Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (A or 4/4 stars)
'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' (directed by Richard Brooks) is a steamy drama starring all-timers, Paul Newman & Elizabeth Taylor. After Brick Pollitt (Newman) injures himself while drunkenly re-visiting his football star days from high school, he & his tempestuous wife, Maggie 'the Cat' Pollitt (Taylor), travel to his family's sprawling Mississippi plantation for the 65th birthday of his ill-tempered father, 'Big Daddy' (Burl Ives, exceptional). Curmudgeonly even with declining health, Big Daddy demands to know just why Brick & Maggie have yet to provide him a grandchild; unlike Brick's competitive brother Gooper (Jack Carson) and his quite fertile, quite money-hungry, & quite irksome wife, Mae (Madeleine Sherwood).
Also present is Brick's mother, 'Big Momma', played by the great Dame Judith Anderson; so good in 1940's Rebecca. The story unfolds during one pivotal evening in which this gathering is really a goodbye, of sorts. As it turns out, Big Daddy is dying of cancer ... but he doesn't know it yet. Everyone else, except for Big Momma, knows this information. And so, this macabre news & other juicy revelations occur over the course of a mere few hours. Through it all, sexy Maggie the Cat taunts her sulky, alcoholic husband; plotting to re-arouse him. Just why ISN'T he turned on by his voluptuous wife, after all? Family melodrama ensues.
Newman, Taylor & Ives are superb in this blistering 1958 movie version of Tennessee Williams' famous award-winning play. Newman is solid in the 1st half, but really shines in the 2nd as the husband & son trying to deal with his drinking, family demons and, perhaps, sexuality. His strained, childless marriage eats away at him. Old demons from old memories surface concerning his father. So his transition from repressed drunk, to a wounded shell of a man, to clear-minded sobriety & appreciation is something to see. Liz Taylor's Maggie is so much at once: lustful, fiery, neglected, sympathetic, strong-willed, & madly in love with her husband. She dominates every scene she's in {"I'm not living with you. We're occupying the same cage, that's all!"}.
The script can also be funny. i.e., Bricks refers to Maggie's "claws". And Maggie refers to Gooper's kids as "the little no-neck monsters". The scope of the plot is fairly small here, actually. Sure, the dialogue crackles & the acting is intense, by all. Themes of dealing with one's mortality, or one's regrets, or coming to terms with one's past & future ... all in there. But plot happenstance is low, actually. The script is more about tone & mood for what transpires through conversation during this one evening. There is a lot less to the plot than meets the eye. The psychological & emotional dealings make up the plot.
Richard Brooks had to be careful not to be overt with Brick's homosexuality because the censors of the time wouldn't allow it. Probably the best aspect of his script IS it indicating that 'that is what's going on' without ever directly saying it. I mean, Maggie trying desperately to lure Brick away from his obsession with his deceased 'best friend' kinda makes it clear, anyway. Despite the homosexuality being hushed, the film's proceedings are nevertheless torrid & heated. Though this movie is based on a play, Brooks really gives it an expansive, cinematic feel. Fantastic camerawork, the vast mansion & a stirring music score aids in that. Brimming with low-boil intensity & an atmospheric mood, 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' is quite the classic.
Also present is Brick's mother, 'Big Momma', played by the great Dame Judith Anderson; so good in 1940's Rebecca. The story unfolds during one pivotal evening in which this gathering is really a goodbye, of sorts. As it turns out, Big Daddy is dying of cancer ... but he doesn't know it yet. Everyone else, except for Big Momma, knows this information. And so, this macabre news & other juicy revelations occur over the course of a mere few hours. Through it all, sexy Maggie the Cat taunts her sulky, alcoholic husband; plotting to re-arouse him. Just why ISN'T he turned on by his voluptuous wife, after all? Family melodrama ensues.
Newman, Taylor & Ives are superb in this blistering 1958 movie version of Tennessee Williams' famous award-winning play. Newman is solid in the 1st half, but really shines in the 2nd as the husband & son trying to deal with his drinking, family demons and, perhaps, sexuality. His strained, childless marriage eats away at him. Old demons from old memories surface concerning his father. So his transition from repressed drunk, to a wounded shell of a man, to clear-minded sobriety & appreciation is something to see. Liz Taylor's Maggie is so much at once: lustful, fiery, neglected, sympathetic, strong-willed, & madly in love with her husband. She dominates every scene she's in {"I'm not living with you. We're occupying the same cage, that's all!"}.
The script can also be funny. i.e., Bricks refers to Maggie's "claws". And Maggie refers to Gooper's kids as "the little no-neck monsters". The scope of the plot is fairly small here, actually. Sure, the dialogue crackles & the acting is intense, by all. Themes of dealing with one's mortality, or one's regrets, or coming to terms with one's past & future ... all in there. But plot happenstance is low, actually. The script is more about tone & mood for what transpires through conversation during this one evening. There is a lot less to the plot than meets the eye. The psychological & emotional dealings make up the plot.
Richard Brooks had to be careful not to be overt with Brick's homosexuality because the censors of the time wouldn't allow it. Probably the best aspect of his script IS it indicating that 'that is what's going on' without ever directly saying it. I mean, Maggie trying desperately to lure Brick away from his obsession with his deceased 'best friend' kinda makes it clear, anyway. Despite the homosexuality being hushed, the film's proceedings are nevertheless torrid & heated. Though this movie is based on a play, Brooks really gives it an expansive, cinematic feel. Fantastic camerawork, the vast mansion & a stirring music score aids in that. Brimming with low-boil intensity & an atmospheric mood, 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' is quite the classic.