Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

I'm sorry, and I apologise to the previous poster, but criticising Kim Stanley is unacceptable.

Where do I start?

The first time I saw this, TWENTY YEARS AGO, back when I was, like, GOING ON TWENTY, Kim Stanley's performance in that horrible scene when she finds out that Big Daddy's cancer is terminal brought tears to my eyes. And then she won an Emmy. Against actors that people had actually heard of.

I only bring this up because that great documentary that's making the rounds ("The Golden Age of Broadway") quotes about half a dozen or more highly respected stage veterans who all sing Kim Stanley's praises.

Kim Stanley acted without affect: That could occasionally appear slight. What it was was that she was so busy giving it up that she forgot to show you where and how she was acting.

And, again, show me a better Big Momma, like, ever...

Hello from Joe Bonelli-- a native Mississippian and actor who performs as Tennessee Williams in a one-man show (not an "impersonator" gig). The one-star review of this "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" by a know-nothing here states that maybe that person doesn't understand or appreciate "over the top southern drama." You got it!! This version of the original Williams script, butchered by Hollywood in 1958-- good film, but NOT "Cat"-- is dead on. Tommy Lee Jones, a Texas native, is, in this version, the best Brick I've ever seen. This part is probably the most difficult male role in the Williams' canon and Tommy Lee pulls it off admirably. I like Jessical Lange very much but do not consider her quite right for this, for Blanche in "Streetcar" (which she also plays in a version that doesn't really work well) or Amanda in "Glass Menagerie" (which she is to play on Broadway in early 2005). Rip Torn and the late, lamented Kim Stanley are excellent in their roles and Williams-- who admired both immensely-- would, I believe, have approved. Now don't get me wrong-- there are some fine aspects to the Hollywood film and good performances all around (especially from the brilliant Burl Ives, recreating his Broadway original, and Madeline Sherwood as Sister Woman (Mae)-- ditto!) But the constraints of the Hollywood Production Code really hurt what could have been a true classic. By the way, Williams appreciated the performances of both Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman in the Hollywood bowdlerized version-- as do I. It would have been wonderful to see how these great stars/actors would have handled the original script. I suggest that the writer who doesn't "understand or appreciate over-the-top southern drama" stick to prettily-cast sanitized Hollywood adaptations of great plays and true-to-the-original films of them-- and pass on handing out uninformed opinions about the real thing. You don't have to like a play or a performance-- but you DO need to know something about it before you dismiss fine writing and acting.

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

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!

I have an extraordinary attachment to this play. Aside from being my all-time favorite, which I have read at least fifty times, I was also cast as Big Daddy for an attempted high school production, which, fittingly enough for the history of the play, I suppose, was cancelled and replaced with something "more appropriate" under pressure from the school's administration. I saw the original Newman-Taylor version after reading it the first few times, but had heard a lot of raving that the 1958 film was horrible and that this was worlds better. I found a laser-disc copy and watched it this afternoon. I definitely have more complaints with this performance than I expected. I personally wish that the Rip Torn of 'The Insider' and 'Wonder Boys' had been present in the role of Big Daddy, rather than the version I saw, who despite playing the role with an enormous passion, produced a performance which saw his accent slide all over the place, from a few moments of European immigrant on one misguided extreme to Chris Kattan's incomprehensible sketches on SNL at another, the original lines by Tennessee Williams often escape him, and overall, it results in a very streaky and inconsistent characterization. Perhaps this is a result of being filmed live, or perhaps it's a Rip Torn without an additional fifteen years of experience. Jessica Lange also turned in an impassioned role, but she also seemed rather inconsistent. I actually longed for a little of Liz Taylor's cattiness in the first act, but the play as a whole I preferred Lange. My only quibble with Tommy Lee Jones was that he did not seem to make a decision whether Brick was indeed homosexual or not, which I think is important, because the issue of homosexuality, although the most controversial aspect, is not so crucial to the play as the issues of mendacity dissolving his friendship with Skipper. The two are interrelated, but while the belief that Skipper was homosexual would cause him to question his own sexuality, there were times when Jones seemed to actually believe the allegations, moreso than I would have expected from the character. Gooper, Mae, and Big Mama all were the finest I've seen those roles played. The other complaint was with some of the production values. I was glad that it was done realistically rather than expressionistically as Kazan first directed it on Broadway, but the liquor cabinet and bed are supposed to both have an awesome presence on the room, and neither does in this film, nor does the bedroom have the quality of "pale light on weathered wood" Williams specified in the production notes. Also, Big Daddy's entrance in a baseball cap seemed entirely out of place. Worst, however, was the soft-focus quality of the camera. There are some questionable directorial decisions, things I think could have been staged better, but the essence of the play shines through, and most importantly, the third act is nearly flawless. The passionate conflicts that Williams weaves together are communicated, and the play is so good that nearly any group, probably even my little high school troupe, could have moved an audience, even if not displaying master craft.