Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Dean M

  
  This heavy classic drama is masterpiece! This is a relationship full of confusion, betrayal, honesty, dishonesty, love, desire, and trust. Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor are both brilliant as Brick and Maggie Pollitt, respectively. Not very often is there a screen couple that have… More
  This heavy classic drama is masterpiece! This is a relationship full of confusion, betrayal, honesty, dishonesty, love, desire, and trust. Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor are both brilliant as Brick and Maggie Pollitt, respectively. Not very often is there a screen couple that have the same chemistry together that they do. This is not to say the supporting cast isn't excellent. Burl Ives is superb in a supporting role as Big Daddy, a man who's greatest concern is having his legacy live on after him. The sequence with Ives and Newman in the basement of the house remains one of the most incredible displays of acting I have ever seen. I love the story, the acting, the magnificent script and the depth of the characters.

• Michael G

  
  The only reason I can speak about Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in anything other than stammering ums and drool puddles is because Elizabeth Taylor wasn't in every single scene. I know that hadn't looked even close to this good for over 40 years before her passing, but she has… More
  The only reason I can speak about Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in anything other than stammering ums and drool puddles is because Elizabeth Taylor wasn't in every single scene. I know that hadn't looked even close to this good for over 40 years before her passing, but she has rarely, if ever, looked better. Despite the obvious distractions, the entire cast was great and if it weren't for Ms. Taylor slinking around in that white dress, Burl Ives in all of his cantankerous magnificence and loathing for his grandkids would've stole the show. Despite this incredibly altered version of the story and Tennessee Williams' disdain for it, I like this version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Because Maggie the cat certainly didn't hurt...

• Conner R

  
  Another one of my favorite Tennessee William's adaptions, it's perhaps one of his most light-hearted scripts. Yet, it still carries the depth and passion of any of his other works. The acting is phenomenal, Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor work perfectly together and make… More
  Another one of my favorite Tennessee William's adaptions, it's perhaps one of his most light-hearted scripts. Yet, it still carries the depth and passion of any of his other works. The acting is phenomenal, Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor work perfectly together and make for a great couple. I love that the story is essentially about what love is, yet in no way is it done in a romantic style. The sets are beautiful and the direction is great, you couldn't ask for a better looking movie.

• First L

  
  A brilliantly written screenplay (based on the play by Tennessee Williams) is brought to life by its stars. The family of a dying southern millionaire (Burl Ives) plot and scheme to see who can get his money. The older brother, "Gooper" (Jack Carson) seems to have the… More
  A brilliantly written screenplay (based on the play by Tennessee Williams) is brought to life by its stars. The family of a dying southern millionaire (Burl Ives) plot and scheme to see who can get his money. The older brother, "Gooper" (Jack Carson) seems to have the inside track, he does everything right, he lives where "big daddy" wants him to live, he gets the job Big Daddy tells him to get, and he has kids like Big Daddy wants him to. And yet, it's the younger brother "Brick" (Paul Newman), the washed up football star-turned alcoholic who's the favorite. As the movie begins, we find Brick absolutely loathing his wife (Elizabeth Taylor). At first it's suggested it's because she's just as greedy as the rest of his family, but soon we learn there's more to it. Everyone in the family is crippled inside. In reality, it's not Big Daddy's money they want, it's his love (well maybe Sisterwoman wants the money). We too, get sucked inside this world of petty bickering and sycophantism, and forget the man who's dying, that is, until Brick finally breaks down and confronts him. What results is a scene of terrible poignancy as the dying man recalls memories of his own father dying, as he sits in his basement surrounded by tons of expensive things that were bought and stored away, never to be opened again. A movie that peels back the layers of cynicism and gets to the heart of people's humanity.

• Wahida K

  
  I have seen this Movie couple of times. I love the Plot and the Perfomance of Paul Newman. It is one of the Guilty Joy which is even in my DVD collection.

