Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)

“I ain’t living with you I’m living in the same cage with you.”

            Tennessee Williams’ plays are not some of my favorites. Most likely due to when I took a theater class in college the whacked out teacher I had made up find a Tennessee Williams play, pick a monologue, and act it. I remember not having very good luck finding a decent part I liked because I did not like any of the stories. I cannot remember which dialogue I picked nor the play I got rid of the book I bought. I especially did not like sitting through A Street Car Named Desire but I think it was because Marlon Brando gets on my nerves so bad. I wanted to watch Cat on a Hot Tin Roof because I needed to watch something different even though it was based off the Tennessee Williams play and Elizabeth Taylor who I cannot for the life of me stand was the main actress. Well, I must say I was pleasantly surprised with this film, I actually liked the story AND Elizabeth Taylor’s acting.

            Maggie (Taylor) and her husband Brick (Paul Newman) are not happy in their marriage. They are visiting his family home for his father’s birthday. Brick refuses any advance Maggie tries to make he tells her he is disgusted with her. Maggie is very upset with Brick because he has been drinking a lot. The night before he drunkenly went to his old high school track field and broke his ankle trying to jump hurdles. Maggie is also on edge because Brick’s father Big Daddy (Burl Ives) is dying and she is afraid with Brick’s drinking they will be left nothing and Brick’s brother Gooper and his annoying wife Mae with their six “no-necked monsters” will get everything.

            Maggie drives in her own car to meet Big Daddy and Big Momma (Judith Anderson) at the airport. Big Daddy went to a well known hospital to have exploratory surgery to see what was wrong with him. Big Daddy and Momma get off the plane and tell everyone he is going to live there is nothing wrong with him there is no cancer. Instead of driving home with Gooper and his brats he wants to drive home with Maggie whom he really likes.

            Brick refuses to come downstairs to the party he just sits up in the room and drinks. To make matters worse for him the family doctor came up to speak to him about Big Daddy, his father is not alright he is dying but the doctor did not tell him. Maggie comes up sometime later to bring Brick food and she sees him packing his things to go home to New Orleans. They have an argument and she makes things not any better when she brings up Brick’s best friend Skipper who died. Brick thinks Maggie slept with the friend which is why the friend killed himself. One of Gooper’s kids bursts into the room and starts making noises. Maggie flips out on the kid but the kid says she is just angry because she cannot have any kids. This makes her miserable since she cannot stand Gooper and Mae and the fact that they talk about she and Brick not having any kids yet. Maggie tells Brick that there is nothing wrong with that they can have kids but he responds that that will be a bit hard considering he cannot stand to be with her. During this time Brick tells Maggie about Big Daddy.

            Brick has enough of Maggie and goes downstairs to get more alcohol. Big Daddy walks into the living room where Brick is. He begins by saying he is sick and tired of people sneaking around getting into other business and reaches around the corner of the door and pulls Mae out and tells her to get out and mind her own business. Big Daddy wants to know why Brick started drinking and calls Maggie down. Brick blames her for killing his friend he says that she got him drunk and slept with him. Maggie says yes that had been her plan because she was mad and jealous that Skipper was getting in the way of their marriage that he came before she did. Her plan was to sleep with him to drive a wedge between Skipper and Brick but then she backed out because she would have driven a wedge between her and Brick instead. The truth is that Skipper killed himself because he had called Brick and Brick hung up on him and Skipper could not take that from his best friend. After that Brick has had enough he leaves in his pajamas during a storm to his car to drive back to New Orleans. Big Daddy follows, Brick just wants to be left alone to leave and he accidentally slips and tells his father that he is not well.

            Big Daddy runs to the basement to hide from everyone and to get his head around what he has just heard. Brick goes to his room to change. Big Momma is awfully upset and scared over the news. She yells for Brick and says in front of Gooper that Brick is her only son and needs him. Brick comes downstairs and hears Mae bashing him and Maggie defending him. Mae is an awful pain even her husband tells her to shut up. Maggie almost smacks her. Brick goes down to the basement to his father. They talk about things in their life and air their grievances. Brick tells his father that he, Gooper, and Big Momma wanted in life was to be loved by him and he never did.

