Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Summary

1976 Granada Television production for ITV of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams.

Theatre play

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams [more information]

Play synopsis

Set on a rich cotton plantation in America’s Deep South, this play describes the progress of a family birthday party which turns into a night of shattering revelation. Brick is the great athlete escaping into drink; Maggie (Margaret, the ‘Cat’) is his wife, desperately frustrated in her loveless marriage. Big Daddy and Big Mamma ignore the closeness of death. ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof features several recurring motifs, such as social mores, greed, superficiality, mendacity, decay, sexual desire, repression, and death’ (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_on_a_Hot_Tin_Roof).

Production history

There are many versions of the play script, one of which was influenced by director Elia Kazan, who directed the play on Broadway in 1955 and another which was performed for the first time in London. A 1974 revival by the American Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, Connecticut [...] For this production, Williams restored much of the text which he had removed from the original one at the insistence of Elia Kazan. He included a revised third act and made substantial revisions elsewhere. Adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_on_a_Hot_Tin_Roof.

Date of transmission

Sunday 12 December 1976

Time

9.05-11.00pm

Series

Laurence Olivier Presents

Channel

ITV

Production company

Granada Television (1956-)

Credits

Director

Robert Moore

Producers

Derek Granger, Laurence Olivier

Playwright

Tennessee Williams

Composer

Derek Hilton (incidental music)

Composer

Henry Purcell (1659-1695) (Purcell’s music arranged by Michael Lancaster)

Musical Arrangements by

Michael Lancaster (arranged the ‘Theme Music by Purcell’)

Designer

Peter Phillips

Costumes

Jane Robinson

Cast

Elizabeth Capparos	Trixie
Nadia Catouse	Brightie
George Harris	Sookey
David Healy	Doc Baugh
Jack Hedley	Gooper
Jennifer Hughes	Polly
Sam Manseray	Lacey
Laurence Olivier	Big Daddy; Big Daddy
Mary Peach	Mae
Heidi Rundt	Dixie
Sean Saxon	Sonny
Maureen Stapleton	Big Mamma
Gladys Taylor	Daisy
Mark Taylor	Buster
Mel Taylor	Small
Robert Wagner	Brick; Brick
Natalie Wood	Margaret; Margaret

Additional details

Play tags

alcoholism; America, as theme or setting; American drama; sexuality (and morality, politics etc)

Audiovisual sources

Title

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (ITV, 1976)

Archive

BFI Research Viewing Service [more information]

Address

21 Stephen Street
London
W1T 1LN
UK

Telephone

+44 (0)20 7957 4726

Email

Use the contact form at http://www.bfi.org.uk/form/contact-research-viewing-services

Website

http://www.bfi.org.uk/archive-collections/searching-access-collections/research-viewing-services

Access

The Research Viewing Service is available to non-commercial researchers and to students wishing to view research related material. It allows access to all films and videos designated as ‘viewing copies’ in the BFI National Archive. Viewings take place by appointment, between 10.30am and 5.30pm, Monday to Friday. Charges apply: please see the website for further details.

Title

Laurence Olivier Presents. The Collection. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Hindke Wakes. Saturday, Sunday, Monday. Come Back Little Sheba. Daphne Laureola

Notes

Published by Network in 2007

Print sources

Title

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Newspaper review)

Author/creator

B. A. Young (Reviewer)

Reference

The Financial Times, 14 December 1976, p. 3

Title

From Edward Albee to Tennessee Williams: American Drama on the British Small Screen (Blog article)

Author/creator

Amanda Wrigley (Author)

Reference

http://screenplaystv.wordpress.com/2014/06/20/american-drama, published 20 June 2014

Title

Pick of the Day: Down South with Big Larry (Newspaper review)

Author/creator

Elkan Allan (Reviewer)

Reference

The Sunday Times, 12 December 1976, p. 52

Title

Television’s Own Olivier Theatre (Newspaper review)

Author/creator

Michael Ratcliffe (Reviewer)

Reference

The Times, 6 December 1976, p. 12

Title

Tennessee Williams: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Book)

Author/creator

Philip C. Kolin (Editor)

Reference

London: Methuen Drama, 2010

Linking notes

pp. lxii-lxiii

Title

TV Times, 9 December 1976 (Magazine)

Linking notes

cover image; brief mention, p. 2; illustrated listing, p. 45