“I Cannot Cure Myself of Loving You”

Based on a short story by Ernest Hemingway by the same name, The Snows of Kilminjaro (1952) is a film starring Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward and Ava Gardner. Harry Street (Peck) is a writer who has been on several adventures in various countries, including Spain and the current place he is in-Africa. However, Street has an infected wound on his leg and is certain that he is on the road to a slow and painful death. His delirium causes him to think back to what he has experienced in his life so far…specifically a past love who he now finds back in his thoughts. Her name was Cynthia (Gardner) and the memory of her is all he can think of, much to his current love’s Helen (Hayward) dislike.

Cynthia and Harry met in Paris and fell in love quickly. He told her he spent his time trying to write and she said that she spent her time trying to be happy. Together they lived in a small apartment where Harry could write his first novel. After recieving the check he earned for having it published both had different ideas on how to spend the money. Cynthia thought they’d buy a bigger apartment while Harry thought that this was the perfect time to go to Africa. Cynthia followed Harry to Africa where they hunted rhinos and explored the country. But when Harry wanted to go to several other countries, Cynthia felt disappointed as she realized that who she thought Harry would be didn’t match up to what he was really like. Eager for adventure and traveling, Cynthia wanted to stay in Paris and raise a family. Harry recounts the highs and lows of the relationship, but also the loss of Cynthia that happened just as quick as he met her.

The loss of Cynthia led to several other events happening to  him..from gaining recognition as published author and writing other novels to meeting other women, one in particular who he was about to marry until he decided to write to Cynthia hoping to find her again. Instead of wanting to travel and see the world, Harry now feels like a failure as a man. Helen argues with  Harry that he could never really love her as much as she loved him because he couldn’t quite forgive her or any other of the women he met prior for not  being Cynthia. Throughout the rest of the evening and into the dark hours of the night Helen helps Harry throughout his pain and attempts to change his thinking about his life. This is a great film starring some very well known film stars of the time about losing somebody you love and never forgetting them but the understanding to move foward in the present.

Someone’s in HOT WATER!!

I’ve  just finished watching a film of my favorite actor of the silent era, Harold Lloyd. In this film titled Hot Water (1924), Harold plays the husband to a wife (Jobyna Ralston) who has a very nosy mother, older brother who’s a bum and younger brother who’s always starting trouble and making a mess. This is kind of a typical situation that I think a lot of people can relate to, you know being in a situation as a husband (or wife) struggling to get along with in laws who seem to barge in. However, this movie pokes fun at the topic and makes a hilarious comedy that can be just as enjoyable now as it was when it first came out.

Harold Lloyd is first seen chasing after his friend who is getting married and as the best man, Harold is trying to convince his friend that he is making a mistake and being a bachelor forever is the best way to live. They are late to the wedding and running to the church when Harold bumps into a pedestrian and knocks her to the ground. He stops to quickly apologize but one look in her eyes and he’s fallen in love. Then the movie transitions to them as a married couple. Harold has just come back from the grocery store and overloaded with groceries along with a turkey he won at the store in a raffle. Exhausted he is surprised to see that his wife’s family are over. His wife’s older brother is smoking cigars and making himself at home. The little brother has shattered a vase that Harold failed to catch in time before it hit the ground causing him to get the blame for it. As if this isn’t enough the new car that he intended to surprise his wife with arrives at the house. Everybody wants to go for a ride but not before the neighbors run out of their houses to see the new car and admire it.

What’s meant to be a nice drive turns out to be nothing but even more trouble for Harold. Speeding, hitting cars and holding up an intersection of traffic cause damage to the car and disappoints the family. (As a sidenote, notice the neighborhood during the drive scene…I think that the houses are very pretty, don’t you think so?) Harold’s neighbor notices that everybody is going back in the house very upset and the car is destroyed. He motions Harold over to his driveway where he encourages him to tell his mother in law to “mind her own business”. Harold’s neighbor instructs him to take a gulp of alcohol from his flask to give himself power to do what’s right for his marriage and happiness. Harold ends up drinking all of it and hands his neighbor back an empty flask. It’s dinner time now and Harold is completely drunk! Mother in law is a strong believer in people being sober (mind you this is the era of prohibition) so Harold must think of something to do quickly before his wife finds out he drank. This is where the real fun begins as Harold is haunted with fear of consequences he’s facing in his own home with lots of hiding, running and misunderstandings that are hilarious!

