The collection will feature the DVD debuts of "Sweet Bird of Youth," "Night of the Iguana," "Baby Doll" and "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone." Also included in the pack are a remastered two-disc Special Edition of "A Streetcar Named Desire," a Deluxe Edition of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and a bonus disc of the feature-length documentary, "Tennessee Williams' South."
Among the special features included on the Elia Kazan-directed "A Streetcar Named Desire" disc are Marlon Brando's screen test, commentary by Karl Malden and film historian Rudy Behlmer, movie and audio outtakes (plenty of Brando) and documentaries. Also included is three minutes of footage (rediscovered in the early 1990s) deleted from the original release that underscores, among other things, the sexual tension between Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh) and Stanley Kowalski (Brando), and Stella Kowalski’s (Kim Hunter) passion for husband Stanley. The Legion of Decency had required the scenes be cut.
"Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" featured Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman and Burl Ives in the 1958 film by Richard Brooks. "The Night of the Iguana" stars Richard Burton, Ava Gardner and Deborah Kerr in the 1964 John Huston film. Karl Malden, Carroll Baker and Eli Wallach star in Kazan 1956 take on "Baby Doll." Paul Newman stars with Geraldine Page, Shirley Knight, Ed Begley and Rip Torn in the 1962 Richard Brooks "Sweet Bird of Youth." And Vivien Leigh starred opposite Warren Beatty and Lotte Lenya in "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone" directed in 1961 by José Quintero.
Williams' works have seen a resurgence in recent years as his A Streetcar Named Desire, The Glass Mengarie and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof were revived on Broadway. Washington, D.C.'s Kennedy Center presented a summer celebration of his works in 2004 and Connecticut's Hartford Stage continue to explore his canon on an annual basis sine 1998.
Other plays include Summer and Smoke, The Rose Tattoo, Camino Real, Orpheus Descending, Garden District, The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore, Out Cry, Vieux Carre, Something Cloudy Something Clear and Not About Nightingales.
