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The dialogue is sharp - at times so sharp that you can feel the barbs ripping into whoever is on the receiving end - and the plot moves along at a brisk pace. I'm not sure who to credit more, Tennessee Williams or director Richard Brooks, who adapted the stage play along with James Poe. I've never seen the play performed on stage, but I know lots of changes were made - much to the disappointment of Williams and Newman. Most of these changes, from what I've read, were made to eliminate the homosexual undertones in relation to Brick's character. I understand why this was done - the film had to comply with the limitations set forth by the Hays Code - but I can't help but feel that subplot would have added even more depth and intrigue to the film. Regardless of the differences between the film and original material and which writers deserve the credit, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a wonderfully written film from start to end.

Even a great script, though, can be completely undone by shoddy actors. Luckily, that's not the case here. I would say the film has three lead characters - Brick, Maggie, and Big Daddy. Each performer is sublime in their roles.

Paul Newman has long been a favorite of mine, but in the last year I've discovered or rediscovered a wealth of his earlier performances that have made me love him even more. In Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Newman gets to show a slightly different side than I am normally used to seeing. Brick is an alcoholic, mean-spirited, and almost petty man. Even though he's 30-years-old, he oftentimes acts like a teenager. He's downright cruel to his wife in some scenes and I found myself - for the first time I can remember - hating a character played by Paul Newman. Of course, that's a sign of a good actor. Newman disappears into the role, rarely if ever exuding the charm and wit that accompanies most of his characters. Brick's constant drinking - though he oddly never becomes drunk - and petulant attitude slowly fade away, but there's no magical resolution for the character.

Newman plays each scene terrifically and delivers every line with vigor and emotion. For a lot of actors, this would be a career-defining performance, but Newman is so good in so many other films that it might not even make my top five favorite performances from the actor. At the time, Newman was not the studio's first choice - or second or third, for that matter - as they originally wanted James Dean (who had died well before filming actually began), Robert Mitchum, Elvis, and Montgomery Clift (who all passed on the role). I'm sure Mitchum or Clift could have played Brick admirably, but I can't imagine any of them portraying the character as well as Newman did. For his work in the film, Newman received his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor, but like he was about to do time and time again, he lost to (I think) inferior competition.

On a completely different side of things, Elizabeth Taylor is an actress I had essentially no experience with prior to this film. The only thing I had seen her in was The Flintstones, which isn't exactly representative of her abilities. Taylor shines as Maggie, a beautiful, determined, and loving woman who only wants to make up for past mistakes and hold her family together.

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