Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Have enormously fond memories of reading and studying 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' in school and have held it in very fine regard since. Consider Tennessee Williams one of the all-time great American playwrights, one of my favourites overall actually, and 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' is one of his best and most justifiably famous. It was also apparently Williams' personal favourite of his plays, not hard to see why either, and there is a lot of great ones to choose from.

Personally love the 1958 film in its own way, there is to me a lot to love about it on its own terms. Especially the acting, have yet to come across a better Big Daddy than Burl Ives, who originated the role, and it is both entertaining and powerful. It really is best judging it as a standalone though, because it is toned down from the play, the innuendos being muted, the ahead of the time themes not as daring and omissions due to censorship. On the adaptation front, this television version is much more faithful and satisfying and doesn't have the limitations of censorship, so what was omitted is here and what was muted had full impact. Also consider it the better version overall.

This 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' may not have the more expansive budget or more lavish production values of a film, if there was one thing that the 1958 film is superior in it is the production values, but it still looks good and has a sense of time and place. The photography has a filmed play look, yet that wasn't a problem for me, am used to that as someone who watches opera, play and ballet productions on a regular basis. It wasn't chaotic or static at least. Liked the sultriness of the music too.

Williams' dialogue absolutely sizzles and the story never fails to be so emotionally powerful. The stage direction does nothing to diminish the power of the dialogue and story, showing throughout respect for Williams' intent. With the exception of the cat-like movements with the hands, that was not needed. The character interaction is every bit as sizzling as the script, electrifying especially between Brick and Big Daddy in primarily their Act 2 confrontation (a masterclass of acting). Other than that scene, there was another that stuck with me, Big Mamma's reaction to the truth behind Big Daddy's cancer diagnosis, goodness wasn't that heart-rending or what.

One cannot not talk about a production for anything without making any mention of the cast. Absolutely loved the performances here, all of them, and to me the accents sounded spot on (have heard far more exaggerated "southern accents"). Jessica Lange is a sultry and deeply felt Maggie, and Tommy Lee Jones gives a compelling tortured turn as Brick, one of Williams' most difficult roles.

Rip Torn (rest in peace) is on towering form as Big Daddy, full of authority but also soul, and there has never been a more definitive or more human Big Mamma than that of Kim Stanley.

In summary, a fine production of a masterpiece. 9/10

When I watched Maggie/Jessica Lange do that long all-in-one-breath monologue telling Brick how everybody loved him, I said to myself This has got to be the high point in American Theater. It was one great sustained crescendo. It is most incredible that it goes unnoticed.

While I haven't seen very much of the highly-touted 1958 film version of Tennessee Williams's play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor (arguably the most attractive stars of their respective times), the film itself from what I've read was censored and given a tacked on ending to appease the Hayes Code and Catholic League of Decency. I'd imagine the actors were cast well for the parts, but it would likely be best to have the full power and conviction and very human tragedy of Brick to be most effective. Since then the play has been produced countless times in all parts of the country (not least of which on Broadway, where as recent as the past few years an all-black cast was put together for a revival), and as with this 1985 live-taped show, some of it was broadcast as it was for the masses.

I saw the a video of this production, featuring Tommy Lee Jones, Jessica Lange, and Rip Torn, in a Modern Drama class at my old college, and it definitely left an impact after already going over the play in heavy lit-analysis mode. It is, of course, hampered by being a filmed taping of a live performance, but in this limitation it's great to just watch the actors fully embody these characters on their own terms. And, more often than not, it's dynamite; it might even be some of the best acting Torn has ever done, on stage or in film, as the tough "Big Daddy" character who gets a big powerhouse act to spar off of Jones in his conflicted, repressed homosexual character grieving his friend's suicide. Lange, by the way, is excellent in her sultry but depressed wife who is ignored/belittled by Brick.

So, as I can't really give a base of comparison between original film version and this, I can simply say that, for what it's worth, it gives fans of Williams and the play itself their money's worth (or TV-viewing time worth, if it happens to ever play again on a channel). Find it on video if you can!

Wonderfully acted stage production of Williams' classic play. This first aired on Showtime in 1984 or 1985 and I can still recall being a small boy absolutely loving this. Lange is so fiery (and even humorous) in her role as Maggie and Jones is so full of emotional and physical pain as Brick. The other performances are just as solid. Beautiful set designs and nice southern music add on to the positive elements of this great drama.

Tennesee Williams is, without a doubt, one of the best writers of the 20th century. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof has always been my personal favorite. This particular version first came out as part of a project that premium cable (Showtime I think) was doing in its early years. If I'm not mistaken, the performance was taped live in an effort to create a live theatrical atmosphere. I bring this up because it will explain to those who care why it looks so much like a soap opera, only with good writing.

Aside from the somewhat cheesy production level, this is one of the best adaptations I have ever seen of a play to television. It couldn't be better cast. The performances are excellent. Even the DX-7ish sounding music score has a sultry feel to it that matches the setting beautifully.

My first experience with this play was, like many I suppose, the film version with Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor, and Burl Ives. Even in that watered down version, the play had power, so I went to rent it to check it out more thoroughly. The video store had this version of it instead. When it first played on TV, I was much too young to really appreciate the power and raw emotion of the story in its pure form. I never would have guessed the movie was so bad. Burl Ives, after all, played Big Daddy in the original production. Unfortunately, the people who made the movie were apparently either too scared or too hampered by censorship concerns and star egos to present a workable facsimile of the original. I can understand axing the ambiguously homosexual relationship that has cast Brick into his alcoholic nose dive, I suppose, though the story loses almost all of its power because of it. I cannot, however, understand giving Big Mama's only sympathetic line in the whole play over to Elizabeth Taylor, who now strikes me as badly miscast in the role.

I should point out, however, that even this version is not exactly what Williams wrote. In this case, though, that is to its benefit. Williams' original version did not have Big Daddy in the final scenes. The original director, Elia Kazan, wanted him back, so Williams, since he liked the character anyway, obliged him. The scene as rewritten, however, never struck me as quite as good as Williams' original effort. This version has taken the best of both of those versions, a few nicely written lines that were added to the movie version and melded them into a superb synthesis whose presentation is most assuredly greater than the sum of its parts. I hate hearing this play end any way other than Maggie telling Brick she loves him, and Brick replying, "Wouldn't it be funny if that was true?"

All in all, this was a magnificent effort. I only regret that premium cable did not keep up the good work.