| Paul Newman & Elizabeth Taylor ARE Brick & Maggie in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." |
Much
has been written about Williams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play losing its cat
fight with the Hollywood censors over the 1958 film version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
| What is a B.I.? Let's just say that there was one diligently on duty in 1958's "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." (Below, right) Apparently, the B.I. was nowhere to be found the next year during filming of Taylor's "Suddenly, Last Summer." |
| Paul Newman, as brooding Brick, who can't stop thinking about buddy Skipper. |
Cat’s
plot points that surround alcoholic former football star Brick and his best
buddy, Skipper, were either omitted or obscured. Williams’ displeasure was vocal
for decades after. For many years, the film version of Cat often received qualified praise because of those censored
scenes. Recently, I’ve noticed some film reviewers now say that the censorship
actually speaks to the era of ‘50s films and society. Ah, revisionist
reviewers! But I kinda agree.
For
me, the censorship of Cat has overshadowed
the film’s virtues. Hollywood in the ‘50s was the last hurrah for their
self-imposed Hayes Code. Williams had already experienced censorship in earlier
film adaptations of his plays, especially 1951’s A Streetcar Named Desire.
What did Williams expect when MGM bought the film rights to Cat in 1956? That MGM’s Leo the Lion
would put his story, with a subplot of suppressed man-love, on screen with a
roar? My guess is that Williams was thinking more about the $500,000 MGM was
paying him. It was much like Edward Albee’s later nitpicking over the screen
version of his play Who’s Afraid of
Virginia Woolf—after collecting an unheard of $500,000 for a first play.
And unlike Williams, Albee got to see the adaptation of his play make it onscreen virtually intact.
| Taylor & director Richard Brooks in a light moment. |
In
later interviews, Richard Brooks said that he knew he could take the material only
so far with the censors. So, he worked with Newman, Taylor, and Ives in
particular, regarding their characters’ discussion of Brick’s issues. Brooks
said that their pauses, silences, and body language helped emphasize what went
unspoken. Brooks also relied on camera angles and staging of his actors to
suggest distance or discord.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
owes much of its classy status to its cast, especially Elizabeth Taylor and
Paul Newman as Maggie and Brick, at their absolute prime of youth and beauty.
But did you know when MGM bought the film rights, the plan was to cast their
new “It” girl Grace Kelly as Maggie and borrow James Dean from Warner Brothers as
Brick? Film fate intervened: Grace became a real-life princess and Dean died in
legendary car crash. In fact, Newman inherited two other roles earmarked for
Jimmy, Somebody Up There Likes Me and
The Left-Handed Gun.
A
few names were then bandied about during the casting of Cat, like Elvis Presley as Brick. Well, he was a Southern boy! MGM
must have had dollar signs in their eyes after Presley cleaned up the cash for
them with 1957’s Jailhouse Rock. Elvis
and Liz, together…the mind boggles. For some reason, I see…fried chicken. A
young actor under contract to Metro at the time was considered—William Shatner.
Imagine all those pregnant pauses while Bill recites Williams’ rhetorical
lines: “What…makes…Big Daddy…so…big?”
Lana
Turner’s name was mentioned for Maggie, but I’m sure no-nonsense director
Brooks nixed the notion of lacquered Lana’s posturing. Another MGM actress who
might have impressed was Ava Gardner. She was a poor Southern girl like Maggie,
who smoldered sultrily, and had lots of practice in marital warfare with Frank
Sinatra. But like Turner, she was a full decade older than Elizabeth Taylor, and
I bet the bottom line at MGM was they were well rid of their recently departed
divas. So just-turned-26 Liz won the part, possibly the youngest Maggie the Cat
ever.
Bette
Davis was mentioned at the time for Big Mama, but Judith Anderson was cast
instead. I wonder if it was because Davis had already worked with Cat director Brooks two years prior on The Catered Affair. Equally prickly
Davis and Brooks got on like a house on fire. The film, about another
squabbling family, and despite good reviews and stars Davis, Ernest Borgnine,
and Debbie Reynolds—disappointed at the box-office. Like Liz Taylor once said
about Hollywood’s bottom line, “There’s no deodorant like success.”
I
wonder if former MGM star Spencer Tracy was considered as Big Daddy. Even then,
a decade before his demise, Tracy was in frail health, which I thought would
have added sad realism to the role. Father
of the Bride co-star Taylor and director Richard Brooks certainly both
adored him. However, Tracy appeared in The
Desk Set with doting pal Kate Hepburn and then the popular political drama,
The Last Hurrah, instead. I think off-screen
curmudgeon Spence would have made a helluva Big Daddy.
| Elizabeth Taylor starred opposite many method actors, including Newman, Montgomery Clift, James Dean, and Marlon Brando. Lucky Liz! |
Here’s
something to think about when watching Cat
on a Hot Tin Roof: filming was only in its third week when newlywed Elizabeth’s
husband, producer Mike Todd, died in a plane crash. The only reason Taylor
wasn’t on Todd’s plane, The Lucky Liz, was because she was home sick with a
fever. Amazingly, despite her grief and the circus-like media coverage of Todd’s
death, Taylor was back on the set just three
weeks later. Paul Newman, a theater method actor and a relative movie
newcomer, was at first skeptical of movie star Liz. When he saw Taylor’s famed
tenacity in action, they became life-long friends.
| Brick lets Big Daddy know there won't be anymore Happy Birthdays for him. |
The
strength of the film Cat on a Hot Tin
Roof is its strongly directed ensemble cast. Newman admitted that he became
a better actor later, but still, he has many intense moments with Taylor’s
Maggie and Ives’ Big Daddy. Taylor, though her southern accent sometimes veers
toward exaggeration, is the perfect Maggie. Much like Brando was the physical
and casting ideal as Stanley in A Streetcar
Named Desire, so is Taylor as Maggie the Cat. Both roles have often been played,
on television and stage, but who has topped either?
| One of the most haunting scenes of "Cat," when Judith Anderson's Big Mama dejectedly walks away from Big Daddy's abuse |
And
that super supporting cast. Despite my Spencer Tracy casting daydream, Burl
Ives truly steals the show as the volcanic Big Daddy. Often cool Judith
Anderson is warm-hearted and big-mouthed as Big Mama. Both Ives and Anderson are
towers of strength here. Madeleine Sherwood is hilarious as Mae, aka Sister
Woman, looking like a pregnant Pekinese, and is always adding to her tribe of
no-neck monsters.
| Jack Carson in a stellar performance as brother Gooper. |
A
special shout-out goes to Jack Carson, a great comedic character actor who died
young, and was equally good in dramatic roles.
Carson showed his funny and tough side as shyster Wally in Mildred Pierce; he was wisecracking and
bitter as James Mason’s put-upon agent in A
Star is Born; and in Cat, Carson
is terrific as greedy second-best brother, Gooper.
| Elizabeth Taylor testing a long wig as Maggie. |
The
1958 film of Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a
Hot Tin Roof is out on Blu-ray today, Aug. 9. The DVD blog reviews are
positive, noting that the visual and sound transfer is as crisp as when Cat was released on the big screen.
That’s good news because MGM’s latter day Elizabeth Taylor movies—Cat, Butterfield
8, and The VIPS—were all filmed
in watercolor Metro-Color. Combined with wear and lack of restoration, these
films often looked drab instead of fab. Let’s hope Liz’ other two MGM hits get
the same star treatment.
FYI: I put all the movie overflow on my public FB movie
page. Check it out & join!