Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)

"I've got the guts to die. What I want to know is, have you got the guts to live?" Big Daddy

All the bad jokes about southern guys dating their sisters will come echoing back to mind if you watch Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Playwright Tennessee Williams wrote about all the falsity, lies, and hypocrisy that southern culture is based upon; of course all culture is founded on the same phony stuff only different versions, but at core "culture," as Henry Ford might say "is bunk." Truly lies are the foundation of society, and the main theme of the movie is lies, or "mendacity" as Paul Newman’s character "Brick" puts it. The truth is, everybody lies to each other about everything and that's what makes society work. But Newman somehow can't quite grasp that he is as big a liar as anybody in the production.

Tennessee Williams, a tormented homosexual, had a troubled family history and was writing autobiography with his characterizations. The underlying point of Cat was "Brick's" homosexuality and this was cut from the screenplay to get it past the censors. So, with the guts of the story excised, what is left? A lot of talking and a lot of yelling -

The story concerns an extended family with "Big Daddy" (Burl Ives) as the rich patriarch, with his wife "Big Mama" and their two sons, "Brick" (Paul Newman) and "Goober" (Jack Carson) with their families. The two families are basically waiting for Big Daddy to kick the bucket, especially Goober's who has a passel of ugly kids led by the "no-necked wife" (Madeleine Sherwood) in a continual song-and-dance performance during the movie - really irritating stuff and very evocative of sickening family relations. How about those given names? Brick, Goober, Bubba?

The story of homosexuality is subsumed inside a fiction about football and loss of ability to play driving "Brick" (Paul Newman) to become a sullen drunkard who flares into anger whenever his flame "Skipper" – a suicide - is mentioned. Skipper was a guy who "played football" with Brick, a euphemism here for homosexual relations. Newman also rebuffs his wife Maggie's (Elizabeth Taylor) advances. That's hard to believe taking into account the succulent morsel that she is. Many insults are directed at Maggie because she has no children compared to Goober's five obnoxious kids – of course not, Brick is gay, but this is never said. I guess you can probably best eke out the homosexual subtext by realizing it's not there; about the only stone that is left unturned in the various conversations.

The story is basically shot; what I enjoyed was Burl Ives' performance. Ives has great screen presence and makes the most of every minute of screen time as the terminally ill "Big Daddy," looking for an heir. Paul Newman is continually shown drinking but never becomes tipsy. He is at his youthful best looking, but was more convincing a heel in Hud. Elizabeth Taylor, a great beauty whose rose had not yet faded, was passable in her portrayal here, but there was not much more to her than her looks. The story has a certain poignancy in that Ives loves the flawed Brick more than the subservient Goober, which gives the story a biblical fatalism. The movie tacks on a false happy ending that belies the underlying structure that is so carefully built up during the first two acts. Newman's character does a complete 180 degree turn; yeah, right. I can understand why Tennessee Williams repudiated the movie.

The Warner Bros DVD is in color and runs 108 minutes. There is a full length commentary by a film historian and a documentary on Tennessee Williams included as extras.

Better plays have been filmed but I can understand why some people like this because Newman and Taylor are good looking.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV