Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Release date: 1958-08-29
Votes: 781
Genres: Drama
An alcoholic ex-football player drinks his days away, having failed to come to terms with his sexuality and his real feelings for his football buddy who died after an ambiguous accident. His wife is crucified by her desperation to make him desire her: but he resists the affections of his wife. His reunion with his father—who is dying of cancer—jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.
Reviews
CinemaSerf
Yikes, but there's a lot of smouldering going on here... "Brick" (Paul Newman) is the former all-American boy type who has got himself injured and is married to "Maggie" (Elizabeth Taylor) with whom he has a pretty turbulent relationship based on mistrust. He is the son of the wealthy and tyrannical "Big Daddy" (Burl Ives) who is in turn married to the rather sheepish "Ida" (Judith Anderson) and the brother to the ostensibly insipid lawyer "Gooper" (Jack Carson) who is married to the rather selfish "Mae" (Madeleine Sherwood). So far, nobody much likes or trusts anyone, there's not enough love around this big mansion house to fill a teaspoon and with the old man starting to show signs of ailing, the vultures are beginning to gather to divide his huge house, 28,000 acres and $10 millions in the bank. What now ensues sees a strong performance from Newman, usually never far from a glass or a bottle, and some pretty intense scenes between himself and a very much on-form Taylor who manages to reconcile her character's formidable abilities at attack being the best form of self-defence with some wonderfully pithy and aggressive put-downs (all from the acerbic pen of Tennessee Williams). For me, though, it's the last twenty minutes and Ives who makes this toxic tale of the epitome of the dysfunctional family succeed, coupled with some claustrophobia-generating storm effects outside their home, and creating an environment so thick you could cut it with a knife. There is chemistry all over the place, here, and by mid-way through you are uncertain as to who is pulling whose strings as the avarice starts to rival the jealousy and the frustration for top billing amongst this bunch of frankly rather odious and shallow individuals. Did lack of love make them this way or was it always a fait accompli when surrounded by fabulous wealth and a bully for a father? It's a tensely directed look at what makes some of us tick and at just how easily drink, gossip, rumour-mongering and downright lies can derail even the most visceral of relationships. An ensemble cast deliver a powerful story compellingly, her and it's well worth a watch.
Movie Recommendation
The Long, Hot Summer1958-05-17Accused barn burner and conman Ben Quick arrives in a small Mississippi town and quickly ingratiates himself with its richest family, the Varners.More...
Eddie: The Sleepwalking Cannibal2012-04-22A once-famous painter rediscovers inspiration when he befriends a sleepwalking cannibal.More...
The Young Philadelphians1959-05-21Up and coming young lawyer Anthony Lawrence faces several ethical and emotional dilemmas as he climbs the Philadelphia social ladder. His personal and professional skills are tested as he tries to balance the needs of his fiance Joan, the expectations of his colleagues and his own obligation to defend his friend Chester on a murder count.More...
Never Gonna Snow Again2021-03-18Zenia is an industrious Ukrainian migrant worker in Poland who makes house calls as a masseur to the needy and aspirational residents of a middle-class gated community near Warsaw. He is privy to all of their problems, anxieties and secrets – and something of an unwitting guru figure. Zenia’s grounded spirituality, apparent healing powers and broad shoulders make him an object of lust for many of the lost souls in the community.More...
The Lovers1958-11-05A shallow, provincial wife finds her relationship with her preoccupied husband strained by romantic notions of love, leading her further towards Paris and the country wilderness.More...
It's a Gift1934-11-30After he inherits some money, Harold Bissonette ("pronounced bis-on-ay") decides to give up the grocery business, move to California and run an orange grove. Despite his family's objections and the news that the land he bought is worthless, Bissonette packs up and drives out to California with his nagging wife Amelia and children.More...
The Men1950-08-25Ken, a WWII GI, returns home after he's paralyzed in battle. Residing in the paraplegic ward of a veteran's hospital and embittered by his condition, he refuses to see his fiancée and sinks into a solitary world of hatred and hostility. Head physician, Dr. Brock cajoles the withdrawn Ken into the life of the ward, where fellow patients Norm, Leo and Angel begin to pull him out of his spiritual dilemma.More...
Ceasefire2017-04-19In the early 1920s, Georges Laffont, traumatized by the horrific trench warfare, decides to leave his life behind and travel to West Africa. In the vast territories of Upper Volta he - with the help of Diofo, artist and also survivor of the Great War - try to recruit the villagers as labor for plantations in Ghana. But his adventure leads him to a dead-end, and he comes back to Paris desperate to find his place in the world.More...