• Veronique K

  
  "cat on a hot tin roof" would probably be the very picture in which paul newman and elizabeth taylor radiate the maxium of sex appeal despite their primitive physical allure has been shimmeringly evident in almost every picture they made separately within 1950s but "cat… More
  "cat on a hot tin roof" would probably be the very picture in which paul newman and elizabeth taylor radiate the maxium of sex appeal despite their primitive physical allure has been shimmeringly evident in almost every picture they made separately within 1950s but "cat on a hot tin roof" shall be the most powerful one. somehow i wonder how came tennese williams' plays catapulted into such enormous stardom in the 50s since those reputed scripts of his had been composed and put into broadway during 1940s, why 1950s had the appropriate atmosphere for the williams temperament to glow and shine brilliantly upon the silver screen? my personal assumption may have lots to do with the death of film noir as well as the newly arised and foundamentally revolutionized sort of manhood and gendering attributes. as i dissected previously upon the archetypes of tennse williams protagonists: weakening men in resistance of strong sexually loaded women who are ironically enslaved by their unsatiable desire toward distant unavailable men conflicted with impotence and homosexuality. so williams effortlessly forms a literary garden of homme fatales and women as the saps within the traps of elusive charm boys, opposite to the conventional world of film noir viewing woman as the central object of fatal attraction which men would die for. 1950s is the period for the phallic ladies like joan crawford, bette davis and barbara stanwyck started to fall out of favor as the dizzy blonde and chaste ingenuine female types began to reign, such as marilyn monroe and audrey hepburn when the whole society was enclosed with a wholesome aura demanded by maccarthyism...as for male types, the notion of man-boy occurs along with the sweeping phenomenon of junvenile leisure wears as james dean and marlon brando advocated..my point would be men had been made to demonstrate their side of frailty and also remain favorably charming like paul newman's character in "cat on a hot tin roof", and newman has won the public affection while his character with the play is a wimpish drunk inflicted with misogynistic sex frigidity and potential homosexual tedency, at most of the time, newman's whining and mourning while the voiluptuous elizabeth taylor literily begs him to shag her(pardon the usage of language without euphemism due to the effect i apply) and she doesn't mind he barely pulls the thing off at the drunken state. why wouldn't newman's machismo be doubted and defiled while his character is obviously a frightened loser? perhaps only paul newman could accomplish the task of redeeming such role into public empathy and sympathy by his good looks and his winsome charisma. some film critic or book writers would claim elizabeth taylor for bringing a new sort of female character who dares to speak out for her rights in her roles of "butterfield 8" and "cat on a hot tin roof", women with strength of life to survive. but one fact they neglec would be: wouldn't taylor's cinematic characters also be pushed around by men? would that be self-deragatory enough to have her role pleading for such petite wish to bed with a man who apparently contempts her? in the film noir cinema of 1940s, men are the saps who are at the sparing mercy of sinister dames whose crotches could dominate the world and high-hat the men with their feminine scents. (pardon the phrases, ha.) wouldn't elizabeth taylor's patronizing womanhood also be a sign of gendering conformity required by the time? why men are so afraid of women, and being warm and beautiful is not enough anymore and you have to apologize for being so to win the heart of men? at one scene of the movie, taylor is on the verge of cracking up in vulnerabilty, longing for newman's touch to console her, and she even says if you wouldn't make love to me again, i would use a long knife to stick into my heart...all he does is to hide in the restroom and cling by the door to smell his wife's silky pajamas instead of offering her a bit of compassion..the audience is able to buy into that because it's paul newman who is handsome enough to acquire your forgiveness come what may. as the movie poster demonstrates, the woman is leaning over the man desperately while the man glares without responce, so object of desire is the man. but taylor was so beautiful you forget the outrageous reversal of genders. paul newman's character also rebels against his intimidating father no less harsh than james dean, wouldn't that be a new sort of beatnik boyish manhood by defying your daddy and pushing away your beautiful wife like a misogynist who's got to prove he's not threatened or weakened by the feminine charm? elizabeh taylor is surely the most beautiful ever in "cat in the hot tin roof" but she ain't certainly no seductress. paul newman is.

• Alice S

  
  Paul Newman is awesome. He's awesome times awesome. He's awesome squared. The story is twisted and tortured, but I hear the original stage play is even more so.

• Tim S

  
  I do declare! At the beginning of this movie, I was rolling my eyes because of those Southern drawls that Newman and Elizabeth Taylor (sex personified at this age) had taken on. I even thought some of the back story was too convoluted. Then came Burl fucking Ives and I came to love… More
  I do declare! At the beginning of this movie, I was rolling my eyes because of those Southern drawls that Newman and Elizabeth Taylor (sex personified at this age) had taken on. I even thought some of the back story was too convoluted. Then came Burl fucking Ives and I came to love this movie. The relationship between him and Newman was great and Ives gives some great speeches towards the end. I will say that I do disagree with Newman's whiney turn towards the end of the movie. The whole boo-hoo I'm rich, but nobody loves me argument really gets on my nerves. But I liked at the end that even after all the shit that went down, they still came together as a family. Nice job by Richard Brooks, but with this cast and screenplay it's really paint by numbers.

