Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

8/29/19581h 48m

Theatrical Release (US)

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

Overview:

An alcoholic ex-football player drinks his days away, having failed to come to terms with his sexuality and his real feelings for his football buddy who died after an ambiguous accident. His wife is crucified by her desperation to make him desire her: but he resists the affections of his wife. His reunion with his father—who is dying of cancer—jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.

Director:

Richard Brooks

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$3,000,000.00

Revenue:

$17,570,324.00

Key words:

dying and death
depression
individual
suicide
jealousy
husband wife relationship
southern usa
mississippi river
plantation
patriarch
based on play or musical
inheritance
sibling rivalry
brother against brother
cynical
alcoholic
dying father
family conflict
angry
father son conflict
southern gothic
anxious
daughter–in–law father–in–law relationship
star athlete
cotton plantation
mississippi
authoritarian
condescending

Cast

Paul Newman

~ as ~

Brick

Elizabeth Taylor

~ as ~

Maggie

Burl Ives

~ as ~

Harvey 'Big Daddy' Pollitt

Judith Anderson

~ as ~

Big Momma

Jack Carson

~ as ~

Gooper

Madeleine Sherwood

~ as ~

Mae

Vaughn Taylor

~ as ~

Deacon Davis

Larry Gates

~ as ~

Dr. Baugh

Brian Corcoran

~ as ~

Boy

Zelda Cleaver

~ as ~

Servant

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 1 year(s) ago
7
Yikes, but there's a lot of smouldering going on here... "Brick" (Paul Newman) is the former all-American boy type who has got himself injured and is married to "Maggie" (Elizabeth Taylor) with whom he has a pretty turbulent relationship based on mistrust. He is the son of the wealthy and tyrannical "Big Daddy" (Burl Ives) who is in turn married to the rather sheepish "Ida" (Judith Anderson) and the brother to the ostensibly insipid lawyer "Gooper" (Jack Carson) who is married to the rather selfish "Mae" (Madeleine Sherwood). So far, nobody much likes or trusts anyone, there's not enough love around this big mansion house to fill a teaspoon and with the old man starting to show signs of ailing, the vultures are beginning to gather to divide his huge house, 28,000 acres and $10 millions in the bank. What now ensues sees a strong performance from Newman, usually never far from a glass or a bottle, and some pretty intense scenes between himself and a very much on-form Taylor who manages to reconcile her character's formidable abilities at attack being the best form of self-defence with some wonderfully pithy and aggressive put-downs (all from the acerbic pen of Tennessee Williams). For me, though, it's the last twenty minutes and Ives who makes this toxic tale of the epitome of the dysfunctional family succeed, coupled with some claustrophobia-generating storm effects outside their home, and creating an environment so thick you could cut it with a knife. There is chemistry all over the place, here, and by mid-way through you are uncertain as to who is pulling whose strings as the avarice starts to rival the jealousy and the frustration for top billing amongst this bunch of frankly rather odious and shallow individuals. Did lack of love make them this way or was it always a fait accompli when surrounded by fabulous wealth and a bully for a father? It's a tensely directed look at what makes some of us tick and at just how easily drink, gossip, rumour-mongering and downright lies can derail even the most visceral of relationships. An ensemble cast deliver a powerful story compellingly, her and it's well worth a watch.