Why Proletariat?

Sir—I agree with D.B.S. in his appraisal of "A Streetcar Named Desire" as being an intelligent, first-class film." But . . .

First, two quite unnecessary words in the first two paragraphs. Why-does he have to lean over backwards Just to use bourgeois and proletariat—words picked out 01 Pol. Sc. I? Actually, I don't know that the film Industry Ignored the "piddling demands" of the box office after all. An increasing awareness of the value of Streetcar-type productions among the public is reflected in what producers give it.

Proletariat colloquially means wage-working class, employed group. Stanley and his friends hardly seemed to qualify. It would have been better to use a less-politically charged expression such as down-trodden or squalid quarter, or cesspool of New Orieans.

Second, critic D.B.S. presumes that because "Streetcar" was written in 1947 shows "the type of personality that has grown up after, and as a direct result of, the last war." Neurosis explored by Williams do not date from post-1945. Stanley's "schizophrenic Insanity" (?) would have been apparent war or no war. His is a personality which has existed for ages.

Minor points: scenes of the surrounding environment are not greatly increased in the film; I may' be wrong but the very last scene of all is not part of the original script.

—D. L. Rowntree.