I love silents and their simplistic stories they tell along with the music. But when you add in Lloyd you’re sure to be in for a treat. I think that he’s very funny and though I don’t believe I’ve seen every film of his, I have seen plenty to know that a person is sure to laugh during any film of his…in my opinion anyway. I’ll also add in that this is a little bit different than the characters Lloyd typically played. Usually they were guys trying to please the people around him, trying to get a  pretty girl’s attention and maybe even get rich along the way. So it was cool to see a different character who is already married and trying to achieve a solution to a family problem. (Though all of his characters in his films are either known as Harold or The Boy).

If you haven’t seen a Harold Lloyd movie then I think you should! Silents are fun to watch and just as interesting as a movie with sound. The music really helps set the mood of the usually simplistic stories so if you’ve never seen a silent before then don’t worry about being lost because that and the title cards will help you. If you’ve seen silents before and like then you already know what I’m trying to explain about watching these kinds of films. I think silents shouldn’t be forgotten because they’re apart of film history and helped get us where we are today but also this was a time when it wasn’t so much about having the best costumes or visual effects but more of just entertaining the public with a short story and good acting, mostly relying on the expression through facial expressions and movement.

Lighting Up Dark Places

Today I want to share with you some thoughts on one of my favorite Jeanne Crain films, Apartment for Peggy (1948).

World War II has been over for a few years now but it’s still affecting the lives of Americans. Professor Henry Barnes(Edmund Gwenn) is a retired philosphy instructor at a college, who is beginning to question what he has to live for. His wife died years ago, his son died in the war and Henry feels useless to the world now. This is quite shocking to his friends, other instructors at the college, when they find out that he wants to commit suicide. According to Henry, if he were dead then there is more room in the world for other people who are younger and stronger than he is who can live where he does and actually do something for the world..not just play music with friends and wait until the day that a sickness causes a painful death. Soon after he meets a GI couple who really shake things up in Henry’s life.

Jeanne Crain truly shines in her role as the 19 year old Peggy, the pregnant wife of a veteran from the war who is seeking a place for her family to live at. She talks fast and a lot but grows very fond of Henry (aka “Pop”) as she tells him her story. Currently they live in a friend’s trailer on campus but they must find a different place to live within a few days because their friend is coming back home. However there isn’t any place on campus for them to live and Peggy cannot work anymore so money is very tight since they live off of her husband’s check. William Holden plays Jason, Peggy’s hardworking husband, who is going back to school to be a chemistry teacher. Certain that her husband will be a great teacher, Peggy is trying to prove to him that he needs to go to school and earn his degree. When the housing dean mentions Henry housed a few men in his attic during the war Peggy pretty much invites herself to Henry’s attic.

At first Henry is annoyed with Peggy speaking too much and too fast. He dislikes that he has to put up with her and Jason, along with their dog and cat. But as time passes, Henry begins to enjoy the company of the young couple. Peggy is cheerful, resourceful, and very loving to the people around her. She brightens up people’s lives because of her ideas she has of life–the kind where people need to live their lives doing what they love best and trying to be the best person they can in their lifetime. This is what causes Henry to begin to look at the couple as not “guests”,”boarders” or anything of that like but more as a couple who’s become almost like family in his heart. So when trouble strikes in Peggy and Jason’s marriage, Henry is determined to help them both. Not because he feels like it’s what he should but because he wants to and he doesn’t want to lose the couple who have changed in his life in numerous ways over the past few months. Nor does he want to witness a couple who’s very much in love to lose each other.

In the end the three realize that after getting each other through the darkest times in their lives it’s brought them closer together. This film explores the struggle that veterans of WWII faced as they had to adjust back into the lives they led before going away to war and the struggle it was to go to school on GI Bill as well as supporting their wives and even children on it as well. There’s also discussion of what a person’s duty is in the world, why a person should take chances at their aspirations and not give up easily, and the determination of getting through unexpected and heartbreaking moments. This is a real sweet movie that will make you feel warm inside and appreciate the people in your life who make you feel like Peggy did. Or you might feel motivated to go and bright up somebody else’s life afterwards.

