Although Newman reportedly shared author Tennessee Williams’s disappointment with changes made to the original script that removed any implication of its central character’s homosexuality, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof  saw him become a bona fide movie star, and earned him his first Oscar nomination. Brick Pollitt (Newman), a star athlete in his younger days, has found himself in a childless, tempestuous marriage to Maggie (Elizabeth Taylor) and still in the shadow of his father, Big Daddy (Burl Ives). As a result of his unhappiness, Brick is slowly but surely becoming an alcoholic (a problem Newman himself shared for many years). Over the course of Big Daddy’s 65th birthday celebrations, secrets are revealed and relationships redefined in this powerfully performed piece.

Screening as part of the Paul Newman: American Icon season.