Once Upon a Time in Ukraine2020-12-24What if Taras Shevchenko put down his pen and took a samurai sword into his hands? Akayo samurai enters the territory of Ukraine, seeking revenge on the Japanese Harimoto--a buyer of slaves from a Ukrainian master. On his way, Akayo meets the serf Taras, who is also guided by personal revenge and wants to organize the release of his beloved.More...
Dangerous Charm1984-06-18He is well educated, charming, and gallant - a dream for each lonely lady. In reality he is a skillful swindler, who robs naive women. Cheating merchants with guilty consciences are his targets as well. This is the elusive protagonist of the movie. He constantly changes his name, stages his own death, and travels from town to town. His exploits are myriad and his life is an endless adventure. Yet, he remains an amiable swindler, an unrealized actor, whose only goal is make his life more interesting.More...
Il sindaco del rione Sanità1964-04-29There is no descriptionMore...
Garbo Talks1984-10-12When New York accountant Gilbert Rolfe finds out his mother has a brain tumor, he is devastated. His incorrigible mother, Estelle, has one last wish: to meet the great Greta Garbo. Gilbert, wanting to do this last thing for her, sets out on a wild goose chase through the streets of New York City to track down the iconic star, at the expense of his personal life and much to the chagrin of his wife, Lisa. Can he find Garbo before it's too late?More...
The Burning Bed1984-10-08An abused battered wife has had enough of husband beating up on her. Everywhere she turns for help, there's not much anyone will do. After he rapes her one night, she sets the bed on fire with him in it asleep.More...
Little Fugitive1953-10-01After a prank makes Joey Norton believe he killed his older brother, he runs away from home and spends the day at Coney Island while his brother tries to find him before their mother gets home.More...
Air Force1943-03-20The crew of an Air Force bomber arrives in Pearl Harbor in the aftermath of the Japanese attack and is sent on to Manila to help with the defense of the Philippines.More...
The Facts of Life1960-11-14Middle-class suburbanites Larry and Kitty grow bored with their lives and respective marriages. Although each always found the other's manner grating, they fall in love when thrown together--without their spouses--on vacation. On returning home they try to break things off, only to grow closer. A holiday together will finally settle whether they should end their marriages.More...
Forman vs. Forman2019-07-16A moving account, in his own words, of the personal life and work of the brilliant Czech filmmaker Miloš Forman (1932-2018): his tragic childhood, his major contribution to the cultural movement known as the Czech New Wave, his exile in Paris, his troubled days in New York, his rise to stardom in Hollywood; a complete existence in the service of cinema.More...
The Couples1970-12-23Three episodes. Episode 1 - The Refrigerator (Monicelli). A married couple of two poor emigrant workers spend almost all their money to buy a refrigerator (a must in the '70s). The purchase is too expensive for their family balance sheet. To earn some money they decide to go for prostitution. The wife is not so unhappy to the perspective. Episode 2 - The Room (Sordi). To celebrate ten years of marriage a couple decides to spend a quick holiday in top luxury hotels in Sardinia. But the fashion luxury VIP world is too hard to enter; they soon will end in prison. Episode 3 - The Lion (De Sica). Two adulterous, Antonio and Giulia, are blocked by a lion, staying on the exit in the place they met. They both have to come back home, but couldn't move because of the lion’s presence. The critical situation soon drives them to their limit, revealing their real essence.More...
The Merry Widow1952-09-05Marshovia, a small European kingdom, is on the brink of bankruptcy but the country may be saved if the wealthy American Crystal Radek, widow of a Marshovian, can be convinced to part with her money and marry the king's nephew count Danilo. Arriving to Marshovia on a visit, Crystal Radek change places with her secretary Kitty. Following them to Paris, Danilo has a hard time wooing the widow after meeting an attractive young woman at a nightclub, the same Crystal Radek who presents herself as Fifi the chorus girl. Plot by Mattias Thuresson.More...
Mudstained Flower2011-03-23A married, middle-aged well-known biochemist and university teacher Augusto, leaves his wife, his job and the comfort of his life to go after Marlene, a 14-year-old teenager with extraordinary beauty who burst into his life unexpectedly. One day, Marlene is taken from the custody of Augustus by Genaro, a psychotic sailor, who seduces and finally kidnaps her by taking to the ominous port of Tampico, where Augustus will seek her to try to free her, not without giving her life to pain and atonement, undergoing a deep personal transformation.More...