“You can let go now, Abigail.”

It’s the day that Charlie Mason (Dean Harens) has  been telling all of his friends about–the day he will marry his girlfriend Mona. Everybody is packing and getting ready to go on leave while all Charlie can do is just stare down at the wedding ring he can’t wait to give to Mona. A telegram comes then, breaking Charlie’s plans and heart. Despite being invited to go to New York with a friend, Charlie decides to go to San Francisco anyway to try and attain what he has lost. However bad weather prompts the plane to stop in New Orleans where Charlie is bombarded  by a fast talking news reporter who introduces himself as Simon Fenimore (Richard Whorf). Over a drink he tries to get Charlie to talk to him, aware that something is bothering the soldier on Christmas Eve. Simon decides that taking Charlie to a dance hall where he can have a good time.

There he meets Valerie (Gladys George) who runs the place and invites Jackie (Deanna Durbin) to keep Charlie entertained for the night. Simon passes out drunk that night in Valerie’s office but not before instructing her to give a card to Charlie where he can go to Christmas mass at. Charlie is skeptical of going to church but Jackie pleads that he goes and takes her too. There at the service Charlie sees Jackie crying uncontrollably and is unsure of what to do. Over a bite to eat after the service Jackie brings up her breakdown at the service and tells Charlie that she hadn’t ever cried that hard in her life. “Not since…” she trails off before asking again if Simon told him anything about her. Charlie says no and is then taken into another world when Jackie says her real name is Abigail Manette, the wife of the murderer Robert Manette (Gene Kelly).

Over dinner at a lunch counter and the following day, Abigail tells Charlie the story of how she met her husband aware that he was addicted to gambling but marrying him anyway. The story she tells is filled with hope, selfishness, secrets and pain as she is devastated that her husband’s addiction becomes so strong he ends up killing for money. Don’t be fooled though and think that Abigail had no idea, she was aware of the problem Robert faced and admitted to Charlie that she still loved him despite the crime he committed and attempted to keep secret from her. Abigail  has clearly been brainwashed though from Robert’s clingy and terrorizing mother, Mrs. Manette (Gale Sondergaard) who blames her for the reason why Robert didn’t give up gambling. Charlie is confused on how Abigail can say she still loves a man who seems to have only caused her pain. Abigail has finished and leaves to return back to work.

Charlie is heading to catch a midnight plane to go to California when he reads in the paper that Robert has broken out from jail. Startled for the safety of his new friend, Abigail, he takes a taxi to the dance hall. This is when trouble starts. Robert has a gun and he’s ready to use it too. Will Robert really take the life of the people who  have stuck by him in his life? Can Charlie do something in time to help save a friend? And most of all, will Abigail ever be able to let go of a person who’s weighed  her down for years and realize that she is not at fault?

This may not be exactly a cheerful family film for the holidays  but don’t turn away from it. Durbin performs a few songs as she does usually and her voice is amazing! Not only is a treat to hear her sing but her acting is great, especially  in this one. This is so different from the films she had done prior to this. Her acting throughout the film is flawless as she is pretty much playing two people…but especially the ending is going to give you chills as she must face what she refused to do. And Gene Kelly! I haven’t seen too many of his films but the ones I have seen are the opposite of the kind like Robert. Wow, it was a little funny at first but this is not a joke cuz Kelly does a great job playing a man who starts out sweet and turns into a real scary and dangerous man to be around. Don’t pass up this drama film, you’ll be moved by the story played by a strong cast!

“Oh Nicky, I love you because you know such lovely people.”

Here’s a story that’s not quite a Christmas tale, but takes place around the time of Christmas. I’m here to post a bit on one of my favorite movies, The Thin Man (1934). Inspired by a book of the same name, this is the first of six films with Myrna Loy and William Powell portraying the classy and very much in love married couple who always wind up with a mystery to solve.