• Jennifer X

  
  This film fairly pulsates with style. The reason I keep on coming back to these play adaptations despite frequent heavyhanded disappointments (see: Doubt) is because I know what they are capable of, if handled correctly. The material is all there: densely packed with emotion but sated… More
  This film fairly pulsates with style. The reason I keep on coming back to these play adaptations despite frequent heavyhanded disappointments (see: Doubt) is because I know what they are capable of, if handled correctly. The material is all there: densely packed with emotion but sated with quietude, beautiful people playing beautiful parts and believing in them too, the succulent taste of words words words. All it needs is a strong rope to string all the pieces together. Tennessee Williams has a tendency to read too dramatic and it takes cinema to soften up the dizzying emotions. The transitions between LOUDquietLOUD are flawless. Paul Newman and Liz Taylor are pure sex. I also appreciate the homosexual undertones. One of the best movies I have seen in a long, long time.

• Saskia D

  
  Drama for your mama! Issues, issues, issues. This is my first movie with Liz Taylor, and she looked all hot and perky! She didn't really impress me with her acting skills, but Newman didn't really impress me either. I missed the chemistry he had with Piper Laurie in The… More
  Drama for your mama! Issues, issues, issues. This is my first movie with Liz Taylor, and she looked all hot and perky! She didn't really impress me with her acting skills, but Newman didn't really impress me either. I missed the chemistry he had with Piper Laurie in The Hustler (still my favorite Newman film). I'm glad I finally watched it, and although I wasn't really impressed, I enjoyed it very much. Newman is of course as handsome as ever! <div style="width:462px;"><a href="http://www.flixster.com/actor/elizabeth-taylor/photos?p=9449546"><img src="http://content8.flixster.com/photo/94/49/54/9449546_gal.jpg" border="0"/></a><div style="text-align:center;font-size:10px;"><a href="http://www.flixster.com">

• danny d

  
  although this still suffered from some of the same pretentious crap that all other films based on plays by tennessee williams suffer from, this film had some amazing things going for it. paul newman and liz taylor were both very good, burl ives is classic as always, and the end of… More
  although this still suffered from some of the same pretentious crap that all other films based on plays by tennessee williams suffer from, this film had some amazing things going for it. paul newman and liz taylor were both very good, burl ives is classic as always, and the end of the film was pure magic. the film had actually almost lost me a few times, but the end could not have been better.

• Mason W

  
  Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with one of my all time favs Liz Taylor is a very good film...one of her best. Paul Newman is perfect as the leading man in this drama. A couple that is seeminly bad for one another deal with family and other assorted drama in the 50's.

• Shauna R

  
  Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is an exceptional film with emotionally intense performances from Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor, who's chemistry is electric. Based on the Tennessee Williams play about a family gathering at the Pollitt household that creates a whirlwind of… More
  Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is an exceptional film with emotionally intense performances from Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor, who's chemistry is electric. Based on the Tennessee Williams play about a family gathering at the Pollitt household that creates a whirlwind of uncontrollable tensions and confrontations. A main theme of the film is the subject of mendacity which is powerfully illustrated. This is one exciting film with intelligent dialogue and a dramatic atmosphere. Two reasons to watch this - tremendous acting and a brilliant script. Do not miss out on this.

