The Incredibly Stupid Ending of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"

Paul Newman's character in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," the 1958 adaption of Tennessee Williams' iconic play, is a disillusioned, depressed drunk. He's borderline abusive towards his wife, played by Elizabeth Taylor, and he cares not for his brother, sister-in-law, nieces and nephews, nor his parents, one of whom is dying. He is childless and has quit his job. Any joy from any other character only seems to exacerbate his misery, and he stays upstairs for as long as he can, drinking himself practically to death, resting his broken leg (which he got from an accident caused by his drunkenness).

He's also clearly a gay man.

LGBT themes are surprisingly somewhat prevalent in 1950s American cinema. Watch "Rebel Without a Cause" and tell me that's not an incredibly gay film. "Suddenly, Last Summer" (also featuring Taylor) and "Ben-Hur" also have gay subtext. So, too, does "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." Just about anyone in the modern era watching it would recognize that Newman's character, Brick, is meant to be a gay or bisexual man, almost obtrusively struggling with his sexuality while his wife suffers from a loveless, bitter marriage. But at the conclusion of the film, during the incredibly stupid ending of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," he suddenly becomes straight, I guess. Out of nowhere, he gets his libido back and is about to make love to his wife just as the end credits arrive. But this isn't the only thing irritating about its conclusion. The wife, Maggie (Taylor), is not completely innocent herself; her major flaw is struggling to get the inheritance of her father-in-law's estate, and she'll do practically anything to get it. Her father-in-law, "Big Daddy" (Burl Ives) is a tyrannical mammoth of a titan who is said to have favored his alcoholic son over the more responsible one, is flirtatious with Maggie, and shouts venom at his adoring wife. Big Daddy's other son, Cooper (Jack Carson) and his wife (Madeleine Sherwood) are just as eager to get their hands on that money, so just about every character has some obvious crookedness--even the doctor lies and the deacon, too, wants Big Daddy's money.  

But at the ending, just before Brick and Maggie are about to get funky, suddenly most of these characters are washed of their sins. Cooper gives up the fight, and Big Daddy suddenly is kind towards Big Momma. The only villain still villainous is Sister Woman; she still wants that money, and her children are still monsters.

"I need something to believe in!" This is the line Brick shouts when explaining his melancholy. Did 20th Century Fox really think audiences in the late 1950s were that stupid that they would believe, and enjoy, such a dumb line? That line is essentially the essence of the adaptation's diversion away from the gay theme. Brick in the film apparently isn't depressed because his male lover is dead, and that Maggie may have been the cause. He instead is depressed because when his friend died, he lost something to believe in. I don't quite get that, and I can't imagine anyone--in 1958 or in 2015--buying it. It's as if Ike and Dick themselves got their hands on Williams' play and scrubbed it with moralistic simplicity. Ben Gazzara, the original Brick on Broadway, turned down the role in the adaption, and I imagine that was partly the reason. Ives, who would win the Oscar the following year for "The Big Country" and who was also nominated for his role (a role he originated on Broadway), complained about the changes, as did Newman. (Newman deservedly was nominated for an Oscar.)

This is not to say that "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" is a bad movie--the cast, especially Ives, more than help make up for the deficit. It's a recommendable movie, but one with a stupid yet typical ending, one where all's well that ends well.