            The talk really helped both father and son. They go back upstairs new people with different outlooks. To shut everyone up Maggie tells them she is having Brick’s baby even though it is not true. Brick, Big Daddy, and even Gooper back her up but Mae has a fit and knows Maggie is lying. Gooper tells his wife to just shut up. Brick calls Maggie upstairs and they make up.

            This is one film I have seen with Elizabeth Taylor where I thought her acting was fantastic. I sat there going “damn you Liz Taylor you’re actually really good in this film.” Really I loved every scene she was in when she was not in a scene I looked forward to the next one with her in it. The entire cast was just flawless. Paul Newman was hot as hell he was so gorgeous. He was wonderful as this moody depressed person. With Burl Ives it was so odd to hear him so mean since I am so used to hearing him sing Christmas songs and voice the snowman in Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Ives was excellent he played the same role in the stage play so he knew the material and what to do with the character. Judith Anderson was amazing. I am so used to her as Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca and Anne Treadwell in Laura where she was these dark characters with twisted motives and here she was this sad unloved woman. I was floored with her acting she was great I will look at her much differently now in the two aforementioned films.

            Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was a film I was not expecting to like at all but I found myself enjoying it and the performances. The story was not too bad but having read or seen Tennessee Williams’ stories before it is a typical storyline from him. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a stage play and you can clearly see in the film from the limited number of sets, the staginess, and all the dialogue that is definitely originates from the stage but I did not find it unbearable like some stage-to-screen films. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a classic film I highly suggest seeing to everyone. 

The Girl Who Had Everything (1953)

I really do not like remakes especially if they were of films that should have been left alone. Someone once told me the reason for remakes is because the originals were not good… if that was true than there would be no need for The Thin Man and Hitchcock’s Rebecca to be remade. The Girl Who Had Everything starring Elizabeth Taylor and William Powell is a remake of the incredible 1931 film A Free Soul starring Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, Clark Gable, and Lionel Barrymore. I only sat through this remake because William Powell is in it and I adore the man to no end otherwise I never would have even bothered especially because Elizabeth Taylor is the star.

            So the plot is this girl Joan Latimer (Taylor) has been given everything she has wanted in her life. Her father Steve (Powell) is a high powered attorney who travels all over the place for rich clients. One of his clients is the gangster Victor Raimondi (Fernando Lamas). He is currently on trial for running an illegal gambling establishment in New York City. Besides that he is known to have killed people and stolen and other typical gangster activities. He is being tried in Washington DC in the Supreme Court.

            Joan goes down to see her father in DC and as soon as the gangster and the good girl lay eyes on each other it is love at first sight. At first Steve does not mind but when Victor moves down to Kentucky where they live and starts giving her expensive things he tries to get Joan away from the guy. His plan backfires when Joan runs away to marry Victor in New York City.

            Back in the city Victor says he is going to give up his racket but does not when he reads that Steve has some new evidence that can convict him. Steve comes up to the city and Victor threatens him to go down to DC. Victor punches the poor guy and screams at him. Joan is beyond upset and wants to leave Victor but he will not let her. That night at a stop light Victor is murdered in a mob hit.

            God this film was so boring! It is worse knowing that it was a remake of A Free Soul which was incredibly sexy and shocking. Elizabeth Taylor is in absolutely no way Norma Shearer! I know that The Girl Who Had Everything was made in wholesome fifties and A Free Soul was made in the scandalous pre-code era but just thinking of Taylor at a young age playing a sexy scandalous woman who pretty much wants a relationship and sex like man if there had been no production code makes my stomach turn.

            William Powell was the only good part of this film. This was his last picture for MGM and one of his last films before retiring. Powell was just his wonderful self even dramatic and older he was charming even if he was not supposed to be. It was weird not seeing him funny or acting with the leading ladies I am used to seeing him with.

            Elizabeth Taylor I am not a big fan of and never have been. When she was younger her acting was alright but her voice just gets on my nerves. She was stunning I cannot deny or say she was not gorgeous.

            The Girl Who Had Everything felt like a waste of my time. As I said I only watched it because William Powell was in the film. You are better off watching A Free Soul which I highly recommend that is an awesome film.  

