Sid Caesar - "A Streetcar Named ???" April 5, 1952

[From "Kovacs Corner" on KZbin.com] - Performed on "Your Show of Shows" on April 5,1952, Sid and Imogene spoof one of latest film releases of the day "A Streetcar Named Desire." Sid play the Marlon Brando role of Stanley Kowalski and Imogene Coca plays the Vivian Leigh's role of Blanche Dubois. Who is the actress is playing Stanley's wife? 50's pitchwoman Betty Furness.

[@reinacoffee8557]

Sid and Imogene are still the greatest comedy team this world has ever seen!!

[@philsooty5421]

Living in the UK I never got a chance to see this guy and I'm now at 71 years of age beginning to appreciate just how good he was thanks to you who uploaded this video, I had an unhappy childhood and turned to comedy which totally changed my life, and I became a different person, he gives me the belly ache, this guy is a comedy legend in the highest degree!

[@johngore7744]

I’m 61 born and still in Montreal. Both my grandparents were from the UK Sheffield Manchester Prestwich. (They worked at the asylum in the 1880s apparently) any how I discovered this about 5 years ago on you tube and loved it and gone on to find more Sid Ceasr and Your Show Of Shows also on was Carl Reiner another great comic and father of Rob from Allbinthe family and directing fame. I grew up on the Carry On movies and some George Formby (lol) and python the Two Ronnies Flatty Otters. (Basil!!) and Benny Hill and all things British. As my Gran called it The Mother Country. Picture if you will Victoria string on the globe as if birthing it. Lol. Fry and Laurie also excellent. Cheers.

[@poetcomic1]

I'm 71 now too and thank YOU for sending us Benny Hill.

[@butternut5385]

Surprised at how sophisticated this humor is. Great Brando!

[@Gypsyqueen-lt7tq]

I love how Sid manages to conjure Brando's Kowalski so indelibly -- w/out venturing into the "creep" factor of that role. The fact that he's not at all interested in "interfering" w/ Imogene/Blanche is part of what makes the sketch so funny -- & also why it still holds up in the MeToo# era, IMHO.

[@fords_nothere_100]

Now that is pioneering sketch comedy. Caesar and co. are brilliant. All these cross references and spot on impersonations. Amazing this was 1952.

[@GeeBoggs]

I still think television comedy of the 1950s was better than during any other decade.

[@mortalclown3812]

Sid was, as ever, brilliant and, in this sketch, terrifically understated.

[@willrothfuss8470]

Crying. Sid Caesar is still the funniest man in TV history and Imogene Coca is right there with him.

[@auggie803]

-Sobbing too.😂

[@rodneysmart9774]

His Brando impersonation is terrific.

[@gaylelewis9114]

I hadn’t seen the film so went to u tube and viewed some clips. Sid’s interpretation of Brando was so spot on it was more like Brando than Brando. Even Imogene’s Vivien Leigh captured a bit of her essence! These 2 are not just comedians, they r the god and goddess of tv comedy gold. I’ll never be able to watch the film without convulsing from laughter thinking of this sketch!

[@vogelfrau2425]

The back of his shirt 🤣 throw myself away while laughing. Most of the sketch he had his mouth full while still eating.

[@chocolatesouljah]

That low back tank top reveal around 1:20! Hilarious reveal.

[@Biyou22]

I literally did a coffee spittake 😂

[@MarcBrewer]

60 year old TV holds up better than last week's SNL.

[@gaylelewis9114]

MarcBrewer u said it!

[@georgechambless2719]

That's mot saying much.

[@santafejack]

SNL writers and cast need to review all of these shows to get some much needed inspiration. Some of the sketches they should steal outright, like this one!

[@Seekthetruth3000]

Sadly, SNL has become a mouthpiece for the democrat party.

[@brucemarsico6]

SNL???? Amateurs at best...talentless group of hacks compared to these true comedians.....