Dorothy (Maureen O’Sullivan) goes to see her dad Clyde to let him know that she will be getting married and asks that he promises to return from the trip he is about to take very soon because they will be getting married after Christmas. That is the last that Dorothy sees  of her absent-minded father because as time goes on she cannot get in contact with him and he isn’t back in town like promised. Panicking her fiance, Tommy, tries to comfort her until Dorothy recognizes Nick Charles (Powell) at the bar. I love how Nick’s first appearence in this film shows him at the bar teaching the bartenders how to make a dry martini. Not only is it funny to see his demonstration but it’s also something to remember because Nick always drinks alcohol, you’ll notice that in this and the other films. After saying hello to Nick and introducing her fiance, Dorothy meets Nora Charles. Loy’s character enters with Asta, their dog (wired hair fox terrier for those who are curious), running inside pulling her along as she holds tight onto his leash. Nora has several packages she’s trying to hold onto as well as she’s sliding along the floor before the packages fall and she does too. In my opinion it’s one of the greatest scenes in movie history, you have to see it to believe it. This scene really shows how talented Loy was because she didn’t trip herself, she just fell for real…and this was filmed only once. Anyway, Dorothy wants Nick to help her find her father, since she has known him ever since she was a little girl. Nick declines since he’s helping Nora take care of some businesses she inherited 4 years ago, but decides to get involved when it turns out that Dorothy’s father is suspected of the murder of his girlfriend. As Nick continues to help the police along with Nora, suspects add up and a few secrets from the suspects reveal the truth at the dinner party in this murder mystery/comedy!

This film is what made me love the 1930s so much!! Myrna Loy’s costumes are gorgeous. The lifestyle of the Charles is very luxurious, a different way of living to what the average American lived like during this era. The supporting characters are very interesting. (Did I mention that one of them is a young Cesar Romero?) Especially at a party scene where all the Charles’s guests are people who Nick had sent to jail as they were the criminals from his past cases. But an even bigger reason to watch this is the chemistry between Loy and Powell. They are by far my favorite movie couple, both stars work so well with each other as they exchange witty and flirty dialogue to each other. I once read that Powell and Loy sent a message to America that being married was fun and romantic, instead of sending America a message that marriage is being tied to a person who you will grow apart from and get tired of. And I have to agree with that, seeing the Thin Man made people back then wish that they could have a relationship like that. This is why people wrote so much fanmail to Loy and Powell, seeking advice as if off screen they were married. Don’t worry about  the movie dragging on because you’ll be hooked from the very beginning thanks to an excellent director and cinematographer.

So if you’re looking for a movie to watch sometime soon check out this one and the rest of the films that go with it. (I will write about the rest in the future.) You’ll love stepping into the glamourous life of the Charles’s and being swept up in this mystery with them!

Shipwrecked Wife Returns

If you haven’t seen My Favorite Wife (1940), you must! This is a screwball comedy that’s lots of fun, loaded with the cast Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Gail Patrick, and Randolph Scott. Here’s the story: 7 years ago Ellen Arden (Dunne) went away on a trip when her ship became lost and after searching for his wife, Nick Arden (Grant)  has no such luck and Ellen is pronounced dead. Nick meets Bianca (Patrick) and they are wed immediately. However, that same day Ellen arrives at her house and is happy to see her two children Tim and Chinch, even though they don’t know who she is. In fact, they’re not even sure that Ellen is a “she” at first because she’s wearing men’s clothes and has on a captain’s hat. Ellen talks to Ma, Nick’s mother, and is surprised to find out that Nick has remarried and his new wife isn’t very nice.

Ellen plans to go to the hotel where Nick and Bianca are at to surprise Nick. Nick is in awe as the elevator door is closing and he catches a glimpse of his not-so-dead wife standing in front of him. And this is where things get funny with Nick’s jitteriness as he’s stuck with Bianca, a snobby and impatient lady who is puzzled by her husband’s behavior. Unsure of how to tell Bianca that Ellen isn’t dead after all, Nick and Bianca return to Nick’s house where Ellen poses an old friend from the south. When Bianca isn’t around Nick finds out that Ellen has a few things she hasn’t told him either..such as that she wasn’t alone for those 7 years on an island but rather stranded with another person-a man.Stressed out from having to live a double life where he’s the husband of Bianca but also falling in love again for his former wife, Nick attempts to tell Bianca when the police step inside his house and arrest him for bigomy.

