Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is the movie adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play. It was a box office hit in 1958. The movie stars Paul Newman as Brick Pollitt. Brick is married to Maggie, portrayed by Elizabeth Taylor. Brick and Maggie take a trip to visit Brick’s family’s plantation in Mississippi, where Big Daddy has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, a truth that is unbeknownst to him. He has been given a year to live. This movie chronicles the events of a Southern family whose wealth drives a wedge between their relationships. Brick’s brother, Gooper and his wife, Mae, have many children, while he and Maggie have none. Big Daddy wants them to have children so as to produce an heir, but Maggie has a hard time getting Brick interested in her due to the death of his very best friend, Skipper. This essay will chronicle the events that take place upon Bid Daddy’s arrival from his trip.
The airplane is a visual representation of the immense wealth of Big Daddy. It is a private plane, used by just a few people. Disembarking from the plane with big daddy are big mamma and their private physician. The arrival of the airplane presents the public with the roles that each character will contribute to the plot. Maggie’s lateness was due to the fact that she was trying to persuade her husband to accompany her to the airport. This can also allude to the fact that she is late in bearing grandchildren for Big Daddy, who desperately wishes for she and Brick to have children. While there, she is chastised for bringing nothing. She compliments a little girl who is holding flowers, with Gooper commenting that, “Looks like she picked them off a grave.” This commentary suggests that Gooper secretly wishes for his father to die in order to claim the inheritance. The children are busy singing songs, showing their hypocritical nature. Their behavior does not stem from an act of love but rather it is a constructed effort to win over Big Daddy’s inheritance. Big Daddy seems so annoyed with the children and their behavior that he practically ignores them and gives his attention to Maggie, whom he prefers. When Bid Daddy asks Maggie about Brick’s whereabouts, the children shout out, “Uncle Brick got drunk and broke his leg.” This rash outburst serves to shame Brick and endear Big Daddy to the children, but it does not matter because Big Daddy prefers to ride with Maggie than Gooper and his family. Mae is hurt as she shushes the children, realizing the shenanigans the children are put up to are not having an effect. The doctor’s face is painfully aware of the devastating news he is choosing to keep secret at the moment. The airport’s hustle and bustle reflect the energy of emotion that the characters are feeling in this scene, from the children’s bombastic energy, to Mae’s jealousy, to Maggie’s frustration at not having her husband present and to Big Daddy’s annoyance at all the senseless noise being made by the children.
The second scene offers us an element of deception. Here is the scene where the family stops to check up on the plantation. Big Daddy replies that he “has a million different feelings left in me, and I’m going to use them all.” However, he does not know that the doctor was not completely honest because he did not reveal the truth. Big Daddy thinks his health issue is a minor one and nothing severe. He is excited to be alive and to know that he has more years left in him. However, Maggie, Gooper and Brick all know the truth but at the moment do not wish to let him know. His thoughts and conversation are interrupted by the loud car horns that bring in the children and the rest of the family. Big Daddy then wonders why they have all of a sudden come to visit him. Maggie replies that it his birthday, but Big Daddy is still confused because he says it has been his birthday before and they had not come to visit him on previous occasions. He says, “But I had one last year and the year before.” The camera then focuses on Brick, who has not changed out of his pajamas and is seen consuming alcohol. This reflects utter carelessness on his part but it also reveals a more disturbing situation. He is depressed because he had just lost his best friend Skipper and found out that his wife Maggie had tried to drive a wedge between them. She had been jealous because Brick and Skipper spent a lot of time together. This movie, however, does its best to eliminate any references to homosexuality (Radigan). To make matters worse, his father is dying. His depressive mode, like the loud car horns, interrupts the happy mood that Big Daddy is in and foreshadows the truth that will be revealed later.
Works Cited
Radigan, Caroline. Cat On a Hot Tin Roof. N.p.: Signet, 1958. Print.
