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Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

List Price: $19.97
Your Price: $15.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Classic
Review: Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor and Burl Ives. What more does one have to say? This movie is marvelous.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Family Feud
Review: I'll begin by saying I have neither read nor seen the play version of this story, so I cannot compare them. But I have read and seen other Tennessee Williams plays, and I have always been impressed by how richly the characters and conflict are drawn, and this story is no exception. The one thing that stands out the most for me in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof is the character of Maggie as played by Elizabeth Taylor. She's incredibly beautiful and sexy in her role as the frustrated Maggie, and it is one of her greatest performances. But she's not the only one that delivers. Paul Newman is excellent as her alcoholic husband Brick, Burl Ives as Big Daddy fills the screen with a powerful performance, Judith Anderson as Big Mama is also strong, and Madeleine Sherwood as the very fertile sister-in-law is so good at being catty and greedy you'll hate her. The story explores the lies, the rivalries, and the greed that tear apart a Southern family. The way they talk about each other is very pointed and often humourous, but the way they hurt each other is painful, and Williams and the screenwriters manage to walk a fine balance between the two. This is one of the screen's great dysfunctional families, and also one of its most memorable.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best performance Burl Ives ever gave
Review: Most people cite this one as memorable because of the performances of Taylor and Newman, and while both are excellent, I think it's Burl Ives as Big Daddy who literally steals the show (he and Madeleine Sherwood, who is also excellent, were reprising their Broadway roles). Taylor gives what I feel is her best performance on the heels of personal tragedy (as many film fans know, her husband Mike Todd was killed not long before this movie in a plane crash) - this is probably her most subdued performance and to me, she's always better when she keeps herself under control (as compared to, say, "Reflections in a Golden Eye," "Cleopatra," or "Boom!"). Madeleine Sherwood definitely deserved an Oscar Nomination as "Sister Woman" May, one of the screen's most hideous harridans, the "monster of fertility" (you just want to give this woman some birth control tablets). It's hard for me to concentrate on symbolism when I watch this movie - I get engulfed in some of the humor and the general family warfare that prevails, but like all Williams plays / films, it features a fragile Southern woman who ends up getting trounced on ("Big Mama" Judith Anderson) and a whole slew of characters who are hiding things about themselves and are too scared to face reality (I think every character could be put under this umbrella in one way or another). Without a doubt, my favorite Tennesee Williams drama and the best one adapted to film (yes, I remember "Streetcar.")

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: BIG DADDY ATE THREE HE'PIN'S OF ''HOPPIN' JOHN''!
Review: One of the best Tennessee Williams plays adapted for the screen. Liz Taylor is perfect as Maggie, and Burl Ives is unforgettable as Big Daddy. Paul Newman give a focused, anguished portrayal of Brick, and Judith Anderson is magnificent as Big Mama. And Mae and Gooper's kids are no-neck monsters because "their fat little heads are set right on their fat little bodies"!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Hot Stuff
Review: How did they do it back then? No nudity, no cussing, not much in the way of explicit anything, yet this has to be one of Taylor's sexiest roles. Everybody in the piece does a good job.

Guess all they had was a good story and a lot of talent and effort in telling it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: You won't regret buying this.
Review: I do agree that Liz Taylor outdoes herself in this film....but the real star is undoubtedly Newman. His brooding southern boy routine steals the show - fine acting at its very best. And not only that. The entire cast is outstanding. It's an overall well-made film.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Smell That Mendacity
Review: Excellent screen adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play. Newman and Taylor shine in the lead roles as an alcoholic ex-athlete and his money grubbing sexpot of a wife. However, the film is stolen by Burl Ives' portrayal of dying family patriarch, Big Daddy Pollitt. Ives deserved an Academy Award for this film instead of The Big Country for which he won. He's much better in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: It is the best movie that I have ever seen.
Review: This is, in my opinion, one of the greatest movies ever made. I especially like the acting. Burl Ives (Big Daddy) and Paul Newman (Brick) could not have been better. Movies today sometimes seem to forget about that. They are usually preocuppied with how good the special effects are. This movie was very intense from the beginning to the end. My favorite subplot (there were several!) was the conflict between Brick and Big Daddy, which would have kept me watching by itself. But there were several intense plots. Brick and Maggies marital situation, which related to the Skipper story, Big Daddy and Mommas marriage, and obviously Gooper and Sisterwomans desire to inherit the estate. Although my favorite part was the intensity, I also thought that this was a hilarious movie. Big Daddys obvious dislike for Mays kids, even though Big Momma says he loves kids, and Goopers constant insistance that May shut up. This movie has it all. Excellent acting, awesome plots, and just enough comedy to keep it from being too heavy without turning it into a comedy. It has everything that a great movie needs to make it a classic.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Cat Hot, Hubby Not
Review: Taylor does something spectacular for underwear; she is her most beautiful and had no problem playing the ultimate belle from hell. Newman, on the other hand, was on glue I think--you wanted to pull his crutch out from under him to get some kind of a reaction. Big Daddy Ives hams it up, but it works. You feel sweaty throughout the whole movie.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Excellent film! Dramatic, intense.
Review: I had watched the orginal movie 'Streetcar Named Desire' with Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh, and honestly loved it. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, is just as great. The characters move the story along, and simply put it is the characters basically who are the ones that are dramatic and intense, sometimes self-destructive, tragic and pitiful, comic, but mostly searching, as the plot acquires the same somber feel and mood. While you watch it you become glued to the screen and this strange, rather mixed-up Southern family and as in other Tennesse' plays, it is the characters essentialy that are all important, with their strengths and many weaknesses. Great performances from both Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman.


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