Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)

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.

Director:

Richard Brooks

Writers:

Richard Brooks (screenplay), James Poe (screenplay),

Stars:

Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives

Nominated for 6 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Elizabeth Taylor	...	Maggie Pollitt
Paul Newman	...	Brick Pollitt
Burl Ives	...	Big Daddy Pollitt
Jack Carson	...	Gooper Pollitt
Judith Anderson	...	Big Momma Pollitt
Madeleine Sherwood	...	Mae Pollitt
Larry Gates	...	Dr. Baugh
Vaughn Taylor	...	Deacon Davis

Storyline

The fifth Tennessee Williams play to reach the screen, wealthy Mississippi plantation owner Big Daddy Pollitt, unaware that he's dying of cancer and disturbed by the strained and childless marriage of his favored alcoholic son Brick and his other son, Gooper, whose wife is about to bring forth another in the endless line of little "no-neck monsters," celebrates his sixty-fifth birthday with his family. Brick's wife, Maggie, beautiful and desirable, tries unsuccessfully to coax her husband away from the bottle, while alternately enticing him and taunting him about his obsession with his deceased best friend and the guilt about their relationship. The seamy tensions reach a climax when the truth of Big Daddy's health is revealed, and he and Brick manage to resolve their differences.

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Plot Keywords:

cancer | alcoholic | birthday | marriage | mississippi | 

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Taglines:

All the sultry drama of Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize winning Play is now on the screen!

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 September 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die Katze auf dem heißen Blechdach

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Avon Productions (II)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Perspecta Sound) (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The references to homosexuality in the original play were removed from the screenplay to comply with the Hollywood Production Code.

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Goofs

When Brick lies on the couch and Maggie is at the mirror, he takes a drink and says that he is not conscious of looking at Maggie. She turns round and his drink is gone.

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Quotes

Brick Pollitt: I'm ashamed, Big Daddy. That's why I'm a drunk. When I'm drunk, I can stand myself.
Harvey 'Big Daddy' Pollitt: But it's always there in the mornin', ain't it? The truth and it's here right now!
[They run outside into the rain]
Harvey 'Big Daddy' Pollitt: You're just feeling sorry for yourself; that's all it is! Self-pity!
[Inside the carport]
Harvey 'Big Daddy' Pollitt: You didn't kill Skipper. He killed himself. You and Skipper and millions like you are living in a kids' world. Playing games, touchdowns, no worries, no responsibilities. Life ain't no damn football game. Life ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Strother Martin/The Specials (1980)

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Soundtracks

"For He's a Jolly Good Fellow"
(uncredited)
Traditional
Sung by the family

User Reviews

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.