Taglines: Just one pillow on her bed… and just one desire in her heart!
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof movie storyline. The family of “Big Daddy” Pollitt (Burl Ives) convenes at his and Big Momma’s (Dame Judith Anderson’s). Among the attendees is alcoholic son, Brick (Paul Newman); an ex-football player, who spends his time drinking and avoiding the ministries of his libidinous wife, Maggie (Dame Elizabeth Taylor) – “the cat”. As this gathering isn’t so much as a gathering but a farewell (Big Daddy is terminally ill) a lot of memories and revelations which had been hidden come to the surface of both father and son.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a 1958 American drama film directed by Richard Brooks. It is based on the 1955 Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name by Tennessee Williams and adapted by Richard Brooks and James Poe. The film stars Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives, Judith Anderson, Jack Carson and Madeline Sherwood. Well-received by both critics and audiences, Cat on Hot Tin Roof was MGM’s most successful release of 1958, and became the third highest-grossing film of that year.
The original stage production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opened on Broadway March 24, 1955, with Ives and Sherwood in the roles they subsequently played in the movie. Ben Gazzara played Brick in the stage production and rejected the film role . Athlete turned film star Floyd Simmons also tested for the role. Lana Turner and Grace Kelly were both considered for the part of Maggie before the role went to Taylor.
Production began on March 12, 1958, and by March 19, Taylor had contracted a virus which kept her off the shoot. On March 21, she canceled plans to fly with her husband Mike Todd to New York, where he was to be honored the following day by the New York Friars’ Club. The plane crashed, and all passengers, including Todd, were killed. Beset with grief, Taylor remained off the film until April 14, 1958, at which time she returned to the set in a much thinner and weaker condition.
The music score, “Love Theme from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” was composed by Charles Wolcott in 1958. He was an accomplished music composer, having worked for Paul Whiteman, Benny Goodman, Rudy Vallee and George Burns and Gracie Allen. From 1937 to 1944, he worked at Walt Disney Studios. In 1950, he transferred to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Studios where he became the general music director and composed the theme for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. The remaining songs on the soundtrack are composed by a variety of artists such as Andre Previn, Daniel Decatur Emmett and Ludwig van Beethoven.
About the Story
In the opening scene, Brick Pollitt (Paul Newman), a former high school football star, spends a drunken night jumping hurdles on a school athletic field at Eastern Mississippi High School in a tragic attempt to recapture his glory days. He falls and breaks his right ankle.
Some days later, Brick and his older brother, Gooper (Jack Carson), visit the family cotton plantation in eastern Mississippi to celebrate their father’s 65th birthday on a hot and humid August day. The family rumor is that the wealthy patriarch “Big Daddy” Pollitt (Burl Ives) may have developed colon cancer and would be forced to quickly settle his will, leaving his money and land to one of his two sons before he dies.
Gooper and his shrew wife Mae (Madeleine Sherwood) have gone to great lengths to stay in Big Daddy’s good favor. Gooper has lived his entire life in accordance with his father’s casual instructions, and he and Mae have a “dynasty” of five children to carry on the Pollitt name. Brick’s wife Maggie (Elizabeth Taylor) is clever and outspoken, and holds no small amount of contempt for Gooper and Mae’s entitled attitudes and five spoiled and obnoxious offspring (which Maggie frequently refers to as “no-neck monsters”) who run around the house unsupervised.
Brick, recovering from his leg injury on crutches, spends all his time in his bedroom, drinking heavily and argues with Maggie about the dismal state of their marriage. Maggie still adores Brick, though she is troubled by his self-destructive behavior, and Brick is angry and sullen towards Maggie because of a yet unspecified incident involving his recently-deceased friend. Adding to the pressure is Gooper’s and Mae’s constant criticism of Brick and Maggie due to Brick’s alcoholism and the fact that they are childless.
Big Daddy and his wife Ida (Judith Anderson) arrive home on their private airplane from the Mayo Clinic where Big Daddy received the news that he is not dying of cancer after all. They are greeted at the airport by Gooper, Mae, and their brood of kids, but Big Daddy ignores them and is driven home by Maggie. Big Daddy is openly dismissive of Gooper’s and Mae’s sycophantic attitudes, knowing that they fawn over him in an attempt to secure his money and plantation for themselves. Upon arrival back at the Pollitt plantation, Brick refuses to greet his father or come down for the party, and remains in his room, drinking.
While the birthday celebration begins, Maggie runs upstairs to tell Brick of Big Daddy’s positive test results and entreats him to make an appearance at the party. Brick refuses and continues drinking. Disappointed, Maggie declares that she cannot live without Brick, but when she embraces him, he flees, locking himself in the bathroom. Moments later, Ida bursts in to the bedroom looking for Brick and demands to know if he is still drinking.
She then remarks that Maggie’s continued childlessness and Brick’s alcoholism are indicative of a failed marriage. Dr. Baugh (Larry Gates) then intervenes, asking to examine Brick’s ankle. Once alone with Brick, Dr. Baugh confides that he has lied about Big Daddy’s condition, which is fatal. The doctor admits he privately told Gooper the truth during the drive from the airport, but decided to spare Big Daddy and Ida to let them enjoy the party. In reality, Big Daddy has terminal colon cancer and will be dead within a few months. The brothers initially keep the information to themselves, but Brick soon tells Maggie, who is deeply saddened.
As the evening wears on, the party wines down as it begins to rain, forcing the few guests and family inside. As the last of the guests depart, Big Daddy soon grows annoyed with the party and his fickle family and ventures upstairs to speak with Brick, his favorite son. He chastises him for his excessive drinking, and for his cold treatment of Maggie. Brick grows defensive and even violent when Big Daddy brings up the subject of Skipper, Brick’s old football buddy who had jumped from a fifth-floor hotel window to his death a few years before.
Realizing that there is more to the story, Big Daddy brings Maggie into the conversation. She explains that she hated Brick’s pro-football career because he always put it before her, and that she hated Skipper for distracting Brick from his marriage. (Note: there is subtle suggestion here that Brick and Skipper had been romantically involved.) Maggie describes a drunken episode between herself and Skipper in which she considered seducing him simply to spite her husband, but reconsidered at the last minute.
Brick then explains that Skipper had telephoned him, seeming to think that he and Maggie had actually made love (though he had been too drunk to remember clearly). Skipper tearfully tried to apologize to his best friend, but Brick angrily hung up on him. Skipper killed himself soon after, and Brick blamed Maggie for the tragedy. Brick angrily leaves the house as the thunderstorm rages.
Big Daddy follows him out into the rain and tries to prevent his drunken son from getting into the car and driving home, but Brick angrily reveals to his father that the doctor had lied… that his illness is terminal. A shocked Big Daddy goes inside the house and down to the basement to be alone, while Brick, emotionally exhausted, is escorted back inside by Maggie.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
Directed by: Richard Brooks
Starring: Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives, Jack Carson, Judith Anderson, Madeleine Sherwood, Larry Gates, Vaughn Taylor, Patty Ann Gerrity, Zelda Cleaver, Hugh Corcoran
Screenplay by: Richard Brooks, James Poe
Cinematography by: William H. Daniels
Film Editing by: Ferris Webster
Costume Design by:
Set Decoration by: Henry Grace, Robert Priestley
Art Direction by: William A. Horning, Urie McCleary
Music by: Charles Wolcott
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release Date: August 27, 1958 (United States)
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