plenty of misguided small-screen remakes of big-screen classics. Even the presence of genuine talent in those made-for television remakes couldn’t save them from being weak carbon copies – think of the 1972 “The Man Who Came to Dinner” with Orson Welles and Joan Collins, or the 1974 “Brief Encounter” with Richard Burton and Sophia Loren, or the 1976 “Dark Victory” with Elizabeth Montgomery and Anthony Hopkins, or the 1986 “Stagecoach” with Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and Willie Nelson.
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