MovieChat Forums > Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) Discussion > One of the saddest but beautiful endings...

One of the saddest but beautiful endings ever.

posted 14 years ago by standrkm
13 replies | jump to latest

The film is great because it gets better and better as it goes on. The end is the best part however because it explains what is going on as everything before really spins you in circles.

I love how Brick and big daddy finally understand and clarify their feelings towards each other. Big Daddy finally understand that he did get more from his father than a suitcase and Brick really was loved and his father who finally realized his mistakes. I also like how his brother isn't totally mistreated at the end and you can see that they understand each other.
Sure Liz Taylor plays her same over dramatic loud voiced self but there's nothing wrong with it here because she's super gorgeous anyway. Sure Paul Newman doesn't look like a true alcoholic ever, but he is still cool and as ever. I understood it enough, I enjoyed parts of it enough, and I appreciated the story, direction, and acting. It's not a modern day moneymaking blockbuster, it is a great film.

If reincarnated,I'd return to Earth as a killer virus to lower population levels.
-Prince Phillip

[–] unapologetic_mocker 14 years ago

How was the ending sad exactly?

Obviously Big Daddy's prognosis was bad but I actually thought everything had worked itself out so well by the end that I was completely eleated, not the least bit saddened.

I know Tenessee Williams was supposedly very disappointed with how this film turned out in the end but I thought it was fantastic and worked very well. As opposed to the censors' changes to "A Street Car Named Desire" which robbed the film of all sense and purpose.

I actually thought Newman did very well as a drunk. He played contempt shockingly well, given that after seeing Cool Hand Luke(the first of his films I saw) I was convinced he was born to just smile.

[–] standrkm 14 years ago

It was sad in a way because of how it makes you look inside yourself. Maybe it's just me. I don't mean it was helplessly sad, but awakingly sad in a beautiful way. I thought Newman was great but I just meant alcoholic in real life don't look anywhere near as clean cut as he did. And he just looked to clean and sometimes made the whiskey look too much like tea. I mean have you seen billy bob thorton drunk in "Bad Santa" or "the trailer park boys" john dunsworth drunk. It was probably just the era and thats why he couldn't act like a drunk does or maybe its because they just wanted him to look like eye candy like Liz.

If reincarnated,I'd return to Earth as a killer virus to lower population levels.
-Prince Phillip

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] unapologetic_mocker 10 years ago

It was sad in a way because of how it makes you look inside yourself. Maybe it's just me. I don't mean it was helplessly sad, but awakingly sad in a beautiful way.

bystandrkm » Tue Jan 4 2011 16:05:55

I guess I can see that. There's definitely an emotionally gripping poignancy to it. Although I personally find it ends more on a thrilling note.

[–] Ulan_Dhor 14 years ago

Honestly I find the ending totally absurd and pointless because Brick and Big Daddy talked in circle without facing the truth once more time, the truth concerned the controversial friendship of Brick and Skipper and above all the repressed homosexuality of Brick. The filmmakers hadn't the courage to handle that theme and stuck that "straight" ending where Brick was going to make love with Maggie, it didn't work and doesn't make a sense for me, maybe it's a good ending for the audience but it makes the whole movie senseless. Brick was passing the buck all the time he couldn't stand Maggie, his father and everybody but at the end he realized the only one liar was himself; Brick hung up on Skipper when he said him "help me", "I need you" because he couldn't face the truth and then Brick defined himself a "drowning man that can't help another drowning man" I think all the movie is in that sentence, Cat on a hot tin roof is a story about two drowing men who can't help each other and that ending has nothing to do with it.

[–] standrkm 14 years ago

You know, I agree with you now that I think about it. I just find certain moments beautiful, but the film did feel like a big runaround. I wasnt blown away by the movie but I enjoyed the parts I chose to enjoy in a sense. Great observation and understanding of the film, thanks for the response.

If reincarnated,I'd return to Earth as a killer virus to lower population levels.
-Prince Phillip

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] PillowRock 14 years ago

The filmmakers hadn't the courage to handle that theme

I'll have to take issue with that assignment of blame.

It was NOT a matter of the film makers' choice or courage. Their hands were completely tied when it came to that issue.

It was entirely a matter of the censorship rules of the period. The Production Code strictly forbade any actual addressing of homosexuality. (Leaving only the loophole of things like Joel Cairo's floral scented business card implying the fact that he was homosexual. Those kinds of stereotyped behaviors would have been antithetical to the entire point of writing Brick with homosexual / bisexual tendencies.) The original stage script of Cat (with its homosexual themes) had no hope of being approved for production in the 1950s (in the US, anyway), much less of being released in American theaters.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] csmith2-2 14 years ago

"This was not about homosexuality in the slightest."

It's nice to have many different interpretations of great works. However, even an elementary understanding of Tennessee Williams and his works knows this statement to be false. 'Ulan' was spot on in his post.

[–] athomed 13 years ago

The movie takes the play in a different direction. This isn't a different interpretation, it's a different incarnation. The original play was inspiration for this movie but they couldn't get any of that through the censors. I think the movie stands on its own for what it is. It's one of my favorites so I strongly feel that way. I thought the reason why Brick and Maggie weren't intimate and were at odds was adequately explained. Haven't any of you ever felt so bad about yourself that you feel you can't have something? Then there's the Skipper part of the story which drove a wedge between Brick and Maggie. I think that plot is sufficient without calling attention to the homosexual aspect of the original play.

_______
Stripping under the name Malcolm Sex, I pleased the ladies by any means necessary.

[–] spookyrat1 11 years ago

"It's not a modern day moneymaking blockbuster..."

It was a big hit in its day. But I think you're right.

Even with a contemporary top flight cast, I couldn't see an updated version having the same impact at the box office as this did.

[–] yunie1281 9 years ago

I was just thinking this. None of their problems are really solved. I mean, Brick and Big Daddy may have learned to appreciate the people around them more and Maggie seems to have grown up some as she realized that not everything was about fighting over money and some decency and empathy are important. I feel Gooper might have grown more of a spine and stopped letting his wife dictate everything, particularly since he came to the realization that Brick wouldn't trash talk him to his father. Him starting to move past his lifelong need for his father's approval can only be good.

But that's just them growing as characters.

Big Daddy is still dying and that's going to hit all of them hard. The empire will still need to be divided up and I can't see them leaving everything to Gooper and I don't think Brick would know what to do with it. Reconciliation isn't that simple so even if Maggie and Brick are on a good path it's still going to be really hard and Skipper still killed himself. Best case scenario, Brick's going to need to get sober. Gooper doesn't seem all that happy with his life or interested in the children and his character arc ended with him shutting his wife down but they've still got to make that work. And Maggie might've seen that doctor but it's not like they had kids before Skipper's death so I guess we have to hope that Brick's capable of it, too.

It's optimistic but things are still a mess.