Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a 1958 American drama film directed by Richard Brooks, who co-wrote the screenplay with James Poe, based on the 1955 Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name by Tennessee Williams. The film stars Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives, Jack Carson, and Judith Anderson.
Well-received by both critics and audiences, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was MGM's most successful release of 1958, and became the third highest-grossing film of that year.
Plot
Late one night, a drunken Brick Pollitt 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. Unexpectedly, he falls and breaks his ankle, leaving him dependent on a crutch. Brick, along with his wife, Maggie "the Cat", are seen the next day visiting his family's estate in eastern Mississippi, there to celebrate Big Daddy's 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 and his wife Mae have five children.
Big Daddy and Big Mama arrive home from the hospital via their private airplane and are greeted by Gooper and his wife—and all their children—along with Maggie. Annoyed by the rehearsed welcoming display his grandchildren put on for him, Big Daddy ignores them in favor of driving home with Maggie. The news is that Big Daddy is not dying from cancer. 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 reveals the truth about Big Daddy's health to Maggie 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 died by suicide. Maggie was jealous of Skipper because he had more of Brick's time, and says that Skipper was lost without Brick at his side. She decided to ruin their relationship "by any means necessary", intending to seduce Skipper and use this information to make her husband question Skipper's loyalty. 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 before a large cut-out of Brick in his glory days as an athlete. After Big Daddy relates to Brick about his hobo father who was a veteran of the Spanish-American War, the pair ultimately reaches a reconciliation of sorts.
The rest of the family begins to crumble under pressure, with Big Mama stepping up as a strong figure. Maggie says that she would like to give Big Daddy her birthday present: the announcement of her pregnancy. 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 suspects the statement may be untrue. In their room, Maggie and Brick reconcile, and the two kiss, with the implication that they will make Maggie's "lie" become the "truth".
Cast
Production notes
The original stage production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opened on Broadway on March 24, 1955, with Ives and Sherwood in the roles they subsequently played in the film. Ben Gazzara played Brick in the stage production and rejected the film role. Athlete-turned-actor Floyd Simmons also tested for the role.
Lana Turner and Grace Kelly were both considered for the part of Maggie before the role went to Taylor.