Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Dir: Richard Brooks
1958
***

Tennessee Williams plays are not to be messed with, you either get them right or you get them wrong, with Richard Brooks’ 1958 adaption of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof being the only exception, as it is both good and not so good. The direction is fine and the performances by Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman are legendary, and I think Burl Ives is the best Big Daddy to date, but the source material had been tampered with. Indeed, Tennessee Williams so disliked Brooks’ adaptation that he told people queuing outside theatres in its first week "This movie will set the industry back 50 years. Go home!". It was originally to be filmed in black and white, as was the standard practice with artistic films in the 1950s. Virtually all film adaptations of the plays of Tennessee Williams had been in black and white up to that time but once Newman and Taylor were cast in the lead roles, director Brooks insisted on shooting in color, in deference to the public's well known enthusiasm for Taylor's violet and Newman's strikingly blue eyes. I understand his decision, but black and white could have been glorious, as it is the direction is adequate and the performances are magic but it has nothing to do with eye colour. The story begins late one night when a drunken Brick Pollitt (Newman) is out trying to recapture his glory days of high school sports by leaping hurdles on a track field, dreaming about his moments as a youthful athlete. Drunk, he falls and breaks his leg, leaving him dependent on a crutch. Brick, along with his wife, Maggie "the Cat" (Taylor), are seen the next day visiting his family's estate in eastern Mississippi, there to celebrate Big Daddy's (Burl Ives) 65th birthday. Depressed, Brick has spent the last few years drinking, while resisting the affections of his wife, who taunts him about the inheritance of Big Daddy's wealth. This has resulted in an obviously tempestuous marriage - there are speculations as to why Maggie does not yet have a child while Brick's brother Gooper (Jack Carson) and his wife Mae (Madeleine Sherwood) have a whole pack of children – but no great detail is given. Big Daddy and Big Mama (Judith Anderson) arrive home from the hospital via their private airplane and are greeted by their family, minus Brick. Despite the efforts of Mae, Gooper and their kids to draw his attention to them, Big Daddy has eyes only for Maggie. The news is that Big Daddy is not dying from cancer as they had first expected. However, the doctor later meets privately with first Gooper and then Brick where he divulges that it is a deception. Big Daddy has inoperable cancer and will likely be dead within a year, and the truth is being kept from him. Brick later confides in Maggie with the truth about Big Daddy's health, and she is heartbroken. Maggie wants Brick to take an interest in his father for both selfish and unselfish reasons, but Brick stubbornly refuses. As the party winds down for the night, Big Daddy meets with Brick in his room and reveals that he is fed up with his alcoholic son's behavior, demanding to know why he is so stubborn. At one point Maggie joins them and reveals what happened a few years ago on the night Brick's best friend and football teammate Skipper committed suicide. Maggie was jealous of Skipper because he had more of Brick's time, and says that Skip was lost without Brick at his side. She decided to ruin their relationship "by any means necessary", intending to seduce Skipper and put the lie to his loyalty to her husband. However, Maggie ran away without completing the plan. Brick had blamed Maggie for Skipper's death, but actually blames himself for not helping Skipper when he repeatedly phoned Brick in a hysterical state. After an argument, Brick lets it slip that Big Daddy will die from cancer and that this birthday will be his last. Shaken, Big Daddy retreats to the basement. Meanwhile, Gooper, who is a lawyer, and his wife argue with Big Mama about the family's cotton business and Big Daddy's will. Brick descends into the basement, a labyrinth of antiques and family possessions hidden away. He and Big Daddy confront each other in the film’s pinicle scene that is far from anything Tennessee Williams would ever write. Meanwhile the rest of the family begins to crumble under pressure, with Big Mama stepping up as a strong figure. Maggie says that she'd like to give Big Daddy her birthday present: the announcement of her being pregnant. After the jealous Mae calls Maggie a liar, Big Daddy and Brick defend her, even though Brick knows the statement is untrue and Big Daddy thinks the statement may be untrue. Even Gooper finds himself admitting, "That girl's got life in her, alright." Maggie and Brick reconcile, and the two kiss, with the implication that they will possibly make Maggie's "lie" become "truth". While the original is a passionate drama, it was never as melodramatic as this. However, my problem with the film is the same as Williams’. He was reportedly unhappy with the screenplay, which removed almost all of the homosexual themes and revised the third act section to include a lengthy scene of reconciliation between Brick and Big Daddy. Paul Newman, the film's star, had also stated his disappointment with the adaptation. The Hays Code limited Brick's portrayal of sexual desire for Skipper, and diminished the original play's critique of homophobia and sexism. It is an integral part of the play and the change undermines everything that was special about it. In truth I didn’t hate the extended reconciliation scene between Brick and Big Daddy and it is impossible not to love both Newman and Taylor’s performances but as much as I like it, it isn’t quite right. Marilyn Monroe actually  sought the role of Maggie the Cat and Elvis Presley was approached to play the role of Brick. As much as I loved the two leads, I do wonder what the Monroe/Presley version would have looked like and am a little sad that it doesn’t exist.