Still purring after all these years

On Wednesday, CineVerse peeked inside the bedroom of Brick and Maggie for an intimate examination of Tennessee Williams' sexually amped play adapted for the big screen in 1958. Here's what we concluded:

WHAT SURPRISES YOU ABOUT THIS FILM, PARTICULARLY WHEN YOU CONSIDER ITS YEAR OF RELEASE (1958)?

• It hints at controversial subtexts, including repressed homosexuality, sexual frustration, alcoholism, cancer (not named, but insinuated; cancer was a word almost never mentioned in films before the 1960s), and infidelity (possibly between Brick and Skipper, and/or between Maggie and Skipper).

• The alluring sexuality of Elizabeth Taylor on display: she is scantily clad throughout many shots, and her unrequited sexual pining for Brick makes her even more appealing to male viewers fantasizing about taking Brick’s place.

• The dynamic acting range of Burl Ives, known more as a singer, who steals the scenes he’s in and has arguably the best dialogue written for him.

• The dramatically charged story, which grabs our attention—despite lack of plot and the fact that the story takes place entirely within Big Daddy’s mansion in a very stagey setting. Why is it riveting? It benefits from:

o emotionally deep personalities

o strong character development

o erotic undertones

o excellent dialogue

o A list casting, particularly the pairing of attractive sex symbols of the time like Taylor and Newman; also consider that Taylor was grieving over the sudden death of her third husband at the time, which colors her performance.  

THIS PLAY, AND MOVIE, IS RIPE WITH KEY THEMES. CAN YOU IDENTIFY ANY?

• Deceit and dishonesty: Maggie and Brick’s relationship suffers from lies, secrets and deceptions. Is Brick telling her the truth about why he drinks and hates his wife? Is she telling him the truth about her relationship with Skipper? Is Big Daddy honest with his family, and vice versa?

• Desire: Maggie craves Brick’s physical and emotional affection, but is denied; Brick desires his relationship with Skipper, but his friend is dead; Big Daddy and his wife desire a grandson from Brick and Maggie; Gooper and family desire Big Daddy’s riches and favor.

• Relying on a crutch: Brick literally uses a crutch to get around, and he turns to alcohol as a crutch to cope. According to SparkNotes: “(The crutch’s) removal at the hands of Maggie and Big Daddy symbolize Brick's castration, a castration concomitant with the revelation of his unmanly homosexual desires. This crippling of the most masculine of men is crucial to Brick's "sexiness." The crutch's continuous restoration and removal—in a sort of game of "now he has it, now he doesn't"—appeals to the fetishistic one.”

• Doubling and mirroring: Brick and Big Daddy mimic each other in that they each have a deep, dark secret (Brick his buried homosexual longing for Skipper, and Big Daddy his hidden terminal illness) that must be revealed and received by each other. Once they have this showdown, their problems can be emotionally resolved because they force each other to confront what is troubling them.

o Why is a showdown between Brick and Big Daddy more necessary than a showdown between Brick and Maggie? Because the two men are the ones most repressing and fantasizing (Brick fantasizing about a Skipper relationship that can never be, Big Daddy fantasizing about Maggie and his son having a son of their own and Brick assuming his rightful heir to the throne role).

• The dysfunctional vs. healthy family: This is not a healthy extended family; Big Daddy and Brick suffer from illnesses and disabilities; Brick and Maggie are incompatible, sexless and childless; and Gooper’s family is a grotesque spoof on the ideal American family. Big Daddy and Mama long for Brick and Maggie to harmonize and create the idyllic family that Gooper has denied them. Mama’s comment that when a marriage is on the rocks, the rocks are in the bed, underscores that the solution to everyone’s problem here is for Maggie and Brick to have a healthy sex life; this can’t happen until Brick overcomes his sublimated homosexuality and accompanying guilt, grief over Skipper’s death, and dependence on alcohol to cope. The answer is a come-to-Jesus meeting with Big Daddy and a reconciliation with Maggie, which we know as viewers will lead to sexual reconciliation and, eventually, pregnancy.

HOW ARE THE NAMES SYMBOLIC IN THIS FILM?

• Brick = built strong and tough, which is an ironic name considering how this character has to rely on a crutch, doesn’t want to bed with an extremely attractive woman and is dependent on booze. 

• Skipper = the captain of Brick’s ship/life, which is now rudderless and adrift following Skipper’s death.

• Gooper = a repulsive name for a character heading a repulsive family.

• Big Daddy/Big Mama = grandiose and larger-than-life monikers for parents who have large material wealth but small influence on their son, Brick.

WHAT ARE SOME ISSUES THAT THIS FILM GLOSSES OVER OR DOESN’T ADDRESS SUFFICIENTLY?

• Due to the censorship of the times, it could not delve as deeply into the implicit homosexual relationship between Skipper and Brick, or the heterosexual infidelity between Maggie and Skipper.

• Strangely, Brick doesn’t stumble, stammer or act overtly inebriated the more he drinks, which is not what happens in real life; in fact, he seems to become more attractive and mentally sharp the longer he imbibes.

• Big Daddy’s illness is not explained or described.

• We’re never clear exactly why Brick has turned to alcohol, hates his wife and refuses to have sex with her, why Skipper committed suicide, or what role Maggie played in that suicide. Character motivations are often unclear here.

OTHER MAJOR PLAYS BY TENNESSEE WILLIAMS

• The Glass Menagerie (1944)

• A Streetcar Named Desire (1947)

• The Rose Tattoo (1951)

• Orpheus Descending (1957)

• Suddenly, Last Summer (1958)

• Sweet Bird of Youth (1959)

• The Night of the Iguana (1961)

OTHER FILMS DIRECTED BY RICHARD BROOKS

• 1955 Blackboard Jungle

• 1958 The Brothers Karamazov 

• 1960 Elmer Gantry 

• 1962 Sweet Bird of Youth 

• 1965 Lord Jim 

• 1966 The Professionals 

• 1967 In Cold Blood 

• 1977 Looking for Mr. Goodbar