Monday, August 5, 2013

LIFE LIST UPDATE – No. 946: Watch “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”

“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” by Tennessee Williams is considered a classic of Southern literature, and the 1958 motion picture adaptation of this famous play is one of the most famous movies of all time. I’ve always wanted to watch this movie, but I’d never seen it until the opportunity arose over the weekend. Not only did I enjoy this movie, but watching it also allowed me to scratch it off of my “life list.”

The motion picture version of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” was released in theatres in September 1958. It was directed by Richard Brooks and starred Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman and Burl Ives. This movie didn’t win any Academy Awards, but it was nominated for several, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Actress and Best Writing.

For those of you who haven’t seen this movie, it’s about a young married couple named Brick and Margaret Pollitt. Brick is the son of a wealthy businessman and landowner, Harvey, who is suspected of having a life-threatening illness. Brick’s lawyer brother, Cooper, and his pregnant wife, Mae Flynn, are maneuvering to acquire Harvey’s wealth while Brick and his wife tried to work out their marital problems.

This movie is based on Tennessee Williams’ classic play, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” which first premiered in March 1955. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama later that year. The screenplay for the 1955 movie adaptation of the play was written by Richard Brooks and James Poe. It’s been said that Williams and Paul Newman both hated the motion picture version of the play because it is significantly different than the original play. I’ve never read the play or seen a stage performance of the play, but I’d like to do both later on.

One thing that I didn’t realize or had never heard about “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” is that it’s a sports movie. The movie actually begins at a high school football stadium where a drunk Brick is trying to recapture his bygone glory days by jumping a set of hurdles on the school track. (He trips over the last one and brakes his ankle.) We later find out that Brick was a famous college quarterback who also played professional football. His best friend, who also turned out to be his favorite wide-receiving target on the playing field, committed suicide in part due to his lackluster performances on the gridiron. (It also had a little something to do with Brick’s attractive wife.)

I found myself really enjoying this movie. I didn’t know a lot about it beforehand, and it surprised me in several ways. It’s all about the importance of family and how we should treat one another. It also reminds us that material things aren’t the most important things in life, especially when we’re face with our own mortality.

In the end, how many of you have seen “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”? What did you think about it? Have you ever seen a stage performance of the play? Have you ever read the actual play itself? What did you think about them? Let us know in the comments section below.

2013 LIFE LIST ITEM “CONFIRMED KILLS” TO DATE:

1. Ate a peach from Chilton County, Alabama
2. Ate at Big Daddy’s Grill in Fairhope
3. Ate at Callaghan’s Irish Social Club in Mobile
4. Ate catfish at the Stage Coach Café in Stockton
5. Ate octopus
6. Attended a Beulah Campground service
7. Drank a fresh lemonade at Toomer’s Drugs in Auburn
8. Drank Cognac
9. Drank goat’s milk
10. Hiked the Grand Canyon
11. Joined the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society
12. Joined the Sons of Confederate Veterans
13. Made an origami animal
14. Listened to Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” without interruption
15. Listened to The Beatles’ “White Album” without interruption
16. Planted a vegetable garden
17. Ran the Alligator Trot 5K in Florala
18. Ran the Battle of Mobile Bay 5K on Dauphin Island
19. Ran through the Bankhead Tunnel in Mobile
20. Read all the Hellboy graphic novels
21. Read “And Then There Were None” by Agatha Christie
22. Read “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” by Roald Dahl
23. Read MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech
24. Read “Savage Wilderness” by Barry Ralph
25. Read the entire Bible
26. Saw the Ginkgo tree in Evergreen
27. Tried 100 different types of beer
28. Visited Ellicott’s Stone
29. Visited the Grand Canyon
30. Visited the grave of Lewis Lavon Peacock
31. Watched “A Streetcar Named Desire”
32. Watched “Brazil” (1985)
33. Watched “Dracula” (1931)
34. Watched “Nosferatu” (1922)
35. Watched “This Is Spinal Tap”

(AUTHOR’S NOTE: The whole point of these life list updates is NOT to draw attention to myself or to anything that I’ve done. Instead, I hope to encourage others to accomplish their own bucket list goals. I’m just a regular guy, and if I can do these things, so can you.)

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