The dialogue is funny, especially the scenes of Nick trying to figure out how to tell Bianca the news. And one of my favorite parts is when Irene Dunne is talking to Ma and asks so casually, “How was my funeral?” and Ma says what a good sermon the preacher gave and Irene Dunne replies, “I wish I could’ve been there.” The only thing I’ll mention in terms of things I didn’t like is that I felt like the ending dragged out a bit and minor problems in the story weren’t resolved completely…but I won’t say that it ruins the movie. It’s a good one that will make you have some laughs and if you like the pairing of Grant and Dunne then you will enjoy this…just don’t think too much about a few pieces in the story.

Live as you have to, not as you wish

Now I don’t usually like to repeat film stars because I know I haven’t a diverse group of stars for the movie reviews..but today I was having one of those days where I felt like I needed to escape and get away. You know those kinds of days where nothing goes right and you just want to be set free from something thats holding you down? This isn’t my personal blog but let’s just say that I instantly thought about a movie I could relate to in the moment..a bit of a different situation is what this film is about but it’s a good one. I’m talking about the Ginger Roger’s movie, Primrose Path (1940).

Ginger Rogers plays Ellie May Adams, the oldest daughter of a spoiled little sister Honeybell Adams (Joan Carroll) prostitute mother and alcholic father who lives with their stubborn  grandma. It’s a small old house on Primrose Path where people who are poor live. Everybody talks about Mamie Adams (Majorie Rambeau) who’s always going away on trips and Homer (Miles Mander) who went to college and is wise about Greeks (the headline of this post is the opening line of the film, a quote from one of the Greeks)…but spends most of his time drinking gin before passing out. Ellie May does her best to take care of her family though it isn’t the life that she’s happy with. It’s one day that she goes to the beach to get some clams where she meets Gramp (Henry Travers…Clarence from It’s a Wonderful Life! YAY!) who gives her a ride to the beach and buys her a sandwich from his burger shop alongside the shore. With her hair in braids to trick strangers into thinking she’s a young child, the Portguese women at the lunch counter find Ellie’s appearence amusing. Ellie May surprises everybody by having a sharp tongue back to the waiter, Ed Wallace (Joel McCrea) who’s cracking sarcastic jokes with the customers. Ed ends up following Ellie to help her get clams and gives her a ride back to town where he tries to “get a rise” out of her. In love with him, Ellie shows up at Bluebell bar that night to see him again by trying to look more grown up this time and less like a kid as earlier that day. But when that backfires and Ellie becomes the joke again she caves in and tells Ed a lie about her folks so he won’t turn her away because she doesn’t want to go back to her home ever again.

I know there’s a watermark on this one but this is Gramp helping Ellie May

Ed and Ellie marry and things are going swell till her mother makes a cameo at the burger stand. Ellie is scared because Ed senses that something is bothering her and asks her to be honest. Fearful of what Ed will say, Ellie tells him briefly of her family before Ed cuts her off so they can visit her folks. However, things don’t go as planned as the lie brings a consequence that neither saw coming. And then trouble in Ellie’s family strikes and it spills over into her marriage.  Can Ellie May get her life back the way it was just a few nights ago?

Please watch this movie whether you’re having a down in the dumps day like I did or an amazing day because this is a movie that has a great story about meeting a person you don’t want to lose and trying to conform against certain surroundings to make your life a happier place, while people along the sidelines tell you that you’ll never get there.

Invitation to Dinner

I haven’t posted in weeks because I have been very busy with school.  But now I’m back with a little post on the film, Dinner at Eight (1933). Based on a play, this film has a handful of stars including John Barrymore, Jean Harlow, Lionel Barrymore, Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery. In the film, Mrs. Jordan (Billie Burke) decides to hold a dinner the following week for her two friends, Lord and Lady Ferncliffe, who are said to be the richest people in England. Mrs. Jordan invites some interesting people as guests to this, including Carlotta Vance (Marie Dressler), a retired actress who is fading from the spotlight, Larry Renault (John Barrymore) who is an actor that’s struggling to keep his career going, Dan Packard (Wallace Beery) who is a businessman that’s mean but successful in what he does and his wife Kitty Packard (Jean Harlow) who is lonely and unaware of what’s going on around her…due to the fact that she’s very focused on what is going on with her only, Dr. Talbot (Edmund Lowe) who is a doctor to the Jordans and everybody else like them but has affairs with his female patients on the side.