Ivanhoe (1952)

If you have ever read a book or seen a film about Robin Hood you basically know the story of Ivanhoe only the characters have different names and the plot is a little different but not by much. The story of this chivalrous medieval knight lacks much of the charm that Robin Hood has.

            Ivanhoe (Robert Taylor) was a knight in King Richard’s army during the crusades. On his way home from fighting he finds the king is still alive being held for ransom in Vienna. The knight returns home to England and immediately tries to fund funds to rescue the king. Ivanhoe has been disowned by his father Sir Cedric for going off to fight. He sneaks into his father’s home so he can he see Lady Rowena (Joan Fontaine) who is a ward of the king and his love.

            Sir Cedric has allowed two Norman knights one of them De Bois- Guilbert (George Sanders) to eat at his table. Also at one of the tables is a Jewish man named Isaac. Discussion of King Richard comes up and Ivanhoe reveals himself. His father is not too happy that he is back and does not believe the king is still alive.

            That night Isaac is attacked and Ivanhoe agrees to take the old man home. The two men discuss rescuing Richard with the money Isaac could get from his fellow Jews. Isaac does not want to bother because he feels he and his people are not welcomed anywhere. Ivanhoe sees the man has a young beautiful daughter Rebecca (Elizabeth Taylor). Under disguise she goes to Ivanhoe’s home to bring him her mother’s jewels as part of the ransom money. He catches her thinking her a thief but right away recognizes her eyes.       

            Much like the archer match in Robin Hood Prince John and Guilbert decide to hold a jousting tournament to bring out Ivanhoe. All the Saxons that have come up against the Normans have failed but of course Ivanhoe comes in and defeats all the Normans. He is badly hurt but Rebecca heals him. Rowena meets Rebecca at the match after Ivanhoe is wounded, she sees that that Rebecca is love with Ivanhoe and becomes a little jealous.

            Down the line in the story Cedric, Rowena, Isaac, and Rebecca are taken prisoner by Prince John and Guilbert. With the help of Robin Hood and his followers Ivanhoe manages to rescue everyone except for Rebecca who was taken away by Guilbert and Prince John. The prince puts Rebecca on trial for witchcraft since she learned healing from a woman who was accused of witchcraft herself. Ivanhoe challenges Guilbert to battle to the death in order to save the young girl. Guilbert really loves Rebecca he is willing to save her if she recounts her love for Ivanhoe.

            King Richard comes home to save the day. Ivanhoe and Rowena live happily ever after in love when Rebecca realizes that the knight is really truly in love with the lady.

            I loved Robert Taylor he was beyond handsome here and his performance was really good. He was perfect as a chivalrous knight he had the perfect look of determination and loyalty. Joan Fontaine in her few scenes was excellent. I actually liked Elizabeth Taylor. I read that Elizabeth Taylor and several other people felt she was not right for the role of Rebecca. I thought she was good it is one of her better performances I have seen and she was outrageously gorgeous. George Sanders was very good as well at first you hate him and then you get a soft spot for him because he really loved Rebecca. 

          The story I found so boring and dull it was not exciting in any way.  There were many good scenes such as the jousting tournament and where Robin Hood and his men storm the castle. As a romantic at heart I really liked when Ivanhoe and Rowena see each other for the first time after his long absence, it was sweet and Joan Fontaine played it fabulously. Now I understand that the film was based off a book and it felt like a big rip off of Robin Hood. I know it was set in the same time period and Ivanhoe knew Robin Hood but there were so many aspects of the story of Robin Hood in this story that I could not help comparing. Ivanhoe I found to be more serious which is probably why it was a little slow and boring.

            Ivanhoe is alright. The cast was very good they all worked well together and it was nice to see some of the cast in color. Ivanhoe is worth sitting through for the cast and some of the action scenes. Just try not to expect an exciting story. 

Julia Misbehaves (1948)

As a lover of classic films I often have a very difficult time finding films on DVD and even on youtube and through downloading sites. Thankfully I get TCM so I am able to catch many classic films that are unavailable anywhere else. Often I will see an excellent old film on TCM, look for it on Amazon or to download, and if it is not available I am left wishing to no end it was available on DVD. Julia Misbehaves starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon was one such old film that left wishing it was on DVD.

