Pitch Your Movie: Clara’s “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”

Make sure to read, comment as well as vote using the star rating at the end of this post! This is simple courtesy if you expect your own pitch to be read! Here is Clara’s “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Based on the original play by Tennessee Williams

Director: Martin Scorcese

Tagline: Family Secrets are the ties that bind.

Logline: Based on Tennessee Williams’ original play, this version of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” is not the sanitized version of the 1958 movie. The Pollitts are a wealthy family, lead by Big Daddy who rules his company and his family with an iron fist. When death is at the doorstep, lies and secrets come to light and threaten to tear the family apart.

This remake is a tense emotional drama that deeply examines the relationship between Brick and Skipper and its impact on Brick’s marriage to Maggie, the rest of the family and his relationship with his father. Also by transporting the family from the South to 1960′s Philadelphia high society puts Big Daddy in the position of being an outsider with the old money millionaires.

Like Liz Taylor and Richard Burton in Who Is Afraid of Virginia Wolfe, the pairing of Hollywood’s hot couple Ryan Reynolds and Scarlett Johanson will be a big box office draw, as well as cause lots of on-screen tension due to their real life martial situation.

Brixton Dean Pollitt–Brick (Ryan Reynolds)

People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive, Ryan Reynolds stars as Brick, a former college star athlete, slacker and youngest son in the Pollitt family. Brick gets by on his good looks and charm. Thanks to his family’s fortune he was able to hang on to his glory days with a job as a TV sports announcer. However, he is fired from the TV station due to his drinking. Big Daddy intervenes and helps Brick get a job as a high school football coach.

An unhappy marriage, secrets about unresolved issues in his relationship with Skipper all contribute to Brick’s alcoholism.

Skipper (James Dean)

Hollywood icon, James Dean co-stars as Brick’s best friend and college room-mate. Skipper. Like Brick, Skipper comes from a wealthy Northeastern family. And like Brick, he is also the black sheep of the family. He has been kicked out of 2 previous schools due to “inappropriate behaviour” and complaints from other male students. Uneasy with his sexuality, Skipper feels an attraction to Brick, but is hesitant to act on it.(After all it is 1962)

Margaret Katz–Maggie (Scarlett Johanson)

The ultra-sexy Scarlett Johanson is the perfect young actress to play Maggie the Cat. Maggie is a poor girl from the wrong side of the tracks whose parents works in one of the Pollitt Paper mills. Maggie is a beautiful, smart and determined young woman who works as a waitress in a cafe near Penn State, scheming to marry a rich husband and escape her life of poverty.

Maggie meets Brick, the college football star and his friend, Skipper one night at the cafe. The three of them become inseparable. She falls in love with Brick and only Skipper stands in the way of her plans to become the future Mrs Pollitt.

Buford Dean Pollitt–Big Daddy (Jeff Bridges)

Oscar winner, Jeff Bridges plays Big Daddy. Born into poverty in rural Alabama, Buford grew up traveling the rails with Dean, his hobo father. His father died, leaving the 13-year-old boy to work in local paper mills until he goes into the Navy. After leaving the military, he moves to Philadelphia and built his fortune in northern paper mills. Despite being a multi-millionaire, BD (aka Big Daddy) is not readily accepted into Philadelphia high society. He married Idahlia Stanton to establish himself with the other wealthy families in the city.

A hard and unscrupulous man, Buford cares little for anyone but himself. He does have a soft spot for his favorite son, Brick.

Idahlia Stanton-Pollitt–Big Mamma (Katherine Hepburn)

The great Katherine Hepburn stars as Big Mamma. Ida Stanton is the daughter of one of Philadelphia’s oldest and most prestigious families. She met the young handsome BD (as he was known then) Pollitt and was dazzled by his bad boy ways and Southern charm. Ida had an independent and rebellious spirit, so against her father’s wishes, she married the handsome Southerner with the mysterious past.

Ida is not ignorant to her husband’s infidelities and other faults, but she loves him and is fiercely loyal.

Buford Dean Pollitt Jr. — Gooper (Bill Pullman)

The oldest Pollitt son and the father of 4 children, Gooper constantly seeks his father’s approval. A successful New York attorney, Gooper looks after the family’s legal and business interests. With a combined wealth of more than $8 million (that’s 1962 dollars), Pollitt Industries consumes so much of his time, Gooper gave up his partnership in a prominent NY las firm.

May Pollitt–Sister Woman (Francis McDormand)

Francis McDormand, who is so wonderful in capturing quirky and interesting characters will play May Pollitt, Gooper’s wife. May and Gooper have 4 children under the age of 10 and another on the way. With a tendency towards listening at keyholes and pettiness, the ever pregnant May is intent on providing heirs to the Pollitt family fortune.