One of the movie posters for the film with some of the cast members.

Mrs. Jordan is so busy trying to make the dinner perfect by choosing guests who are from the same class as her and doing everything in her power to make a good impression on the Ferncliffes that she becomes cluelesss to the issues in her own family. Her husband is stressed with work and is suffering from health issues while her daughter is in love with one of the guests invited for dinner despite having a fiance. These problems are only a fraction of the others that the dinner guests have. One thing is for sure, even though they are unaware of their issues either by choice or by pure innocence to reality, the problems will eventually unfold and they are forced to deal with them on the night of what’s supposed to be a very fancy dinner party.

Mrs. Oliver Jordan greets Kitty and Dan Packard on the night of the dinner party

If you haven’t realized by now, this movie takes place in the beginning of the Depression and explores the adjustments made by people who have been hit the hardest, specifically wealthy people. Struggles of making and having money is only one the concerns from these people who are selfish, in love and who want to be in control. This is a good movie to check out if you’re interested in a precode or if you’re interested in seeing Jean Harlow. I personally thought that the movie was all about her character but it’s more about the Jordans specifically..so be warned if that’s your intention. Still, Harlow does make appearences and if you’re interested in her film career it’s worth it unless you want a film where she is the main one. I liked the movie because of the costumes, makeup and sets (the 30s is one of my favorite decades) and because the Depression is apart of history that I’ve always been interested in learning more about…but maybe it was because I had a long day, I just felt like at times it was a little hard to get into with many different characters being established as well as their problems and I kept waiting for the day of the dinner to come already. I’d go into more specific detail of what I mean but I don’t want to ruin the ending. So overall, I’d say that this movie is good but not my favorite or something I plan on replaying anytime soon. Don’t let me form your own opinion though. Check it out because this will be a dinner party that you won’t forget with people who are having to adjust to what they have no idea will be one of the most difficult decades of the century.

That’s all for now. I’ll try to repost some more this week that probably won’t be about movies because I doubt I will have time to sit down and watch a classic till the weekend.

An Imaginary Sweetheart

(sheet music from the film)

I just finished watching an early Ginger Rogers film from 1933 called Professional Sweetheart. Rogers plays a radio singer named Glory who is supposed to represent purity and morals, the expectations of her sponsors who are trying to  get her to sell their wash cloths. Off the air though, Glory wants to drink and smoke and go out with men-alone. Her contract that she is being chased down to sign forbids her from being seen with a man alone, swearing, drinking, smoking and even eating certain foods she wants to..such as caviar. Glory cries in anger that she was happier three years before when she was at the orphanage because here she is in New York and there’s  nobody to take her to Harlem, a place she is dying to go to. In hopes of having a compromise, her sponsors decide to find her a man who she can dedicate her songs to and get publicity from. So they grab a basket full of fanmail and choose one letter. The letter chosen will be Glory’s boyfriend, played by Norman Foster. Foster’s character, Jimmy, changes it all. He’s not from New York and lives away from the city. He does not sing either, he likes to write poetry instead. When he does come to New York to meet Glory, the sponsors control Glory’s life even more as well as taking over Jimmy’s. They are told what to say, how to say, and when to say it. Jimmy finds himself falling for the sponsor’s tricks until he’s told by Glory how unhappy her life is and how she wants to get away. That’s when Jimmy has a plan, to wed Glory like the sponsors are hoping; give him and Glory a chance to get to know each other-alone; and to live a “simple life”, like Glory said on the radio.

