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Elizabeth Taylor is gorgeous in this Richard Brooks/James Poe interpretation of Tennessee Williams’s stunning play that reveals truths about mendacity days gone by and family power struggles.

The story begins at Big Daddy Pollitt’s sixty-fifth birthday party, an occasion for the gathering of the Pollitt clan at Big Daddy’s antebellum-style, Mississippi mansion. Big Daddy is a grumpy, hateful old codger, very rich and very powerful. He dominates everyone around him, and his inability to express any kind of warmth or love provides one of the movie’s central turning points. But more than the birthday party, the family has gathered to find out if the old man is going to live or die. He’s dying presumably of cancer. It’s clear from the beginning, however, that the family is more interested in who will inherit Big Daddy’s lands and money than in wishing him well.

BD50 | 1080p AVC | 01:48:04 | 32 Gb + 3% rec
Language: English, French, German, Spanish (Latin & Castillian), Czech, Polish
Subtitles: English SDH, French, German SDH, Spanish (Latin & Castillian), Czech, Korean, Polish, Romanian, Turkish

Director: Richard Brooks
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives
Country: USA
Genre: Drama

Extras:

• Commentary by Donald Spoto: Spoto has written biographies of both Tennessee Williams and Elizabeth Taylor, and he's knowledgeable about both the play and its translation to the screen. While an admirer of the film, he is candid about its dramatic shortcomings.

• Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: Playing Cat and Mouse (480i; 1.33:1; 10:03): This 2006 featurette is narrated by Ashley Judd, who played Maggie in the 2003 Broadway revival of Cat. Donald Spoto is one of the interviewees, and the focus is on Newman, Taylor and Cat's place in their careers and filmography.

• Trailer (1080p; 1.78:1; 2:20): "Shocking impact and uncompromising realism!"