Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

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.

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.

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.

Don't throw anything at me, but I think the 1984 version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is better than the 1958 original. Without the constraints of the Production Code, this live televised version was able to showcase Tennessee Williams's story as he wrote it. When Paul Newman skulked around mourning his pal, we just didn't understand why. With Tommy Lee Jones, we see his pain, conflict, and shame - and we're told why. In case you're unfamiliar with the story, I won't spoil it for you.

Jessica Lange is lovely as Maggie the Cat, a sensual and frustrated lady who can't understand why her husband would rather mope around than sleep with her. He has a broken leg; what else does he have to do around the house? As she and Tommy Lee spar off each other, you know you're in the presence of professionals. These are serious actors who can make the best of a very simple story. Of Williams's plays, this is not my favorite. But with Jessica, Tommy Lee, and Rip Torn as Big Daddy, this is as good as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof will get. Sometimes filmed plays feel a little stage-y, but this one is very good. The only thing stage-y about it is Williams's script, and the actors are not at fault.

Forget The watered down film version from 1958. forget the ridiculous tacked on "happy" ending between Newman and a Miscast Liz Taylor...This is the ultimate film version of Williams greatest play. The screenplay is direct from William's outstanding revised 1974 text with one of the greatest ending scenes in theatre history. Tommy Lee Jones has never been better than as the alcoholic Brick Pollitt. Jessica Lange is so sexy,manipulative and tortured as Maggie that you don't know if you want to hit her or make love to her. the agony put forth in these two characters manifests itself to perfection in these perfect actors.

As wonderful as Jones and Lange are, they are still outdone by Rip Torn as Big Daddy. 'He's never turned gentleman." Maggie says of her father-in-law and thats the honest truth in Torn's magnetic,engaging and touching performance. His Act II scene with Brick is some of the best screen acting I have ever witnessed. Kim Stanley gives us a very human and warm Big Mamma, unlike Judith Anderson's cold matriarch in the 1958 version and Penny Fuller and David Dukes ooze bile as the Greedy Gooper and Mae. This is a film to be watched over and over. Finally a CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF on screen William's could be proud of !