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MOVIES / ON DVD / CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

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Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)

100%
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90%
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100 %
Reviews Counted: 29 Fresh: 29  Rotten:0 Average Rating: 7.8/10

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 49 mins

Synopsis: This is the classic cinematic version of Tennessee Williams's breathtaking play about a crazed southern family torn apart by greed. Larger-than-life patriarch Big Daddy (Burl Ives) lays dying, and the members of his brood clamor for the inheritance. Paul Newman is Brick, the alcoholic son... This is the classic cinematic version of Tennessee Williams's breathtaking play about a crazed southern family torn apart by greed. Larger-than-life patriarch Big Daddy (Burl Ives) lays dying, and the members of his brood clamor for the inheritance. Paul Newman is Brick, the alcoholic son struggling in the shadow of his powerful father, and Elizabeth Taylor is Maggie, Brick's lingerie-clad temptress of a wife who will do anything for the love of her cold husband. Brick's younger brother, Gooper (Jack Carson), and his wife, Mae (Madeleine Sherwood), strive for Big Daddy's approval, but even though they have children and a successful marriage, Big Daddy is dedicated to Brick, a former football star with his own personal demons. Tensions mount as the family is forced together under one roof, where secrets are revealed and relationships are lost and found. Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman's performances serve as cinematic icons; the heat and hatred between them ignites the screen, fueled by Tennessee Williams's insightful and brilliant dialogue. [More]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives, Judith Anderson, Jack Carson

Director: Richard Brooks
Screenwriter: James Poe, Richard Brooks
Producer: Lawrence Weingarten

DVD Info

Release:

May 2, 2006

[DVD Details]
  • Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: Deluxe Edition
  • "I'm not living with you," Maggie snaps at Brick. "We occupy the same cage, that's all." The raw emotions and crackling dialogue of Tennessee Williams' 1955 Pulitzer Prize play rumble like a thunderstorm in this film version whose fiery performances and grown-up themes made it one of 1958's top box-office hits.
  • Paul Newman earned his first OscarO nomination* as troubled ex-sports hero Brick. In a performance that marked a transition to richer adult roles, Elizabeth Taylor snagged her second. Her Maggie the Cat is a vivid portrait of passionate loyalty. Nominated for six Academy AwardsO including Best Picture* and also starring Burl Ives (repeating his Broadway triumph as mendacity-loathing Big Daddy), Judith Anderson and Jack Carson, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof sizzles.
  • Source: Warner Home Video
  • Buy It On DVD

    Reviews

     
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    Ratings Image
    4/4

    The performances are the thing in this film version of the Tennessee Williams stage triumph, led by Ives, repeating his stage role like a force of nature.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    04/08/08
    TV Guide's Movie Guide
    Ratings Image
    N/A

    An intense, important motion picture.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    04/08/08
    Variety Staff
    Variety
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic
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    N/A

    Director Brooks skilfully elicits the best from his performers and script with the result that there were Oscars nominations for all concerned.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    04/08/08
    Channel 4 Film
    Ratings Image
    N/A

    Burl Ives and Judith Anderson are highly entertaining as the nightmare parents, Big Daddy and Big Mama, and Jack Carson has one of his last good roles as Newman's competitive older brother.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    04/08/08
    Dave Kehr
    Chicago Reader
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic
    Ratings Image
    B+

    Thematically, Richard Brooks' screen version of Williams' play is compromised (no mention of homosexuality), but it's well directed and deftly acted by Paul Newman and Liz Taylor (both at their sexiest), and especially Burl Ives as Big Daddy.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    02/07/08
    Emanuel Levy
    EmanuelLevy.Com
    Ratings Image
    4/4

    A mousetrap with teeth that grip and a musky atmosphere of frustrated sex and milky desperation that serves as poisoned bait.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    06/26/06
    Walter Chaw
    Film Freak Central
    Ratings Image
    N/A

    As so often with adaptations of Williams, it frequently errs on the side of overstatement and pretension, but still remains immensely enjoyable as a piece of cod-Freudian codswallop.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    06/24/06
    Geoff Andrew
    Time Out
    Ratings Image
    7/10

    ...the dialogue is so absorbing and the acting so intense, we hardly notice that 108 minutes go by or that there is a whole lot less to the plot than meets the eye.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    05/01/06
    John J. Puccio
    DVDTown.com
    Ratings Image
    N/A

    Still, this potentially over-scrubbed production kept enough of Williams' energy and poetic Americana intact, fleshing it up with an ensemble of career-imprinting performances and MGM production lavishness.

    Full Review | comment Comment
    04/30/06
    Mark Bourne
    DVDJournal.com
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    4/5

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    10/10/05
    Cole Smithey
    ColeSmithey.com
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    3/5

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    10/08/05
    Chuck O'Leary
    Fantastica Daily
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    4/5

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    07/06/05
    Emanuel Levy
    EmanuelLevy.Com
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    4/5

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    04/13/05
    Thomas Delapa
    Boulder Weekly
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    3/5

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    08/13/04
    Andy Klein
    Los Angeles CityBeat
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    3/5

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    06/22/04
    Frank Swietek
    One Guy's Opinion
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    4/5

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    02/27/04
    Daniel M. Kimmel
    Worcester Telegram & Gazette
    Ratings Image
    4/5

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    11/15/03
    Rich Cline
    Shadows on the Wall
    Ratings Image
    5/5

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    10/08/03
    Rebecca Murray
    About.com
    Ratings Image
    4/5

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    08/22/03
    Carol Cling
    Las Vegas Review-Journal
    Ratings Image
    4/5

    What a pack of trashy people these accomplished actors perform!

    Full Review | comment Comment
    05/20/03
    Bosley Crowther
    New York Times
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