Paul Newman earned his first Oscar nomination for his intense portrayal of Brick, an injured football star with a frustrated wife (played by Elizabeth Taylor), in this adaptation of Tennessee Williams’s Broadway hit. While some of the play’s queer sexual subtext was dropped for the film, Newman and Taylor made an exceptionally steamy screen couple. Their chemistry was especially impressive given that Taylor had to cope with the death of her husband, theater producer Mike Todd, shortly after production began. In addition to the lead performances by Newman and Taylor, the film was also nominated for Best Picture, Directing, Color Cinematography, and Adapted Screenplay.