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Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman give a tremendous amount of emotional heft, sexual heat and acting pyrotechnics to Tennessee Williams’ play about family strife, emotional turmoil and possible homosexuality. It doesn’t quite open up the play and allow for the film to show as deep psychological insight as A Streetcar Named Desire, still the best stage-to-screen adaptation, but it does a great job of translating the material.
Cat On a Hot Tin Roof tells the story of Brick Pollard, a man trapped by past glories, memories and his own complicated sexuality, his wife Maggie, a devoted wife who’s overheated sexuality causes some of the tension in the family at large. They have returned to his familial home for Big Daddy’s birthday, played to roaring and commanding perfection by Burl Ives, who is slowly succumbing to cancer. Brick’s brother is after the family fortune, but Big Daddy favors the troubled Brick and Maggie. The film only rarely leaves the house, and those are all in the opening sequences. We are treated to a claustrophobic Southern Gothic drama. It sounds stuffy and stage-y, but it’s a treat to watch thanks to the committed performances.
This was Paul Newman’s big break. He had made films before, but this role and his performance allowed him to transcend pretty boy roles. His talent as an actor was to always appear effortless. He never seemed to be doing the heavy lifting. Newman always seemed to actually be these characters, and he excelled at playing drunks without resorting to clichés and silly mugging.
Much has been made of the toned down possible homosexuality in his character, but to me that element is obviously there. There is an extended sequence late in the film where Newman and Ives have a discussion about Brick’s hero worship for his dead best friend. Much is said, but much more is said in what is skirted around and never directly addressed. Yes, it is toned down, but that works to the film’s benefit. Family members often speak in coded language to one another about large issues that are plaguing the unit. And it truly doesn't take much work to unpack the guarded language and word choices to grasp at what's not being spoken of directly.
And what can be said of Elizabeth Taylor that hasn’t already been stated a million times before? She was a great beauty, possessed with violet eyes that flirted with darkness around the edges and such fair skin and black hair that she almost looked like Snow White come to life. But she was also a fantastic actress. Her emotional connection to this part speaks volumes about why her legend continues to endure. And she deservedly got an Academy Award nomination. As did Newman, his first and Taylor’s second.
Cat On a Hot Tin Roof is not a perfect film, it never quite overcomes the stage-bound origins of the material, but it features two of the greatest screen legends giving some career highlight performances. There is much to discover, discuss and be moved by. This is a rewarding film that only deepens the more you watch it. It’s one of my favorites.
