Film Forum

(1958, Richard Brooks) Okay, so he’s on crutches. But why is Paul Newman cold-shouldering his slip-clad wife, Elizabeth Taylor’s Maggie the Cat? And then Newman and “Big Daddy” Burl Ives (repeating from Tennessee Williams’ Broadway smash) discuss “mendacity.” DCP. Approx. 107 mins.

Reviews

“POWERFUL. As a portrayal of the depths of loneliness we create for ourselves, and an example of the power of star performance, it’s a great film…Cinematographer William H. Daniels takes full advantage of the beauty of [Taylor and Newman], lighting them better than they had been before. Each frame is brimming with dusty golds, rich browns, faded blues. At times the film looks like a faded photograph out of a family’s scrapbook, adding to the melancholy...Elizabeth Taylor's performance as Maggie stands as the film's crowning glory.”
– Angelica Jade Bastién, The Village Voice 

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