Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Synopsis: The family of "Big Daddy" Pollitt convenes at his and Big Momma's vast 28,000 acre East Mississippi plantation for his sixty-fifth birthday, although it may as well be for his funeral on the belief that he is dying. Despite his latest medical report being clean, in reality he truly does have terminal colon cancer, something the doctor only tells Big Daddy's two sons, Gooper Pollitt, a lawyer, and Brick Pollitt, who recently left his job as a sportscaster. Brooding Brick and his wife Maggie Pollitt, who have driven up from New Orleans for the occasion, are going through a long rough patch in their marriage. Brick wanted to split, but Maggie convinced him to stay married on the condition that she not pressure him for sex. In their troubles, Brick has turned to the bottle, leading to a drunken incident which has left Brick currently on crutches. Maggie believes Gooper and his wife Mae Pollitt are trying to orchestrate Brick out of Big Daddy's will. Brick and Maggie's saving grace is Big D
Genre: Drama
Director(s): Richard Brooks
Production: MGM Home Entertainment
  Nominated for 6 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 10 nominations.
 
IMDB:
8.1
Rotten Tomatoes:
97%
NOT RATED
Year:
1958
108 min
5,309 Views


We want Pollitt. Brick Pollitt.

We want Pollitt.

Brick Pollitt.

Don't you do that!

I'm warning you, Trixie.

Gooper!

Can't you stop your child

from putting her hands in the ice cream?

Couldn't you at least wash your hands

before you did that?

Maggie!

You stop that!

How could you do that to a child?

Like this, honey.

Did you see what she did?

I told her to wash her hands first.

One of those no-neck monsters

hit me with some ice cream.

Why do you call Gooper's kiddies

"no-neck monsters"?

Because your brother's children

have got no necks.

Their fat little heads sit on their fat bodies

without a bit of connection.

That's too bad.

Especially 'cause, if they have no necks

you can't wring them. Right, honey?

Here we are!

Come on, Buster, Sonny.

Go get in the car. We're all going to go.

Did you ever hear so many dog's names

tagged on to children?

They've got five monsters

and number six coming up.

They've brought the whole bunch here

like animals to display at a county fair.

It's so obvious, it's disgusting.

It's obvious what they're up to.

What are they up to, Maggie?

I'll tell you what they're up to, boy of mine.

They're up to cutting you out

of your father's estate.

Everybody knows Big Daddy's...

...dying of...

I ought to send Sister Woman a bill

for a new pair of stockings.

Do we?

Do we what?

Know that Big Daddy is dying of...

Don't you believe it?

You'll know soon enough.

Suppose he is?

There's some things you've got to face.

There's some things in this world

you've simply got to face.

Why was Big Daddy in that horrible clinic

for six weeks...

...if the examination didn't show anything?

Why did Brother Man bring his whole tribe

down here in this sticky heat?

And why so many allusions

to you and Rainbow Hill?

You know what Rainbow Hill is?

It's a place that's famous for treating

famous alcoholics and dope fiends.

I'm not famous.

No...

...and you don't take dope.

Otherwise you'd be a perfect candidate

for Rainbow Hill.

That's where Brother Man's

going to tell Big Daddy to ship you.

Over my dead body!

Rainbow Hill.

With you out of the way,

Gooper gets hold of the estate...

...signs the checks, and cuts off our credit

whenever he wants.

How'd you like that, baby?

You're doing just about everything...

...to aid and abet them

in grabbing control, after Big Daddy...

Well, you are.

Quitting work,

devoting yourself to drinking!

Breaking your ankle last night

on the high school field.

Brick?

We've got one thing on our side.

No, two things.

Are my seams straight?

Big Daddy dotes on you, honey.

He just can't stand Brother Man

and his wife...

...that fertility monster.

She's odious to him.

I can tell.

Just like I can tell he likes me.

That's the second thing

we've got on our side.

He likes me.

The way he looks me up and down,

and over...

He's still got an eye for girls.

That kind of talk is disgusting.

Anybody ever tell you

you were a back-aching Puritan?

I think it's mighty fine how that old fellow,

on death's doorstep...