Dr. Baugh (Ricard Jenkins)

Richard Jenkins stars as the family physician, Dr. Baugh.

Setting: The Pollitt family estate in Philadelphia, PA. The summer of 1962.

Synopsis: Big Daddy and Big Mamma have returned after 6 weeks in Baltimore, where Big Daddy was undergoing tests in Johns Hopkins Hospital. What he thought was a spastic colon, turns out to be pancreatic cancer. His prognosis is terminal, with weeks, if not days to live. The Pollitt sons Gooper, Brick and their wives returned to the home during their father’s hospital stay. Tonight, they gather to celebrate their father’s 65th birthday. Dr. Baugh delivers the bad news to the sons about their father’s health. Dr. Baugh has not told Big Daddy and Big Mamma about the cancer yet. Gooper and May want to secure the inheritance and control of the Pollitt estate before Big Daddy finds out the bad news.

With Gooper and May’s four “no neck monsters” running around the house, Maggie’s childlessness brings up even more bitterness and anxiety about her failing marriage. Maggie and Brick’s lack of children is a matter of gossip and conjecture with the family and no wonder since Maggie sleeps in the bed and Brick on the sofa.

In The Bedroom

Maggie is dressing for Big Daddy’s birthday party. Brick, who broke his leg while drunkenly attempting to jump hurdles on the high school track, refuses to attend the party. He doesn’t want to celebrate the birthday of a man who doesn’t know he is dying. Maggie chides Brick about his drinking and brings up happy memories of their college days, then leaves Brick alone with his bottle of scotch.

Brick thinks back on his college days, how he met Maggie and lingers on thoughts of Skipper…

Down stairs, Maggie walks in on Gooper and Dr. Baugh telling Big Mamma the full extent of her husband’s health. She is upset to learn that her beloved husband will suffer and eventually need morphine for the pain. Even so, Gooper tries to convince Big Mamma to side with him and May on the family inheritance. Gooper and May continue to pressure Big Mamma, while Maggie tries to comfort her. Eventually, Dr. Baugh gives her sedative to calm her nerves.

…Brick’s thoughts of Skipper are interrupted by the arguments coming from the livingroom.

He looks at his empty bottle and hobbles down the steps in search of more liquor where he finds Big Daddy. They both escape to the basement to avoid the squabbling family members. Big Daddy questions Brick about his childlessness. With a sexy wife like Maggie, Big Daddy wonders what the problem could be. Despite Gooper’s loyalty and hard work on behalf of the family business, Big Daddy wants to leave the business to Brick.

Secrets Revealed

In the basement, father and son drink scotch and have an earnest, yet emotionally talk. Big Daddy tells Brick about his father and why he worked so hard to become rich, to build an empire to leave to his family. Big Daddy realizes that he’s dying and thinks Brick’s drinking and lack of interest in Maggie due to his guilt over Skipper’s suicide. Brick confesses his secret, the true nature of his relationship with Skipper and his disgust for mendacity (the lies) which hold their family together.

Maggie finds Brick and Big Daddy in the basement and overhears Brick’s confession about his sexuality. Now she understands the meaning of the events that lead up to Skipper’s death. When questioned by Big Daddy, Maggie explains how she tried to seduce Skipper to make Brick hate him. Skipper had the same idea, trying to prevent Brick from marrying Maggie. But he couldn’t go through with it. Even so, he tells Brick that he had slept with Maggie. Brick is angry and says he will marry Maggie anyway. They argue and Brick tells Skipper to stay out of his life. He tells him that while Skipper is only interested in men, that their relationship was over and he loved Maggie. Skipper is inconsolable about the prospect of losing Brick forever. After years of drinking and drugs, Skipper is found dead in his hotel room holding a photo of himself and Brick.

Maggie, Brick and Big Daddy join the others at the birthday party. Big Daddy confronts Gooper and May about their harassing of Big Mamma. Gooper appeals to Big Daddy to be fair with the distribution of his estate. In a last-ditch effort to secure her position in the family, Maggie makes an announce as a special birthday gift to Big Daddy. She lies and tells everyone she is pregnant. May snipes at Maggie, saying that Brick and Maggie are scheming to steal Gooper’s part of the estate. She also indicates that she knows all about Brick and Skipper relationship and that Maggie and Brick are not sleeping together. Big Daddy, Gooper and Brick have a tense argument about the business and the family. Big Mamma’s strength is revealed when she intervenes on her husband’s part and puts an end to all talk of estates, business and death while they celebrate Big Daddy’s life.

In the end, Big Daddy sees how much his family cares for him. Brick too realizes that he must make his marriage work. That the years of lying to himself and his family had almost ruined all their lives.