Similar Movies
There Will Be Blood
2007-12-26Ruthless silver miner, turned oil prospector, Daniel Plainview, moves to oil-rich California. Using his son to project a trustworthy, family-man image, Plainview cons local landowners into selling him their valuable properties for a pittance. However, local preacher Eli Sunday suspects Plainview's motives and intentions, starting a slow-burning feud that threatens both their lives.Elite Squad
2007-10-12In 1997, before the visit of the pope to Rio de Janeiro, Captain Nascimento from BOPE (Special Police Operations Battalion) is assigned to eliminate the risks of the drug dealers in a dangerous slum nearby where the pope intends to be lodged.The Bucket List
2007-12-25Corporate billionaire Edward Cole and working class mechanic Carter Chambers are worlds apart. At a crossroads in their lives, they share a hospital room and discover they have two things in common: a desire to spend the time they have left doing everything they ever wanted to do and an unrealized need to come to terms with who they are. Together they embark on the road trip of a lifetime, becoming friends along the way and learning to live life to the fullest, with insight and humor.Sahara
2005-04-06Seasoned adventurer and treasure hunter Dirk Pitt, a former Navy SEAL, sets out for the African desert with his wisecracking buddy Al in search of a confederate ironclad battleship rumored to have vanished long ago, the main draw being the treasure supposedly hidden within the lost vessel. When the daring duo come across Dr. Eva Rojas, a beautiful scientist who is juggling an escape from a warlord and a mission to stop the spread of a powerful plague, their desert expedition begins to heat up.Die Anruferin
2008-03-13A lonely woman's prank phone call leads to an unexpected friendship with a grieving widow.Like Stars on Earth
2007-12-21Ishaan Awasthi is an eight-year-old whose world is filled with wonders that no one else seems to appreciate. Colours, fish, dogs, and kites don't seem important to the adults, who are much more interested in things like homework, marks, and neatness. Ishaan cannot seem to get anything right in class; he is then sent to boarding school, where his life changes forever.Running with Scissors...
2006-10-27Young Augusten Burroughs absorbs experiences that could make for a shocking memoir: the son of an alcoholic father and an unstable mother, he's handed off to his mother's therapist, Dr. Finch, and spends his adolescent years as a member of Finch's bizarre extended family.The Libertine
2004-09-16The story of John Wilmot, a.k.a. the Earl of Rochester, a 17th century poet who famously drank and debauched his way to an early grave, only to earn posthumous critical acclaim for his life's work.Half Nelson
2006-08-11Despite his dedication to the junior-high students who fill his classroom, idealistic teacher Dan Dunne leads a secret life of addiction that the majority of his students will never know. But things change when a troubled student Drey makes a startling discovery of his secret life, causing a tenuous bond between the two that could either end disastrously or provide a catalyst of hope.Black Snake Moan
2006-12-31A God-fearing bluesman takes to a wild young woman who, as a victim of childhood sexual abuse, is looking everywhere for love, but never quite finding it.Before the Devil Know...
2007-09-26When two brothers organize the robbery of their parents' jewelry store, the job goes horribly wrong, triggering a series of events that send them and their family hurtling towards a shattering climax.The House of Lies
1926-01-22Adaptation of Ibsen's play Vildanden.The Fan
1996-08-15When the San Francisco Giants pay center-fielder, Bobby Rayburn $40 million to lead their team to the World Series, no one is happier or more supportive than #1 fan, Gil Renard. When Rayburn becomes mired in the worst slump of his career, the obsessed Renard decides to stop at nothing to help his idol regain his former glory—not even murder.Little Women
1994-12-21With their father away as a chaplain in the Civil War, Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy grow up with their mother in somewhat reduced circumstances. They are a close family who inevitably have their squabbles and tragedies. But the bond holds even when, later, male friends start to become a part of the household.Mädchen in Uniform
1931-11-27A sensitive girl is sent to an all-girls boarding school and develops a romantic attachment to one of her teachers.Infamous
2006-10-13While researching his book In Cold Blood, writer Truman Capote develops a close relationship with convicted murderers Dick Hickock and Perry Smith.Ring 0
2000-01-22Taking place thirty years before the events of Ringu, Ringu 0 provides the shocking background story of how the girl on the video became a deadly, vengeful spirit.Pulse
2006-08-11When the dead discover a means to contact the living through electronic devices, cellphones and computers become open gateways to monstrosities and destruction.New York Stories
1989-03-10Get ready for a wildly diverse, star-studded trilogy about life in the big city. One of the most-talked about films in years, New York Stories features the creative collaboration of three of America's most popular directors, Martin Scorsese, Francis Coppola, and Woody Allen.Children of Men
2006-09-22In 2027, in a chaotic world in which humans can no longer procreate, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea, where her child's birth may help scientists save the future of humankind.