Elizabeth Taylor as Maggie the Cat

I haven't seen all of her performances, but of the ones I've seen I like her the most in Giant. This is really good too, though.

pacinoyes Mattsby LaraQ - Curious as to what you guys think  - in terms of Tennessee Williams performances on film, Taylor's Maggie is quite like Brando's Stanley in that I could never imagine another actor doing it better. It's her signature part in my mind. 

@tyler - I'd put it with Virginia Woolf as her best......it's not a coincidence that those are great plays where the character's backstory is laid out for her to inhabit - she doesn't have to create the character from the ground up

That's a big thing for her because she was such a force of nature (or beauty) that you could lose details of performances in the outsized nature of the roles.....and she could too - even when she was good ......she needs the text to ground her

Maggie is a more rounded performance - Woolf is more direct .......Taylor somewhat perfected a style of using her voice at a variety of volume and pitch levels and alternating the pitch to convey childishness, or meanness, or joy, or sexiness, or the proto-Kidman whisper (um).....when Taylor then doesn't speak it's quite jarring because of how stunning she was....it essentially was - in the 50s at least - flirtation ......with co-stars, the camera, the audience - as a whole film performance style......she was very good at times with setting up her co-star and doesn't get credit for that much tbh.....

I'd tell you this is her scene - not the guy with the drink who is what a top ~ 10 American film actor - and she controls the musicality / rhythm of it also ...... where it peaks etc.

Isn't that the case with all great performances though? Do you have examples/favorites of the opposite nature? 

This film (and Sweet bird of Youth) are good; very good in moments. They don't appeal to me that much though atm.