“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” Still Sizzles After All These Years

Every month, Coronado Island Film Festival (CIFF) treats the town to a classic movie at the gloriously restored 1947 Village Theatre at 820 Orange Avenue. You may have seen these films a zillion times on TV, but to see them the way they were meant to be seen –  larger than life on the big screen – is a whole new experience!

Join CIFF on Wednesday, July 31, for the 1958 film adaption of the Tennessee Williams 1955 Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” Feast your eyes on two of the most gorgeous icons in cinematic history, Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman, who star as Maggie the Cat and her alcoholic husband Brick Pollitt. Burl Ives, reprising his role from the play, also shines as the bombastic family patriarch, Big Daddy Pollitt. Doors open at 5 p.m. for complimentary adult beverages, followed at 5:30 by a vintage cartoon and the feature presentation. Tickets are $15 and are on sale now at coronadofilmfest.com.

Creating a sense of claustrophobia and tension, while adding to the film’s Southern personality, the story is set in the confines of the family mansion and takes place over the course of one day in the life of the wealthy southern Pollitt family. The family, in all its glorious dysfunction, is gathered under one roof to celebrate Big Daddy’s 65^th birthday. The film also stars  Jack Carson and Judith Anderson, along with an impressive supporting cast. This movie is a Master Class in ensemble acting, worth watching closely for that reason alone.

Although Tennessee Williams was disappointed in the changes to his original play, necessary due the the censorship of the time, the film nonetheless holds up brilliantly as a thought-provoking study of the complexities of the human relationship. It was well-received critically and at the box office, and was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Paul Newman), Best Actress (Elizabeth Taylor), Best Director (Richard Brooks), Best Writing (Richard Brooks and James Poe), and Best Cinematography (William Daniels). It was MGM’s most successful release of 1958, but “Gigi” swept the 1959 Oscars with a record-breaking nine wins!

Next month, celebrate America’s love of baseball with the 1984 heartwarmer, “The Natural,” starring Robert Redford, on Aug. 28. Tickets are available now. And – YES! – now is the time to get your badges for CIFF 2024, Wed. Nov. 6 – Sun. Nov. 10.