            Julia Packett (Garson) is a dancer and actor who makes very little money. Several years ago she was married to a man named William Packett (Pidgeon) and they had a daughter together but he left her because as he said he did not love her anymore and she let him take their daughter Susan so she could have a better life. They are still technically married they never divorced. Julia gets an invitation in the mail for Susan’s wedding. She has to go even though she has not seen her daughter in so long.

            William lives with his mother and daughter in the south of France. His mother is a pain in the behind and very overbearing and is no doubt the reason why William left Julia. When his mother finds out Julia is coming to the wedding she has her son meet his former wife in Paris to stop her from coming. On the ship over to France Julia meets an acrobat named Fred Ghenocchio (Caesar Romero) and his family. She decides to join his act for one night leaving a note with William that she cannot go out to dinner with him because she has accepted an invitation to the opera. William figures out where she is and sees her show.

            Julia never did see William in Paris and gets to his home before him. His mother is none too pleased but Julia could care less she just wants to see her daughter. She finally does and Susan (played by a sixteen year old Elizabeth Taylor) is beautiful. Julia finds out that Susan sent the invitation. The two women hug and cry after so many years apart. Julia decides to make up for all the years and Christmases missed she is going to buy gifts for her daughter but unfortunately she does not have any money. She goes to a gambling house loses her money but finds a very nice rich old man who is more than willing to give her money for some dresses he thinks she is buying for herself.

            She sneaks out on the old man and when she gets back to the house William opens the door for her. As soon as they see each other their old spark is reunited between them.

            As the film progresses Julia sees that Susan is not really in love with the man her grandmother has set her to marry she really loves a boy named Ritchie (Peter Lawford). William and Julia begin to fall back in love but two slight problems arise when Fred and his mother come by and the man Julia took money from is a friend of William’s (William sets up a gag with his friend that helps to get rid of Fred).

            This was my first time watching a Greer Garson film and one of her famous pairings with Walter Pidgeon.  I loved Greer Garson in this film I she was so hysterical. I know she is more famous for her dramas and won an Academy Award for Mrs. Miniver but she was so fantastic in this comedy. I was cracking up to no end when Julia did her stage show with Fred and his brothers. She had to be up in a tower singing and the brothers would climb onto each other and get her down. Well, Julia was not too happy about that she was terrified so she kept messing up the brothers and her singing. When she got down and finished her number she saw some sailors from the Royal Navy and sang their song. The whole time she is singing she is moving around on stage and the brothers are trying to get her off the stage but they keep pulling off some of her clothing like her wrap around her skirt and her gloves. You would have to see it I was cracking up. The ending is adorable: Julia is determined not to be left along with William in the middle of nowhere in his vacation house so she treks it out during a storm but he is watching the whole time. Julia gets stuck in the mud and digs out her shoe and slides down some fire wood. William comes out and the two of them are stuck in the mud. Garson was fantastic I enjoyed her so much I cannot wait to see her in her other films.

            Elizabeth Taylor was gorgeous and usually she gets on my nerves to no end but I really liked her in this film she actually acted nicely. The whole time Susan claims she does not like Ritchie because he fell in love with her and started kissing her but after talking to Julia and being purposely scared by a bear she sees how much she loved him. Peter Lawford was adorable he was so cute when he was younger.

            Julia Misbehaves is an adorable film. Not too many things are explained such as the whole reason why William broke things off and there is no animosity from Susan towards her mother for leaving her. The film came out after WWII when people really wanted something light and to forget about their problems for a while so there is no heavy explaining which is fine and it fit the storyline. It was nice to see an old film not look so much to the past but look ahead Julia was not a woman to really look backward she was looking forward.

            I really wish Julia Misbehaves was on DVD. Hopefully Warner Archives will eventually. If TCM airs the film again definitely catch it. 

The White Cliffs of Dover (1944)

“Such a nice young thing. Not a bit like an American.”

            Going into The White Cliffs of Dover I was expecting the most sappy, over dramatic love story that was most likely going to be alright with the only saving grace being Irene Dunne in the lead role. Yes the film is very dramatic and romantic but it is so sentimental, happy, sad, and tragic.