(movie still from Professional Sweetheart)

The plan seems pretty good because it’s a secret and is what Jimmy is sure Glory will be happy with and wants. Or does he really know? And do the sponsors’s belief that Glory wants a playboy to mess around with are true-or are Glory’s dreams of having somebody to love genuine? Watch what happens when Jimmy and Glory go back to the country where Jimmy lives and if Glory can really adjust to living in a world where everybody loves her and will spoil her to a place where if she wants something she has to do it herself. This is a pre-code film to pass some time because it has a great cast.The only thing that i didn’t like was the script seemed to kind of drag out the story so a few times I was a little bored. A few other things to  note is Roger’s singing. In other films I knew that it was her own voice, but in this one I thought she sounded really different was dubbed. After the movie I read she was dubbed by Etta Moten and this is the only film Rogers made that she didn’t perform with her own voice. Nonetheless this movie is worth watching, especially if you like pre-codes and/or are a Ginger Rogers fan.

“Maggie the cat is alive. I am alive!”

 

Today’s post is about Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958).

Maggie (Elizabeth Taylor) is frustrated trying to help her husband Brick (Paul Newman) lay off the alcohol while at Brick’s father’s, Big Daddy’s (Burl Ives), plantation. Big Daddy’s 6oth(?) birthday has arrived and everybody, even Big Daddy himself, is unaware that he is dying of cancer. However during the celebration you feel tension from Maggie and her sister-in-law Mae (Madeleine Sherwood) because Maggie has no children while Mae, the “fetility monster” as Maggie refers to her, has “no neck monsters” running around and she is always making it known that Maggie has no children to take after the plantation in the future. Gooper, Brick’s brother and Mae’s husband, is successful and it’s obvious about that but he is seeking approval throughout the film. The real conflict is Brick’s drinking to help ease his emotions towards “the truth” about a deceased friend, Skipper, that he wishes his family would not know about. However, there’s a hint that this “truth” he is supressing has to do with the past after seeing the opening scene of the movie where Brick is on the field at the high school jumping hurdles and hearing the cheers of the audience, after glancing at the empty rows of benches. This is the reason why he is on crutches throughout the film too because he broke his leg. There’s a second hint that this “truth” has to do with Maggie too after the conversations she and Brick have about Skipper,not sleeping in the same bed together anymore, “conditions” that they agreed to, and the way he constantly rejects her. Brick is completely in his own world, talking insensitively to his wife and even to his father who he doesn’t  have a good relationship with. In the end, the “truth” does come out and causes  Brick to come to terms with the differences he has with his father,the troubled marriage with Maggie and healing from the pain of the past that is haunting him day after day. While movie posters show Taylor sitting on a bed, this movie isn’t about a marriage having no sex but it’s about a marriage that’s on the rocks from lies and trust brought on from the past. There’s lots of symbolism in this movie. I will say the title’s. Maggie is the cat, who is afraid of jumping off the roof from the fear of not knowing where she will land. Two other symbols are the word “mendacity” (which you will hear a lot) and his crutch. I don’t want to say anything else.

If you’ve read the play by Tennessee Williams, you shouldn’t expect the movie to follow the play. I’ve never seen the play or read it but I do know that the story is different. The suggestion of gay relations had been removed when adapting the play into the script due to the Hays Code. (These guidelines were active from 1930-1968 and basically said what was inappropriate for American films. This was prior to the film ratings that we’ve got today, which replaced the Hays Code.) This did not please Williams.

Anyways, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is one of my favorite movies. I’ve read so many people say that this movie is wordy and weak but in my opinion it isn’t. I personally love Elizabeth Taylor’s movies. But it wasn’t just because she’s in it that I love this movie. I really liked Paul Newman’s performance in this as he played Brick.This is one of the movies where the whole cast is good though.Which star “steals the show” is completely up to you. A few last tidbits about this are some facts I’ve heard about. While shooting this movie Elizabeth Taylor lost her husband, Michael Todd, in a plane crash and according to Newman, Taylor said that playing Maggie the Cat “saved” her. Also, this was supposed to be filmed in black and white but was filmed in color instead when Newman and Taylor were the main characters because of their eye color that audiences associated them by. (Taylor’s violet eyes, Newman’s blue eyes.)

Bottom line: On a scale of 1-10, I’d give this movie a 10! I love it and everybody should see this at least once in their life! Click here to see the trailer.