Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Maggie: We've got one thing on our side. No, two things. Are my seams straight? Big Daddy dotes on you, honey. He just can't stand Brother Man and his wife...that fertility monster. She's odious to him. I can tell. Just like I can tell he likes me. That's the second thing we've got on our side. He likes me. The way he looks me up and down, and over... He's still got an eye for girls. Brick: That kind of talk is disgusting. Maggie: Anybody ever tell you you were a back-aching Puritan? I think it's mighty fine how that old fellow, on death's doorstep takes in my shape with what I consider deserved appreciation.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958 film), CC BY-SA 4.0

Maggie: Why are you looking at me like that? Brick: Like what, Maggie? Maggie: Like you were just lookin'. Brick: I wasn't conscious of lookin' at you, Maggie. Maggie: [seductively] I was conscious of it. [He coldly turns from her and rises on his crutches] If you were thinkin' the same thing I was... Brick: No, Maggie. Maggie: Why not?! Brick: Will you please keep your voice down. Maggie: No! I know you better than you think. I've seen that look before. And I know what it used to mean. And it still means the same thing now. Brick: You're not the same woman now, Maggie. Maggie: Oh, don't you think I know that? Don't you think I know that... Brick: Know what, Maggie? Maggie: That I've gone through this horrible transformation, that I've become hard and frantic and cruel...Oh Brick, I get so lonely. Brick: Everybody gets that. Maggie: Living with somebody you love can be lonelier than living entirely alone - if the one you love doesn't love you. Brick: Would you like to live alone, Maggi

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958 film), CC BY-SA 4.0

Maggie: Why can't you lose your good looks, Brick? Most drinkin' men lose theirs. Why can't you? I think you've even gotten better-lookin' since you went on the bottle. You were such a wonderful lover... You were so excitin' to be in love with. Mostly, I guess, 'cause you were... If I thought you'd never never make love to me again... why, I'd find me the longest, sharpest knife I could and I'd stick it straight into my heart. I'd do that. Oh, Brick, how long does this have to go on? This punishment? Haven't I served my term? Can't I apply for a pardon? Brick: Lately, that finishin' school voice of yours sounds like you was runnin' upstairs to tell somebody the house is on fire. Maggie: Is it any wonder? You know what I feel like? I feel all the time like a cat on a hot tin roof. Brick: Then jump off the roof, Maggie, jump off it. Now cats jump off roofs and they land uninjured. Do it. Jump. Maggie: Jump where? Into what? Brick: Take a lover. Maggie: I don't deserve that! I can't see a

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958 film), CC BY-SA 4.0

Big Daddy: Why did you and Brick suddenly decide to drive up from New Orleans? Maggie: For your birthday, what else? Big Daddy: I had a birthday last year and the year before. I didn't see ya then. Maggie: Well, you know how Brick is sometimes. Big Daddy: Maybe he thought he was comin' to my funeral instead of my birthday? Maggie: Why, Brick loves you! Well he does. Big Daddy: But does he love you? Maggie: What do you want - Truth? Big Daddy: If I was married to you three years, you'd have the livin' proof. You'd have three kids already and the fourth in the oven.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958 film), CC BY-SA 4.0

Brick: Big Daddy! Now what makes him so big? His big heart? His big belly? Or his big money? Maggie: The heat has made you cross. Brick: Give me my crutch. Maggie: Why don't you put on your nice silk pajamas, honey, and come on down to the party? There's a lovely cool breeze. Brick: Give me my crutch, Maggie. Maggie: Lean on me, baby. [He turns and stiffly ignores her] You've got a nice smell about you. Is your bath water cool? Brick: No. Maggie: I know somethin' that would make you feel cool and fresh. Alcohol rub. Cologne. Brick: No thanks. We'd smell alike. Like a couple of cats in the heat. Maggie: It's cool on the lawn. Brick: I'm not goin' down there, Maggie, not for you and not for Big Daddy. Maggie: At least you can give him his present that I remembered to buy for you for his birthday. Do you think you could write a few words on this card? Brick: You write somethin' Maggie. Maggie: It's got to be your handwritin'. It's your present. It's got to be your handwritin'. Brick: I di

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958 film), CC BY-SA 4.0

Big Mama: Oh shoot, Maggie, you just don't like children. Maggie: Why that's not true! I adore them - well brought up. Big Mama: Well why don't you have some then and bring them up well instead of all the time pickin' on Gooper's an' Mae's? Maggie: Big Mama, what you said about havin' children, it's still kind of a secret but... Big Mama: Oh shoot, Maggie, stop playing so dumb. I mean, is he still drinkin' this stuff much? Maggie: Oh, well he may have had a little highball... Big Mama: Don't laugh about it! Some single men stop drinking when they get married. Others start. Brick never touched liquor before he was... Maggie: THAT'S NOT FAIR. Big Mama: Fair or not fair. I want to ask you a question, one question: 'Do ya make Brick happy?' Well? Maggie: Why don't you ask me if he makes me happy? Big Mama: Cause I know that... Maggie: It works both ways. Big Mama: Somethin' ain't right. You're childless and our son drinks... When a marriage goes on the rocks, the rocks are there, right the

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958 film), CC BY-SA 4.0