• Matthew R

  
  "There ain't nothin' more powerful than the odor of mendacity"! Melodrama is probably my favorite genre of film. Don't ask me why but when I'm watching a dramatic or theatrical circumstance unfold through my very eyes; I experience a thrill of… More
  "There ain't nothin' more powerful than the odor of mendacity"! Melodrama is probably my favorite genre of film. Don't ask me why but when I'm watching a dramatic or theatrical circumstance unfold through my very eyes; I experience a thrill of ecstasy coursing throughout my veins, roused and ready, I feel like I'm about to explode. With that vivid vision in your mind; the one million dollar question is why exactly did I not relish Richard Brook's take of the exceedingly dramatic, mendacitic, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"? Well, nobody particularly seemed quite at his or her best here; not the writer, not the director, nor the performers. This is not a horrible movie by any means but it clearly is full of mendacity. [IMG]http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/3352/fullcatonahottinroofdsc.jpg[/IMG] The dramatic tale begans with Burl Ives as Big Daddy, a blustering, no-nonsense, kitted out plantation owner who carved his empire out of a swamp. Nobody says anything to him without prefacing the statement with, "Big Daddy," as if to get his attention (Anyone caught the "Golden Girls" Blanche Devereaux reference). Paul Newman and wife Maggie, Elizabeth Taylor, are visiting the Big House to celebrate Big Daddy's birthday along with his return from the clinic, where he, Big Daddy, that is, has been told his pain is caused only by a spastic colon when in fact it's terminal cancer. Also in attendance at the festivities are Big Daddy's wife, Agnes Moorehead, whom he has never loved, and Big Daddy's other son, Jack Carson, who along with his wife is sniffing after all of Big Daddy's money and property. [IMG]http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/8985/catonahottinroof.jpg[/IMG] There is a profuse amount of shouting; hardly anyone speaks in a normal tone of voice. The viewer hardly has time to draw a breath. Newman puts away enough booze in the first ten minutes to floor a rhinoceros. Williams gets hung up on the word "mendacity." "There is the smell of mendacity in this room!" yells Burl Ives. Of course, in reality, social life is a tissue of lies. (Try it next time someone greets you with, "How are you?") But I'm grateful for the constant references to "mendacity." It's almost amusing. And it does provide about the only theme that organizes this carousel of a story. Newman obviously hadn't yet got his acting chops as he is sullen and wooden throughout. Ultimately he was a miscast; the fact he supposedly plays the role of a miserable alcoholic yet looks unchangeably sober and impeccably healthy is a tad ridiculous. It's fair to say he didn't succeed in portraying the compulsion to drink, the nihilist decay, the uptight despair to his part (Marlon Brando in my opinion would have nailed this role, but oh well). Taylor is at least somewhat competent and her supernatural beauty is always helpful. If your central appeal in life is watching an old-lunatic shouting "he smells mendacity" at every living thing, Burl Ives is your man. Jack Carson gives no evidence of being a dramatic actor, but then the script renders him thoroughly obnoxious, he has a terrible habit. Carson is tall and when he's speaking to someone shorter he has a tendency to lean sideways and thrust his face upwards into the listener's. His wife is plays a decent stereotype and their five children should be stomped on like roaches. Agnes Moorehead's role, though not central, may be the most pathetic in the film; a woman who loves her husband but has no idea he doesn't give a damn about her, oh the 50's and its logic. [IMG]http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/5651/catonahottinroofclassic.jpg[/IMG] Some of the issues are pretty dated too (not to mention the overall film itself does not age too well), though that doesn't necessarily deprive them of impact. Doctors don't keep the truth from their patients anymore. And when Big Daddy asks Maggie, "Let me put it this way; do you make him happy?", and Maggie answers, "Why don't you ask if he keeps me happy?" it's all code for something else that couldn't be openly asked in the 1950s. All the hysterical running around and bellowing (of the smell of mendacity) just gave me a headache that I eventually soothed with two pills of ibuprofen. It only settled slightly Lizzie Taylor was marauding around the bedroom wearing only a tiny-cloth. In the end, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" is disappointing because it's glitzy when it should have been grim and just repetitive when it should have been compulsive. [IMG]http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/3594/pdvd089.jpg[/IMG] Story: C Acting: C+ Direction: C Visuals: A- Overall: C+ ** out of 4 stars

• Dannielle A

  
  Tasteful sexual tension at its finest. Brick is an apathetic, tormented alcoholic who is too stubborn and bitter to give in to the advances of his sensual wife Maggie who feels unloved and unwanted. Full of passion and family rivalries. Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman are SEXY in… More
  Tasteful sexual tension at its finest. Brick is an apathetic, tormented alcoholic who is too stubborn and bitter to give in to the advances of his sensual wife Maggie who feels unloved and unwanted. Full of passion and family rivalries. Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman are SEXY in this flick!

• Andrew F

  
  <i>Cat on a Hot Tin Roof</i> is a good movie with great acting all around, but it really makes me mad that the play was changed so much because of the production codes of the fifties.

• Mike T

  
  Fantastic character study filled with intelligent dialogue and a fascinating story. Well-written, and played out excellently by a great cast.

• Juli R

  
  Elizabeth Taylor steals every scene, slinking around in that white dress.

• Andre T

  
  American drama film directed by Richard Brooks.[1][2] It is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name by Tennessee Williams adapted by Richard Brooks and James Poe. One of the top-ten box office hits of 1958, the film stars Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman and Burl… More
  American drama film directed by Richard Brooks.[1][2] It is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name by Tennessee Williams adapted by Richard Brooks and James Poe. One of the top-ten box office hits of 1958, the film stars Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman and Burl Ives.Great movie, with a festival of fantastic performances.

• Doctor S

  
  Welcome and enjoy your evening spent with the Southern Asshole Family! Potent family drama on Mississippi plantation when multiple deep-rooted, combustible secrets explode on the day of the patriarch's 65th birthday. Brilliant source material of Tennessee Williams play comes… More
  Welcome and enjoy your evening spent with the Southern Asshole Family! Potent family drama on Mississippi plantation when multiple deep-rooted, combustible secrets explode on the day of the patriarch's 65th birthday. Brilliant source material of Tennessee Williams play comes alive with uniformly excellent performances including standouts Burl Ives as cantankerous Big Daddy and Elizabeth Taylor as the spurned wife of an alcoholic ex-jock (Paul Newman) afraid of losing their share of the inheritance. She's no eyesore onscreen either! Special mention should go to their in-law brother & wife siring one of the most horrible broods of monsters ever in the movies.

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