This is our third annual Elizabeth Taylor movie atop the Plaza Hotel’s La Perla Patio Bar, the former penthouse where Taylor stayed occasionally. Taylor and Paul Newman were at their peaks as an unhappy married couple in this adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play. “Mendacity” is Big Daddy’s word for the lies, greed, and dysfunction that fill this toned-down version of the shocking story dealing with family dysfunction, sexual repression, and societal norms in the Old South. All the characters deal with the mendacity in their own ways – Brick (Paul Newman) numbs himself with alcohol and others pretend everything is just fine. Only his sexually repressed wife, Maggie the Cat (Taylor), and Big Daddy (Burl Ives) understand the power of the truth, and the dangers in ignoring it. Nominated for six Academy awards, it’s as mesmerizing today as it was over 60 years ago. — Leanne von Mittenwald and Jack Fields
