 Her performance in the West End production of A Streetcar Named Desire , described by the theatre writer Phyllis Hartnoll as " proof of greater powers as an actress than she had hitherto shown " , led to a lengthy period during which she was considered one of the finest actresses in British theatre . Discussing the subsequent film version , Pauline Kael wrote that Leigh and Marlon Brando gave " two of the greatest performances ever put on film " and that Leigh 's was " one of those rare performances that can truly be said to evoke both fear and pity . " 
