Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

It's the sweltering South in the world of Tennessee Williams where a bunch of psychologically probing relationships come together to celebrate the birthday (probably the last) of a wealthy, dying patriarch. Burl Ives and Paul Newman turn in strong performances as the father and a drunkard son respectively. Elizabeth Taylor looks lovely, though verges on over-acting as Newman's long sufferring wife. It's not as raw as A Streetcar Named Desire nor as lurid as Suddenly, Last Summer (though it has many of Williams' trademark themes such as the unspoken details of the relationship Newman once had with his best friend, Skipper, who later committed suicide). Though in some ways, it's one of the most touching films based on one of his plays. The father-son story and the husband-wife story are filled with emotional immediacy, and as they began to resolve themselves, I found myself strangely moved. The desperate attempts at Southern accents were often distracting, as were the annoying kids. Richard Brooks provides strong direction.