If you’ve never heard the word mendacity before, you’ll walk away from “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” with a full understanding of what it means — and why it matters.
In this emotionally-charged drama adapted from the Tennessee Williams play, lies, half-truths, and buried secrets swirl through a wealthy Mississippi family as they prepare for the inevitable death of their patriarch.
This is the fourth Elizabeth Taylor film I’ve seen, and like “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” it revolves around a combative, unraveling marriage — and is packed with heavy, confrontational dialogue. “Cat” leans into Southern Gothic tradition, layering melodrama and metaphor in a world where everyone has something to hide and something to lose.
While the movie dives into plenty of subplots — infidelity, infertility, failed dreams, a friend’s suicide, the looming specter of death, the bitter sting of unfulfilled expectations — it never strays far from its central theme: money and social status. Every argument, every confrontation, and every whispered scheme in the film traces back to wealth and inheritance. For this family, love may be elusive, but money is the glue holding it all together — sometimes barely.
Taylor and Paul Newman bring heat and heartbreak to their roles, and the supporting cast paints a vivid portrait of a Southern family rotting from the inside out. It’s a story soaked in sweat, secrets, and —yes — mendacity.
Awesome movie — Liz Taylor as Maggie the Cat, with Paul Newman and Tennessee Williams’ writing — it doesn’t get much better than that IMO. When it comes to films made from Williams’ plays, this one is at least as good or maybe better than “Streetcar.” It’s been awhile since I’ve seen either one of them — they aren’t on TV all that often.
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