            The story of the film is told through a flashback of a woman who is working as a nurse during World War II named Susan Ashwood (Dunne). In 1914 before World War I started Susan along with her father Hiram Dunn (Frank Morgan) travel to England for vacation. As the ship is nearing the dock in London she can see the white cliffs of the island of Dover. Upon seeing the cliffs for the first time she cries she cannot believe the beauty that is before her eyes.

            Susan has a fantastic time in London even though the whole time people keep commenting on how un-American her actions, speech, and mannerisms are. Her father is very stubborn and ignorant towards the British he cannot wait for their week in the city to be over so they can go home to their small American town. Before they are set to leave Susan is invited to a ball where the only way she can get in is to pretend she is an Australian cousin of someone she knows. At the party a young man named Sir John Ashwood comes up to her thinking she is of Australian nobility. As the party progresses and ends the two fall in love. John takes her through bits and pieces of London and Susan is totally taken with him and the city.

            John and Susan eventually marry but not long after their marriage World War I breaks out and John must join his regiment. Susan and John’s mother wait on pins and needles to hear from him. The last time Susan sees John is when the wives of English soldiers are allowed to travel to France to see their husbands who have been away for more than two years. The reunion is happy but full of sadness not knowing what the future holds.

            Susan kept saying that she wanted America to join the War so that it could end and John can come home. When the Americans finally do enter the War they march through London Susan holds up her son who at the time is only three months old and tells him that they are his people as well since he is part Yankee and that he has witnessed the greatest men of them all march through London and that they will bring his father home. Unfortunately the Americans join the fight too late, John dies for his country. Susan is so distraught she takes her son and promises that no matter what he will not fight in any army British or American that he will never have to sacrifice his life for what she sees as something so stupid.

            John Jr. grows up and when he is still a young boy Susan wants to take him back to American. The young boy stops the trip when he innocently and passionately says that he wants to be like his father and fight for his country he is not scared to do so.

            Back in the present Susan hears that there are men coming in from battle and waits to see if her son could possibly be one of the wounded. He is and the outcome is not good for him. As Susan stands with her son the Americans are marching in just as they did twenty-five years previous.

            I cannot even describe to you how heartbreaking and amazing this film is. I was damn near crying so many times it was nuts. Irene Dunne is the reason why this film is so amazing. For the life of me I do not understand why she was not nominated and how she did not win an Academy Award. Dunne was a fabulous actress to begin with but in this film she was just utter perfection. I am so used to seeing her in her comedic roles that seeing her dramatic just blew me away. She was not over the top in any sense of the word. When watching Dunne in The White Cliffs of Dover you are not just watching an actress it is as if Susan Ashwood was a real caring and loving widow and mother. I will never ever stop being confused as to why she is not well known today and why she is so underrated. Irene Dunne is one of the best actresses ever.

            The older John Ashwood is played by Alan Marshal who I have never seen in a film before but liked him so much it was so sad to see him go so soon. The young John Jr. is played by Roddy MacDowell and at the end by a young Peter Lawford. Seeing Lawford playing Dunne’s son seemed a bit odd but she was twenty-five years older than him. Frank Morgan will always be the Wizard from The Wizard of Oz but he is always a good time to see in other films. He was funny always screaming out how Americans were better than the British. Elizabeth Taylor has a small part in the film as a little girl who lives on the Ashwood land with her family and whom John Jr. regularly visits. 

            I cannot even pinpoint the best scene of the film because they are all so fantastic. I liked the scene when Susan has gone back to the hotel after taking John to the train to rejoin his regiment at the front. There is a bandstand outside the room and all the people outside start shouting and become all excited. American has entered the War and the band starts to play the Star Spangled Banner. The only thing I really did not like was the back and forth about the Americans and the Brits. I love the Brits too much and I think I become more upset if someone says something nasty about them than if someone says something nasty about Americans (I am such a good American right?).

            At no point during The White Cliffs of Dover was I ever bored or wanted it to end. Let me tell you that with me that rarely happens when I watch any kind of movie. I can just gush forever and ever about how incredible this film is (even if it is one big shout of American propaganda) but just take it from me The White Cliffs of Dover is one of the best films ever made.