Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)

A classic film adaptaion, and box-office smash hit for MGM, from Tennesse Williams' Pulizer Prize winning play, with great performances by leads Elizabeth Taylor (Maggie the Cat) and Paul Newman (Brick Pollitt). They are tormented souls, but nonetheless in love, regardless of Brick's lack of effection. The film (and of course, the play) is filled with so many complexities that it leaves you breathless literally and figuratively : Brick and Maggie visit his father, "Big Daddy" for his birthday, but he's dying of cancer. There's talk about inheritance and sibling rivalry. Brick is an alchoholic, temporarily disabled from an injured ankle, and is tormented by a past (his friend committed suicide) and as is non-effectionate with his wife. Maggie has demons of her own, including a revealed relationship with Brick's friend. Williams wrote the character of Brick to be gay, but this aspect was toned down in the film version. Williams had been known to say that he wrote this play to reconcile himself with his own father. Burl Ives plays "Big Daddy" in the movie, and Judith Anderson is "Big Mamma". Very good drama with two of the hottest movie stars of all time.