Tennessee Williams based his screenplay on Oscar Saul's adaptation of Williams' own Pulitzer Prize-winning play set in a grimy New Orleans project. The story of the fragile sentimentalism of a woman who visits her sister only to be taunted mercilessly by her childish brother-in-law.

This classic film garnered 12 Academy Award Nominations (including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Marlon Brando), and Best Screeplay), winning 4 including Best Actress (Vivien Leigh), Best Supporting Actress (Kim Hunter), and Best Supporting Actor (Karl Malden).

This version features three minutes of footage that was deleted from the final 1951 release version upon demands made by the Production Code, footage thought lost until its rediscovery in the early 1990s. This DVD release is the fully restored version of Elia Kazan's original cut and the documentary 'Desire And Censorship' on Disc 2 describes his struggle in getting past the censors.