{"id":39488,"date":"2017-10-19T15:23:56","date_gmt":"2017-10-19T22:23:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=39488"},"modified":"2022-02-20T23:24:35","modified_gmt":"2022-02-21T06:24:35","slug":"cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof-1958","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=39488","title":{"rendered":"Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Something ain&#8217;t right: you&#8217;re childless, and my son drinks.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Cat-On-Hot-Tin-Roof.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Cat-On-Hot-Tin-Roof-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-39489\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Cat-On-Hot-Tin-Roof-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Cat-On-Hot-Tin-Roof-128x96.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Cat-On-Hot-Tin-Roof-768x577.jpg 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Cat-On-Hot-Tin-Roof-1024x769.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Cat-On-Hot-Tin-Roof.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA dying patriarch (Burl Ives) and his wife (Judith Anderson) celebrate Ives&#8217; birthday with their two grown sons: an alcoholic ex-athlete (Paul Newman) whose childless wife (Elizabeth Taylor) is desperate for sexual attention, and a man (Jack Carson) whose pregnant wife (Madeleine Sherwood) wants to secure the family inheritance for her growing brood.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Alcoholism and Drug Addiction<\/li>\n<li>Burl Ives Films<\/li>\n<li>Elizabeth Taylor Films<\/li>\n<li>Family Problems<\/li>\n<li>Father and Child<\/li>\n<li>Has-Beens<\/li>\n<li>Inheritance<\/li>\n<li>Jack Carson Films<\/li>\n<li>Judith Anderson Films<\/li>\n<li>Marital Problems<\/li>\n<li>Paul Newman Films<\/li>\n<li>Play Adaptation<\/li>\n<li>Richard Brooks Films<\/li>\n<li>Tennessee Williams Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nRichard Brooks&#8217; adaptation of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cat_on_a_Hot_Tin_Roof\">Tennessee Williams&#8217; Pulitzer Prize-winning play<\/a> suffers from a fatal flaw (albeit one that didn&#8217;t stop audiences from flocking to it upon release): the central character (Newman) has been shifted (per Hays Code) from a suppressed homosexual to a man simply lamenting the loss of a high school buddy. Yes, there&#8217;s more than this to the melodramatic storyline, which revolves around <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cat_on_a_Hot_Tin_Roof\">&#8220;motifs such as social mores, greed, superficiality, mendacity, decay, sexual desire, repression and death&#8221;<\/a>, as we watch squabbling family members desperate to hold onto or gain whatever it is they most want (money, love, sex, respect, hope). However, the primary focus of the film is the strained relationship  between &#8220;Maggie the cat&#8221; (Taylor) &#8212; a gorgeous woman literally in heat &#8212; and her equally gorgeous but relentlessly brooding husband (Newman). As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s1972cat.html\">DVD Savant writes<\/a>, &#8220;the notion of the incredibly sexy Elizabeth Taylor begging in vain to sleep with Paul Newman strikes us as a sin against nature&#8221; &#8212; especially without the believable premise that Brick (Newman) is gay. However, the performances are all strong, the stunning co-stars are enjoyable to watch on-screen, and writer-director Richard Brooks keeps the direction interesting throughout.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Strong performances and direction<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/COAHTR-Newman-Taylor.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/COAHTR-Newman-Taylor-1024x572.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"358\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-39492\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/COAHTR-Newman-Taylor-1024x572.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/COAHTR-Newman-Taylor-128x72.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/COAHTR-Newman-Taylor-300x168.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/COAHTR-Newman-Taylor-768x429.jpg 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/COAHTR-Newman-Taylor.jpg 1145w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, but film fanatics will likely be curious to check it out. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0051459\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1958\/09\/19\/archives\/the-fur-flies-in-cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof-talent-galore-found-in-music.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s1972cat.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/2768\/cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof#articles-reviews?articleId=18947\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Something ain&#8217;t right: you&#8217;re childless, and my son drinks.&#8221; Synopsis: A dying patriarch (Burl Ives) and his wife (Judith Anderson) celebrate Ives&#8217; birthday with their two grown sons: an alcoholic ex-athlete (Paul Newman) whose childless wife (Elizabeth Taylor) is desperate for sexual attention, and a man (Jack Carson) whose pregnant wife (Madeleine Sherwood) wants to secure the family inheritance for her growing brood. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Burl Ives Films Elizabeth Taylor Films Family Problems&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=39488\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39488"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81471,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39488\/revisions\/81471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}