Cat on a hot Tin Roof is a play by Tennessee Williams. It tells the story of a Southern woman who suffers in her husband's oppressive home and from her unfullfilling marriage.
Moreover it revolves around the lies in the ageing and decaying Southern society. The setting is Big Daddy's birthday party. Big Daddy has cancer and will not celebrate another birthday All the relatives have come presumably to receive a share of Big Daddy's enormous wealth. The only one who ís oblivious to the old man's inheritance is Brick, who has started drinking after his best friend has died. Big Daddy is happy during his birthday because he has been told that he will not have to die, which is a lie. Thus the central theme of the play is mendacity, a word Brick uses to describe his disgust about the world.
The play also contains suggestions to homosexuality or at least the role of homosexuality in the Southern society. It is not clear if Brick is really homosexual but the society's strict rules make his behavior at least appear that way.
There are two versions, one of which was influenced by Elia Kazan, who directed the play on Broadway and the other, without any ínfluence, which was performed for the first time in London, England.
Film version
A 1958 film based on the play stars Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives, Jack Carson, Judith Anderson and Madeleine Sherwood. The movie was adapted by Richard Brooks and James Poe, and directed by Brooks.
It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role, (Paul Newman), Best Actress in a Leading Role, (Elizabeth Taylor), Best Cinematography, Color, Best Director, Best Picture and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.
Tennesee Williams detested this adaptation and advised people not to see it. Bowing to the tenor of the times, all references to Brick's homosexuality were removed.
Television
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was remade for television in 1976, starring Laurence Olivier, Natalie Wood, Robert Wagner and Maureen Stapleton. It was directed by Robert Moore. Another television version appeared in 1985, starring David Dukes, Penny Fuller, Tommy Lee Jones, Jessica Lange, Kim Stanley and Rip Torn. It was directed by Jack Hofsiss.
