Cat on a Hot Tin Roof movie review
Disclaimer: All pictures and videos used in this are legal under the terms of the fair use agreement of 1976.
Hello good readers, it’s time for the first of the retro movie reviews. This one will expand the movie reviews into the realm of gritty drama. This review will focus on the movie Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. This is the theatrical version of the Pulitzer Prize play by Tennessee Williams. And hoo boy gritty is one way to describe this story.
Now for a little background information. The play by Tennessee Williams debuted in 1955 where it won critical and audience acclaim. The movie version debuted in 1958. The movie starred legendary actress Elizabeth Taylor as Maggie “The Cat” Politt. Legendary actor Paul Newman starred as Brick Politt.
Of note Burl Ives starred as Harvey “Big Daddy” Politt, the head of the family. The same Burl Ives who gave us many great songs including many Christmas classics. People who are good at two trades are always better. So, actors who can also sing are a welcome thing. And in this movie Ives is the topper in a great cast of characters.
But enough about that, on with the movie review.
Late one night at a local High School Brick Politt sets up some hurdles. He is very drunk and attempting to recapture his High School glory days as an athlete. Running hurdles that late at night on a High School field while inebriated. Yeah, this is a sure-fire recipe for disaster! And surprise-surprise he ends up tripping on the last hurdle and breaking an ankle.
The result leaves him dependent on a crutch for support. And that’s what’s called consequences for pulling foolish actions.
The next day starts out at the Politt plantation in the Mississippi Delta. Brick and his wife are at said location to help celebrate Big Daddy’s 65th birthday. The place is a cacophony of goings on. The servants are busy taking care of the place. Several family members have gathered there also.
They include people like Gooper Politt, played by Jack Carson. With him is his wife Mae Politt, also known as Sister Woman. She got played by actress Madeline Sherwood. Of note Sherwood played this very same role in the Tennessee Williams play. So, she revises her own role for the film.
So, in this case the character is in good hands.
With Gooper and Mae are their five children and Mae has a sixth on the way. The kids are quite the bunch of mischief makers. One of them gets into the ice cream and starts eating it with her hands. That’s so many levels of unsanitary.
When Maggie demands that the girl stop, she hurls ice cream on to Maggie’s stocking. Wow, what a nasty little brat! Where is the discipline in this family? Maggie for one is not happy.
She goes to the rooms where she and Brick are staying. There she changes into some new stockings. But it's clear that Maggie and Brick’s marriage is in a whole world of trouble! Brick has quit his job as a sports caster and has taken to the bottle. All Maggie is asking for is some love and a child of their own.
Although she can be a bit demanding and at times petty. But to be fair Brick has become a very mean drunk. Even to the point of almost hitting Maggie with the crutch.
Give Tennessee Williams credit. The characters he created were very gritty and very real. No wonder he was such a great playwright.
There’s been a whole bunch of gossip in the family about why Maggie is childless. Most of the gossip is coming from Gooper and his wife. There’s also been speculation about Big Daddy’s health. And with it comes people puzzling over the inheritance of the place. Family drama is always a ray of warmth and sunshine.
Gooper, Mae, their children and Maggie head out to a local airport. Big Daddy, played by Burl Ives, and his wife Ida “Big Mama” Politt arrive home on a private plane. Big Daddy's disgusted by the rehearsed welcome committee from Mae and his grandchildren. He does go to Maggie and lets her drive him home. Ida meanwhile explains the doctors have said there’s nothing wrong with Big Daddy so all is well.
Let’s see going to a hospital for possible health issues and everything seems fine. Yeah, that seems more than a little too convenient. Well, the truth comes out once everyone arrives home. Dr. Baugh Big Daddy’s physician explains things first to Gooper then to Brick. It turns up Big Daddy has an inoperable form of colon cancer.
By The Doctor's estimate Big Daddy will die in one year’s time. This truth is being kept from Big Daddy himself and from the women of the family. Dr. Baugh’s reasoning is “professional ethics.”
Talk about a case of cruelty disguised as kindness!
Maggie tries to talk to Brick. She wants him to take an interest in his father for both selfish and unselfish reasons. But Brick refuses to do so for unnamed reasons. It would be easy to think that stubborn pride is the cause…well it is, and it isn’t.
As the party winds down Big Daddy and Brick start to have a long talk. Big Daddy thinks he has a new lease on life. So, he's determined to end the hypocrisy and backstabbing going on in the household. Very noble goals if under rather dubious circumstances. But things are about to get very ugly between father and son.
Big Daddy pokes at his son in their talk. He wants to find out the real reason why brick’s best friend Skipper killed himself years ago. Maggie gets called into the room where the men are having their conversation. Maggie relates how she went to Skipper to try and dissolve the partnership between Brick and him. The reason being she was jealous of the men's bond.
The problem was when she arrived at Skipper’s hotel room, he was drunk. Also, she had an attack of conscience. She realized having an affair with him would’ve caused her to lose Brick. And despite everything Maggie still loves her husband. Well, this situation got a whole lot more complex.
After she left Skipper claimed he and Maggie had had an affair. But afterward he tried to call up Brick who was in the hospital with an injury. The short of it was…Skipper was not the great athlete Brick thought him to be. In football he completely failed. Basic fact of football a quarterback is only as good as the defensive and offensive line he has.
So, Brick drinks because he blames himself for not being there to help Skipper in his time of need. Things get super ugly as Brick flees the house Big Daddy close on his heels. Big Daddy makes a point about how Brick is pretty much acting like an adult child. And he needs to grow up and learn there’s more to life than football. Real men work for more than two hours a week.
In the heat of the argument between father and son Brick let’s slip that Big Daddy is dying of colon cancer. That stops their talk dead cold. Oops it was only a matter of time before that slipped out.
After that Big Daddy flees to the cellar. Meanwhile things start to fall apart for the Politt family. Can Big Mama get things back together? Can Maggie and Brick even reconcile? And what will Big Daddy do with the information given to him?
More important will Brick and Big Daddy be able to make peace before it's too late.
Now as stated this movie debuted back in 1958. Back in a time long before CGI and grandiose special effects. In a time when actors had to know how to act, and movie making was as much an art as a way of making money. Back when there were people who had a genuine love of the craft.
Elizabeth Taylor in this movie shows why she'll always be a legendary actress. Her portrayal of Maggie “The Cat” Polit was genuine and believable. Paul Newman shows off his own skills as a leading man. He conveys a depth of emotions as the tormented former football hero. And Burl Ives demonstrates why so many see the greatness in him.
And Madeline Sherwood is great as the scheming passive/aggressive Mae Politt. She makes herself out to be a good mother, yet in her lines the audience can see the underlying agenda she has.
On the whole Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is an excellent movie. It's a shining example of what happens when a good play gets translated into a new media form. All while capturing the spirit of the original work.
There was only one complaint I had throughout the film. There could've been a flashback to show how things went between Maggie and Skipper. Show don't tell that kind of thing. But that’s only a minor issue. On the whole Cat on a Hot Tin Roof gets a solid 9 out of 10 stars.
So, the movie gets a solid B plus. I recommend this movie to any true fan of good drama or any fan of Tennessee Williams’ work. Check it out on DVD, Blu-Ray, 4K, or on streaming.
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