[@reinacoffee8557]

"A Streetcar Named Desire" is one of my favorite movies with the wonderful cast, Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh, Kim Hunter and Karl Malden. This funny performance is so hilarious!!!

[@donreed]

I was 21 days old on the day this aired. Can't you tell?

[@poetcomic1]

at 6:03 "You are bustin' up my lovely home" with a perfect Marlon Brando accent.

[@altonpitts6550]

He did Brando very,very well!😆

[@jetskiles3613]

I wonder how brando reacted to this 😂 hes at the top of hollywood during these

[@Downecker]

I'm 74 and our family laughed their butts off 😂😂! We also loved Steve Allen's Tonight Show! I got my crazy sense of humor watching TV in the 50's! So much funny material 😂😂😂!😅

[@mmjhcb]

This illustrates the difference between great comedy and great comedians and whatever it is we have today.

[@altonpitts6550]

I don't know what was Tennessee Williams' reaction to the satire; but I can picture him howling with laughter. Caesar was brilliantly hysterical as Brando/ Kowalski.

[@poetcomic1]

Claire Bloom played Blanche in a London revival of Streetcar and trying to imagine the role asked Tennessee what he thought happened to Blanche after she's taken away. "She slept with some of the handsome young doctors, got out and ran a chic boutique in the Quarter." He was serious but then he was also a very witty man.

[@Brace67]

“A Streetcar Named Desire” was never funnier the in the hands of Sid and Imogene. This satire holds up as well today as when it was first performed on live TV so long ago

[@poetcomic1]

I love at the end when he 'packs his bag'.

[@poetcomic1]

Wow! Sid really caught that Brando voice in key moments of this sketch.

[@vestibulate]

poetcomic1 Probably the first to accurately caricature Brando. Sid was brilliant.

[@billslocum9819]

Catches that slight lisp in Brando's voice, and the hesitancy, like at 2:07. It's uncanny how he slides that in along with the big overacting audiences wanted from Sid.

[@charlesstuart7290]

Brando was on Broadway with the role years before the movie.

[@linusp9316]

@@vestibulate First and best was George Chakiris on the Wally Cox Show/Mr. Peepers - Cox was lifelong friends with Brando, and taught Chakiris how to mimic Brando's real-life mannerisms perfectly

[@vestibulate]

@@linusp9316 Thanks for that. I didn't know Chakiris did impressions, but then most actors are good mimics.

[@shakeandjake_1]

I’m reading Mel Brooks’ book right now and it brings me to these videos to see how much Mel idolized Sid

[@kathleenhannon5378]

Caesar was a brilliant comic - they don't make 'em like that anymore 😊😂😂😊

[@willienobody4156]

The broom to table move is hilarious

[@ciaobuciao]

Listen closely to Sid Caesar's parody at the beginning: It's the Honeymooners, the Flintstones, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, all in a nutshell.

[@chocolatesouljah]

Brilliant assessment!

[@Gypsyqueen-lt7tq]

So delighted to have found this post. Agree totally with the above assessment -- except I think this predated all three. Shows what an influence Mr. Caesar was in his own right . . . .

[@ConwayBob]

Yes, all of that plus a sendup of Marlon Brando in Tennesee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire."

[@Marathonracer]

@@Gypsyqueen-lt7tq It didn't predate Streetcar, but it did predate the others. "A Streetcar Named Desire" was released in 1951 and had been a Broadway play by Tennessee Williams in 1947, although this was an incredible, hilarious parody . The Honeymooners ran from 1955-56. Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf premiered as a play in 1962 and the film version was released in 1966.

[@nonenoneonenonenone]

A perfect commentary on Marlon Brando's acting.

[@luisreyes1963]

Leave it to Sid Caesar & Imogene Coca to turn a sultry Tennessee Williams play into a comedy sketch. 😆

[@Antoinette733]

Brilliant -- I laughed so hard I cried.

[@cherylfrederick7228]

What class acts Sid Caesar and Imogen Coca were!

[@mmjhcb]

Sid Sid Caesar is spot on in this.

