He's tried to earn his father's love without really intriguing against his younger brother. And he's generally not a bad sort. Yet his father is showering all his affection on his younger, more athletic brother.
What's your take?
I'm aware, of course, that the movie / play isn't meant to be fair, but still.
The idea is that Gooper and Mae are greedy, grasping petty people. He's largely let off the hook at the end, and it's made clear that Mae is the truly awful person, but his primary motivation is the inheritance, not his father's love.
In the play, it's implied that Gooper isn't Big Daddy's son, which explains a lot, but the movie leaves that out.
"In the play, it's implied that Gooper isn't Big Daddy's son, which explains a lot"
Yes it does, thanks for mentioning it.
I haven't read the play but I thought the movie was heavily implying that Gooper wasn't his son, especially with the whole part about Big Momma telling the story about how she was already pregnant when Big Daddy came to her to claim the child as his. I was let down by there never being a reveal as I felt they were building up to it.
shareIn the play, it's implied that Gooper isn't Big Daddy's son, which explains a lot, but the movie leaves that out.
Absolutely.
Gooper is my favourite character, along with Ada (Big Momma).
He is basically a very decent, "nice" guy who has been consistently wronged by his parents.
And he is splendidly rendered in this film!
Its sometimes like that. Parents feel sorry for the child in trouble while the good one is expected to behave
shareJack Carson, a delightful character actor who excelled at comic parts, does wonders with this part. Usually, Gooper is just an...ah...a--hole. Jack Carson makes him seem....tragic.
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"Why do people always laugh in the wrong places?"
--Johnny Carson
Well, maybe... but he is a NICE ah-a-hole! :)
And yes, that, too, is thanks to Carson's marvelous interpretation.
(SUPERBLY supported by Madeleine Sherwood!)
I think Carson is unduly all-but-forgotten today.
He really was a great, great actor.
(I loved him in "Strawberry Blonde", too.)
Jack Carson was such a great character actor. And he was definitely Oscar-worthy as "Wally Fay" in "Mildred Pierce", as well as in this movie. He had small, but memorable comic parts in "Arsenic and Old Lace" and "Stage Door". He was very good in the 1954 "A Star is Born", and an odd little picture called "Blues in the Night". I imagine he could have given us many more memorable movie moments if he hadn't died at the tragically-young age of 53.
shareBrick reminds Big Daddy of his carefree father, Gooper just wants to be just like Big Daddy. Big Daddy actually hates some aspects of what he has become, plus he prizes individuality. Gooper is a lackey.
Outside the street's on fire in a real death waltz
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Gooper and the wife and the kids are a typical family - there are lots of people
like that and they are trying to get the best they can for their kids. I actually found their side of themovie more interesting than all the blubbering that went on between Big Daddy and Paul Newman. Elizabeth Taylor is very beautiful from top to bottom and she does a fine job acting, but in the end she's yet another big fanny stuffed into a tight dress. I Wish the story showed a little more about Gooper and May's family. Madeline Sherwood was a fine
actress and though she was not overly glamourouss, she was not hideous either - she was fascinating.
Interesting both her and Jack were canadaians
It behooves the Jews and Arabs to settle their differences in a Christian manner
Gooper gets treated the way Gooper deserves to be treated. It's pretty obvious that Big Daddy is a self-made man and a guy who respects toughness. Gooper is a sycophant who's blatantly obvious in his motives. He lets Big Daddy run his life in hopes of getting his money one day. Big Daddy knows this, and treats him accordingly. Brick does his own thing, and doesn't seem to care much about what anyone thinks...Big Daddy included. That's something that Big Daddy can respect, so he prefers Brick.
shareThats pretty harsh. He does what his father wants him too because he wants his fathers love and acceptance. He didn't know Big Daddy would get cancer and die at 65, he was only 25 when Gooper was born, so no way did he speculate that his father would die and leave him anything - he would be old himself by then.
If Big Daddy respects toughness, why does he like Brick who is a totally pathetic wuss?
Most likely bacause Brick is much younger and he probably had him because he wanted too, while Gooper more or less was an accident that ended his life as a womanizer.
Gooper totally and utterly gets screwed, no excuse for that. He's the firstborn son and he gets nothing, absolutely disgusting.
All the best people have bad chest and bone diseases. It's all frightfully romantic!
Remember when Goppers wife acusses Brick of telling lies about Gooper to Big Daddy to get BDs money?
Brick looks at Goppers and asks:
"Do you believe that Gooper?"
And Gooper just shakes his head, smiles a little and says:
"No, I don't."
That tells a lot about what kind of man Gooper was. He did everything his dad wanted, maybe to get love and respect, but in the process became his own man.
BRICK was the youngest, most loved and needed the most help in his life.
Gooper although a little fawning over his dad was his own man, Brick was not.
It behooves the Jews and Arabs to settle their differences in a Christian manner
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"...big fanny stuffed into a tight dress". You noticed that too ? LOL ! I know you mean more than in the literal sense but I couldn't help noticing how 'full' Liz was in this movie.The camera moves quickly away from her whenever she has her back to it (or judicious editing). Not taking a cheap shot here, just that I was reminded at how times/fashions change.
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Yeah, I think Gooper is getting the shoddiest treatment. It happens in a lot of families, where one child doesn't get his share, and everything he tries to "earn" it sees him being rejected. Usually he'll either get angry and rebellious - and get shunned even more - or he'll try to be amenable and live up to expectations and find that he's just shunted aside and taken for granted. It's shoddy, and it happens every day.
This fate for Gooper is one of the things I thought the movie got right, that a lot of stage productions I've seen haven't quite captured. Gooper's usually played as a flat-out greedy pain in the arse, but I don't think that's it at all. I think it's clear he's tried and tried to get his share of attention and favour from his father - done everything that was asked of him - and all he's gotten back is Big Daddy's contempt and disregard.
I think by the time of the play he's close to breaking and is a tragic figure in his own way. I know much is made of Maggie being "the Cat", but the genius of this play is that there's more than one. I think all of the family members are in their own way a cat on a hot tin roof.
You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.
The story is kind of like the Biblical tale of the Prodigal Son, but with women, children, repressed gayness, and the father's own admission of guilt thrown in.
"Shake me up, Judy!"
From the viewpoint of Gooper the movie is a lot like the parable of the prodigal son. As the other brother he pretty much does what the father wants him to do and is taken for granted if not ignored. The big difference of the parable and the movie is the character of Brick. In the parable the prodigal son wants the father's money now and then of course goes out and spends it on riotous living. Brick doesn't want his father's money, just his love.
shareGooper, as played by Jack Carson, is fascinating. The scene towards the end where he speaks to his mother and appeals for decency and fair play is almost heartbreaking, truly a fine piece of acting. This film was my first introduction to Carson, not realizing at the time what a terrific comic actor he had been for many years before "Cat". Afterwards, it seemed like I was seeing him in practically every classic film, most memorably in "Mildred Pierce"
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Gooper, as played by Jack Carson, is fascinating. The scene towards the end where he speaks to his mother and appeals for decency and fair play is almost heartbreaking, truly a fine piece of acting. This film was my first introduction to Carson, not realizing at the time what a terrific comic actor he had been for many years before "Cat". Afterwards, it seemed like I was seeing him in practically every classic film, most memorably in "Mildred Pierce"