...takes in my shape with what

I consider deserved appreciation.

Gooper still cherishes the illusion

he took a giant step up the social ladder...

...when he married Mae Flynn

of the no-neck Memphis Flynns...

...because she was queen

of the Cotton Carnival.

I can just see Gooper

falling for Her Majesty...

...sitting on that brass throne,

riding that tacky float down Main Street...

...smiling and bowing, and blowing kisses

to all the trash on the street.

You know what happened to her?

No, what happened to her?

Somebody spat tobacco juice in her face.

Some drunk at the Hotel Gayoso

leaned out the window and said:

"Hey, Queenie!"

Sister Mae looked up and smiled

and waved...

...and that drunk shot a squirt

of tobacco juice...

...right in her face.

Why are you looking at me like that?

Like what?

Like you were just looking.

I wasn't conscious of looking at you.

I was conscious of it.

- If you were thinking the same thing...

- No, Maggie!

- Why not?

- Will you please keep your voice down?

No!

I know you better than you think.

I've seen that look before...

...and I know what it used to mean.

- And it still means the same thing now.

- You're not the same woman now, Maggie.

Don't you think I know that?

- Don't you think I know...

- Know what, Maggie?

That I've gone through

this horrible transformation.

I've become hard and frantic and cruel.

Are you planning on meeting

Big Daddy's plane?

I get so Ionely.

Everybody gets that.

Living with somebody you love can be...

...Ionelier than living entirely alone...

...when the one you love doesn't love you.

You can't even stand

drinking out of the same glass, can you?

Would you like to live alone?

No!

No, I wouldn't.

Why can't you lose your good looks, Brick?

Most drinking men lose theirs.

Why can't you?

I think you've even got better looking

since you went on the bottle.

You were such a wonderful lover.

You'll be late!

You were so exciting to be in love with.

Mostly, I guess, because you were...

If I thought you'd...

...never make love to me again...

...I'd find the longest, sharpest knife

and stick it straight into my heart.

I'd do that.

How long does this have to go on,

this punishment?

Haven't I served my term?

Can I get a pardon?

Your finishing-school voice sounds like

you were running upstairs to say, "Fire!"

Is it any wonder?

You know what I feel like?

I feel all the time like a cat

on a hot tin roof.

Then jump off the roof, Maggie.

Cats jump off roofs and land uninjured.

Do it. Jump.

Jump where?

Into what?

Take a lover.

I don't deserve that!

I can't see any man but you.

Even with my eyes closed, I just see you.

Why can't you get ugly, Brick?

Why can't you get fat or ugly or something,

so I can stand it?

You'll make out fine.

Your kind always does.

I'm more determined than you think.

I'll win all right.

Win what?

What is the victory

of a cat on a hot tin roof?

Just staying on it, I guess...

...as long as she can.

Calm down. Not yet. Now wait a minute.

Where are the flowers?

Aren't you putting it on a little thick?

Get ready, now!

Mama, she didn't bring anything

for Big Daddy.

Pretty seedy looking flowers

for Big Daddy, huh, Gooper?

I picked them myself.

Looks like she picked them off a grave.

Don't talk about graves when we don't

know if Big Daddy's going to live or die.

Get ready.

Hello, Mae.

Hello, children.

Doc, isn't it great?

Kiss me!

Kiss your grandmother.

Darling Big Daddy!

You look fine, Big Daddy.

Doc, do you want to tell them the news?

The exploratory operation proved

there's nothing wrong with Big Daddy.

Nothing at all!

Just a spastic colon. And that's all.

- Great news!

- Isn't that great news?

That's the best birthday present of all.

Where's Brick?

Uncle Brick got drunk and broke his leg.

- How?

- What's that?

Got drunk again and tried to jump

the high hurdles at 3:00 AM.

That poor boy still thinks he's an athlete.

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Richard Brooks

Richard Brooks (May 18, 1912 – March 11, 1992) was an American screenwriter, film director, novelist and film producer. Nominated for eight Oscars in his career, he was best known for Blackboard Jungle (1955), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) Elmer Gantry (1960; for which he won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay), In Cold Blood (1967) and Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977). more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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