[@johnmitchelljr]

So great. Thank you.

[@mkl62]

Thanks for posting.

[@KCGeno]

Freaking beautiful!

[@Lynda-oo7ey]

I have never seen anybody that is funnier than Sid and his group.

[@MrQbenDanny]

Sid was remarkably good as Marlon.

[@linusp9316]

He's very good, but if you can find it on youtube, George Chakiris was amazing as Brando in the spoof he did on Mr. Peepers. Wally Cox was friends with Brando in real life, since childhood, so that's probably the closest anyone would get

[@johngore7744]

I can see where Belushi got his thing from when Sid does this one. Also I see loads of influence from Imogene in Carol Burnett. Classic stuff. The originals.

[@grishaphillips8012]

Agreeee the VERY BEST

[@hankblaustein4149]

great sketch, caesar in top form.

[@barryobrien7935]

Betty Furness has such a distinctive voice, maybe it’s because I remember all those Westinghouse commercials on CBS during Studio One and convention coverage.

[@utube658]

thank you for sharing these remarkable videos, they're priceless! these group of comedians really set the precedent of future comedy skits on television!

[@fromthesidelines]

I believe Betty Furness (who was briefly a movie actress before she became "Miss Westinghouse" on TV) was the "guest hostess" on "YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS" that night.

[@stockvaluedotcom]

Live TV, We lost a lot when that left the airways.

[@harlow743]

Hail Caesar !!!!!

[@TheBlueyedblond]

2 seconds of Sid Caesar gets me laughing....

[@stephaniecarrow4898]

That's a great Brando from Sid!

[@Lynda-oo7ey]

I remember Betty Furness.

[@ehlerhog]

This reminds me of The Honeymooners set. The acoustics and the visuals as well.

[@richardherbst3507]

Actually Sid Caesar does a pretty fair imitation of Marlon Brando. He obviously studied Brando's speech and gestures.

[@Gypsyqueen-lt7tq]

I think they were actually friends.

[@keithleeuwen877]

Great !

[@bawoman]

"You're breaking up our lovely home" lol

[@rowbygoren1830]

Pure gold.

[@reinacoffee8557]

H I L A R I O U S ! ! ! Sid and Imogene go together really fine--they were both so funny; why in the world was she replaced later on? They made such a good team.

[@rolko52]

reina coffee Imogene was offered her own show. It was not as successful.

[@reinacoffee8557]

They shouldn't have separated them. Nanette wasn't funny at all.

[@SenorZorrozzz]

Betty sure got that nose fixed in later years!

[@January.]

GIANT LAUGHS

[@Seekthetruth3000]

Better than Brando, better than SNL.

[@maureengilligo1960]

That apartment looks like the Kramden's apartment

[@paulsarnik8506]

If this is Kovak's corner why dies it have Sid Ceasar?

[@ceceliaclarke]

Imogene's wig for this role is absolutely perfect. This matches perfectly the helmet of blond hair on Vivian L's head, for this role. This sketch is hilarious, but to be honest, it was not necessary to change very much, from the film. The film is so deeply tragic, and the roles so overplayed and so over acted, that the overall effect is kind of funny.

[@hyrdrogenalpha]

Trivia - What movie was Imogene Coca in which starred Chevy Chase?

[@samreevesmusic]

"(National Lampoon's) Vacation" - 1983

[@mariestreeting9145]

what's with Sid's singlet? It's half way down his back ha ha ha ha ha ha

[@piranha5506]

Have you seen streetcar?

[@jayare2620]

Sid does "Stanley Kowalski" a little TOO well.

[@QED_]

2:02 Uh, wow . . .

[@marieellet2424]

😂😂😂👌

[@jeffreymiller4814]

OMG. He does Brando better than Brando did Brando.

[@bandicoot5412]

That's entertainment, mega nitro methane, plus size.

[@jimmileski2428]

4:20

[@RSEFX]

The utter horribleness/depressing-ish-ness of the set is hilarious ("...our lovely home"!) ;-)