Year of Release: 1958Country of Origin: USA
Director: Richard Brooks
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives, Jack Carson
Plot outline: A Southern house is divided by patriarchal dominance and the marital problems between one of the sons, a heavy drinker, and his wife (IMDb).
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was originally a successful play by Tennessee Williams, who had earlier created a sensation with A Streetcar Named Desire. For the movie adaptation, some changes had to be made to get past Hollywood censors, and to prevent Paul Newman from playing a character with homosexual overtones. Williams' exaggerated characters and situations create a tumultuous soap opera plot involving latent homosexuality, suicide, terminal illness, gold-digging, and alcoholism. The movie is hard to watch yet hard to turn away from. The story provides the frame for a script loaded with impassioned speeches and vicious arguments; the final outcome amazingly creating a happy ending with Newman's personal demons apparently cured. While never boring, the intense drama is sometimes overblown. Newman constantly drinks but, except for the opening scene, is never drunk. It is also difficult to believe Taylor's faith in her embittered husband, and that she would repeatedly throw her gorgeous self at him despite his rejection. (BK)
My judgement: *** out of 4 stars
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