Tuesday, August 9, 2016

"Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" Still Scorches 1958


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."

Critics of the cinematic Cat should consider that film censorship was so strong at the time that a B.I. vigilantly visited the set. What’s that, you ask? A Bust Inspector, of course! Later, Liz humorously wrote about the B.I., whose job was to perch upon a step ladder and look down Taylor’s bountiful bosom and make sure no excess cleavage was showing. According to Liz, this went on until short-tempered director Richard Brooks exploded one day, and the poor woman fled the set!

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!  

12 comments:

  1. Hi Rick
    Thanks for covering one of my favorite films, congrats for doing so in a fresh way. Always so hard to think of a new angle to write about a much-discussed classic film, but I love the way you mixed unknown-to-me behind the scenes stuff (the Bust Inspector!) with personal observations (the Spencer Tracy casting idea is really inspired) and contextual references regarding casting and where certain stars were in their careers at the time.
    It will be great to see a really sharp copy of this film. I have to check to see if the Blu-ray offers any bonus material. A great read. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rick I am loving your blog! Great write-up! And I love the long wig on Liz, I wish they'd used it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Mike, I always like Liz with long hair, especially during her Sandpiper/Mexico years. But I thought her short hairdo looked cute, esp. since most '50s styles weren't flattering. Glad your liking the blog. Feel free to subscribe if you haven't, it's free! Got some more fun stuff coming down the pike! Cheers, Rick

      Delete
    2. I've always felt that Taylor's hairstyle in this film was the best she ever sported. Don't like her in longer hair, such as was seen in Suddenly, Last Summer.

      Delete
    3. Hi, I thought her short hair style as Maggie was very cute and modern, and not a helmut as typical of the era. Liked her longer bob in Suddenly, but didn't like the teased do of Butterfield 8. I liked her long hair in The Sandpiper, but not the bouffants that she helped make popular of that time. Cheers, Rick

      Delete
  3. Watched this movie years ago on TV and loved it. I would read the play in the school library during lunch time dreaming I could one day play Maggie. Fast forward many years later and my husband and I watch it on dvd and all we could think how god awful the storyline is we couldn't make to the end of the movie. All everyone could say and repeatedly is "Big Daddy" this and "Big Daddy" that, Big Daddy Big Daddy, Big Daddy!!! We couldn't take it anymore we kept thinking what made this movie so popular? What made me love it as a young girl? The one thing we did agree on was Liz Taylor. Beauty in perfection. How can anyone be so physically perfect? And that white dress! She also did a good acting job. How she got through the movie after losing her husband. This is probably the least of my favorite Paul Newman movies. I didn't think he was good in it nor his accent. He seems too much like he is acting and doesn't convince me. James Dean I believe would have nailed it. Burl Ives was good as well as Jack Carson, Madeline Sherwood and Judith Anderson.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, How do you like other William plays? Some people just don't care for his style, which is a lot of rhetoric.
      Paul Newman latter admitted he was still pretty stiff in early movies like Cat, and I agree to a point. Just watched him recently in The Verdict, much better.
      I love the cast of this movie, best. There are some horrible versions with great actors on YouTube, like Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner. Or Jessica Lange and Tommy Lee Jones.

      It is pretty remarkable by today's standards that a star could lose her husband in a plane crash, leaving her with a baby, and millions in debt. All played out in the press. And the star is still back on the set a few weeks later. That's what made ET so special, a survivor.

      Delete
    2. I just don't care for Wiiliam's style. I know he is haled as a great but his plot has no meaning or answers. After it is all over I think for what but at the end what was the meaning? But I will watch it because of Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando . I agree the TV version of Cat with Wood Wagner and Lange and Jones as well as an over the top Kim Stanley was awful. Those are hard parts to play without doing it over the top. Yes it is remarkable what Liz Taylor went through. I know the Wilder marriage left her broke but not the Todd marriage. My God the jewels alone he gave her would have been enough! Regardless, Liz was a survivor. She lived a colorful life.

      Delete
    3. Playing Tennessee Williams is tricky. I've seen it played as realistic, and it comes across flat and talky. I've seen it really over the top, and it's like a cartoon. I think ET in Cat and Suddenly truly shows her skills with Williams' material. As for Todd's gifts to ET, I think Mike borrowed ahead on movie profits, then died. Leaving Taylor to pay the bills. She never cried on the public's shoulder about any of it, and has always praised him as a man.

      Delete
    4. I agree that Williams plays are hard to do but ET did them well. Elizabeth Taylor was a terrific actress. She could really kick it. Like Vivien Leigh a great beauty but a great actress. Didn't know Liz was in poor financial shape after Todd. She did keep the famous ruby diamond necklace, earring, bracelet set he gave her. It went up for auction not too long ago.

      Delete
  4. between 1958 and 1962, the ages of 8 and 12 for me,my Mom's unmarried Sister took me to many movies when she didn't have a date.Of the movies I saw then , she wouldn't take me to see two , Cat on a Hot,Tin Roof and Butterfield 8.i don't blame Elizabeth Taylor for that, I blame the movies stories for that.She was in the process of converting from Lutheran to Catholic at the time.I m glad she didn't take me then ,but, I can say when I saw both flicks years later , I liked Cat better than Butterfield 8 .I guess a dysfunctional , Southern family is more interesting , especially when it's supported by an outstanding ensemble cast.I would probably say that my favorite movie that I saw back then was Samson and Delilah with Victor Mature and Hedy Lamar.
    I appreciate your reading this email.
    Best Regards,
    Jim Sweeney

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jim. thanks for sharing. It's funny when I hear how people wouldn't see certain movies back in the day. I had a pal who begged his parents to see Pillow Talk, which was considered risque. They said no. He went anyway, and guesss who he ran into at the movie? And yes, Cat's story is far superior to Butterfield! Cheers, and check out some of my other Elizabeth Taylor movies... like B8! Rick

      Delete