Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Richard Brooks

Writers:

Tennessee Williams (play)
Richard Brooks (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

20 September 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Just one pillow on her bed ... and just one desire in her heart!

Plot:

Brick, an alcoholic ex-football player, drinks his days away and resists the affections of his wife, Maggie. His reunion with his father, Big Daddy, who is dying of cancer, jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.

Plot Keywords:

Alcoholic | Cancer | Mississippi | Birthday | Marriage

Awards:

Nominated for 6 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Elizabeth Taylor	...	Margaret 'Maggie the Cat' Pollitt
Paul Newman	...	Brick Pollitt
Burl Ives	...	Harvey 'Big Daddy' Pollitt
Jack Carson	...	Cooper 'Gooper' Pollitt
Judith Anderson	...	Ida 'Big Momma' Pollitt
Madeleine Sherwood	...	Mae Flynn Pollitt
Larry Gates	...	Dr. Baugh
Vaughn Taylor	...	Deacon Davis

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Portugal:M/12 (re-rating) | Spain:18 | Finland:K-3 (2007) | South Korea:15 (DVD rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Canada:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Netherlands:AL | Portugal:17 | Sweden:15 | USA:Not Rated | West Germany:18 (original rating) | UK:12A (re-rating) (2005) | UK:X (original rating) | UK:15 (video rating) (1987) | UK:15 (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Coleman Estate, Muttontown, Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Tennessee Williams wrote the role of Big Daddy with Burl Ives in mind. Prior to the original stage production, Ives was known primarily as a folk singer, and many within the theatre community question Williams' decision. Ives won rave reviews in the role on both stage and screen, and went on to a long and prestigious acting career.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Although it is filled once in the afternoon, the ice bucket in Brick's bedroom stays full well into the evening even though it's never replenished.

Quotes:

Harvey 'Big Daddy' Pollitt: Wouldja look at all this stuff? Bought most of it when I took your mother to Europe on that Cook's Tour. Never had such a lousy time in my life. I tell you that Europe ain't nothin' but a wore-out auction, just a great big fire sale, the whole rotten thing...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies (#9.12)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

Soothe My Lonely Heart

Not for Williams purists but a great film

Much has been made of the differences between Tennessee Williams' play and this film--the homoerotic themes have been driven further into subtext (though not eliminated entirely) and a more upbeat ending was added. The changes were necessary when the film was made; although theater and literary purists decry the "sanitizing" or censorship of plays when they are adapted for the screen, in some cases (such as this one) the changes can improve the work in question. "Cat" on film is clearer, for one thing. Tennessee Williams plays tend to be "cluttered" in their original form. They are also cynically downbeat; if that type of story appeals to one, this adaptation might be off-putting.

As with all theatrical adaptations, many of the scenes are excessively talky, especially the Brick/Big Daddy scenes in the second act. Some of the highlights are just as wordy but thoroughly enjoyable rather than tedious (especially Maggie's story about Mae's reign as Cotton Carnival Queen and the entire scene in the basement). All of the performances are excellent, though Paul Newman as Brick is less flashy; it's not really until the basement scene that one feels his talent is given a workout. Elizabeth Taylor is an emotional rollercoaster, venturing from flirtatious to hectoring to wheedling to calm to grasping to tender, often within a single scene, and yet she never slips the rails. Watching films from this period (her career peak), one wonders what happened to turn her into the vague, bleary-eyed woman we see today. Judith Anderson's Big Mama is loud, coarse, and bossy, but completely sympathetic both in the scene with the birthday cake and in the confrontation scene at the end. When Big Daddy invites her along with him at the end, it is every bit as welcome to the viewer as it is to her. Burl Ives is the most towering of all; the emotional growth in the film is as much his as it is Brick's. Jack Carson and Madeleine Sherwood are every bit as good despite being relegated to comic relief at times.

My favorite aspect of this story, however, is the social dynamic. Brick and Maggie are spoiled, young, "beautiful people" who have yet to take on any responsibility, while Gooper and Mae are the epitome of a serious young family. Brick is an alcoholic former football player, while Gooper is a corporate lawyer. Despite these obvious differences, however, both their parents and the audience (and Tennessee Williams, obviously) clearly prefer Brick and Maggie. Every aspect of Gooper and Mae's personalities, even those which bespeak traditional values, are portrayed as petty and unimaginative. Even if one believes that Gooper and Mae have done all the right things, they have done them for the wrong reasons. Thus the theme of the story is most clearly presented: all that is important is to love and to express that love.