"THAT DARN CAT!" (1965) Review
Does anyone know when the Golden Age for the Walt Disney Studios had existed? Initially, I would have selected the decade of the 1960s. But . . . the studio had released too many mediocre or bad movies during that decade for me to stick with this assessment. However, I cannot deny that Disney Studios had also released a good number of superb films during the Sixties. At least two performers - Hayley Mills and Dean Jones - were featured in a handful of them. Both Mills and Jones co-starred in one of those films - 1965's "THAT DARN CAT!".
Based on Gordon and Mildred Gordon's 1963 novel, "Undercover Cat", "THAT DARN CAT!" told the story of a wily Siamese tomcat named "Darn Cat" or "DC" who lives with two sisters, Ingrid and Patricia "Patti" Randall in a Californian suburb. DC's habit of evening wanderings around town usually results in teasing local dogs, leaving muddy paw prints on cars and swiping food. One evening, DC follows a man carrying a grocery bag to the latter's low-rent apartment. The man turned out to be one of two bank robbers - Iggy and Dan - hiding out after committing a daytime heist and kidnapping a bank teller named Margaret Miller. Miss Miller takes an opportunity to switch DC's collar with her wristwatch, with the words "HELP" carved on the back. Upon his return to the Randall household, Patti discovers the watch and realizes that it belongs to Miss Miller. She reports her discovery to the F.B.I. and a doubtful Special Agent Zeke Kelso. Despite his doubts and allergy to cats, Kelso's supervisor Special Agent Newton orders the younger agent to set up a surveillance of DC, in the hopes that the latter will lead them to the kidnapped woman and the bank robbers. And Patti . . . insists upon offering her help.
Not long after viewing "THAT DARN CAT!", I had come across a review of the film that seemed to dismiss it as outdated. Considering the film had been made back in the mid-1960s, I can see how one would regard the film as such. However, I have never been that concerned about a film's original date, as long as I liked the movie. I tried to think of a few complaints about "THAT DARN CAT!". For instance, I was aware that California served as the movie's setting. But where in California? At first, I thought the movie was set in Southern California when one of the robbers mentioned "the Valley". This made sense, considering Patti's boyfriend, Canoe Henderson, was a surfer. Then another character mentioned Fresno and I became confused. Fresno? A city situated in the southern half of California's Central Valley. A habitual surfer like Canoe would have to travel a bit on a daily basis in order to engage in his love of surfing. I also found the idea of Patti's sister, Ingrid, willing to offer herself as a possible girlfriend for their toxic neighbor, Gregory Benson, in order to remain in his carpool, very difficult to swallow. Frankly, I found this minor story arc a bit distasteful, almost bordering on "political incorrectness".
Despite my quibbles about the movie, I genuinely enjoyed "THAT DARN CAT!". Perhaps I should rephrase that. After many years, the movie remained very enjoyable to me and has not lost its bite one bit. Yes, the movie had its share of silly humor - especially during the sequence featuring DC's nighttime adventures, while prowling the streets. The sight of F.B.I. agents following him, while struggling to maintain their distance only contributed to the humor. But not only did the movie feature silly humor, but also a good deal of some pretty sharp wit. Some of the best scenes featured the verbal clashes between the Randalls' neighbors - the nosy Mrs. MacDougall and her sharp-tongued, yet long-suffering husband (the Disney version of Gladys and Abner Kravitz of "BEWITCHED"); DC's clashes with the obnoxious Gregory; Patti's scheme to renew the F.B.I.'s interest in the operation after their initial failure; and especially Special Agent Kelso's struggles to deal with DC and his cat allergy.
Amidst all of the humor, the screenplay written by the Gordons and Bill Walsh never forgotten that "THAT DARN CAT!" was also a crime thriller. Although the movie never showed the bank robbery that kickstarted the film's narrative on screen, it did an excellent job of conveying its after effects not only on DC, Patti and Kelso; but also on the unlucky Miss Miller. Mind you, "THAT DARN CAT!" featured some comedic moments with the two bank robbers - especially in scenes in which they argued with each other, along with Iggy's interactions with DC. However, the movie also included scenes that reminded movie audiences just how dangerous the two robbers were. Iggy struck me as an emotional and slightly unhinged personality, whose temper and penchant for violence could be easily triggered. However, one scene featuring Miss Miller's attempt to attract the police quickly proved that Dan, the older robber, was the pair's true menace.
I never thought I would live to see the day when I found myself impressed by a non-human's performance in a movie. But I must admit that I was more than impressed by the cat who portrayed the contrary DC - namely a cat actor named Syn. The latter not only proved to be quite the scene stealer, but also received the PATSY (Picture Animal Top Star of the Year) for his performance in "THAT DARN CAT!".
However, Syn did not give the only outstanding performance. "THAT DARN CAT!" featured a strong cast that not even a scene-stealing feline could overshadow. Frank Gorshin was a year away from his iconic portrayal of the DC Comics villain, the Riddler, in the "BATMAN". But in this film, he gave both a hilarious, yet terrifying performance as Iggy, the volatile bank robber with a fondness for DC and a hair-trigger temper. Neville Brand's portrayal of the older bank robber, Dan, seemed benign . . . until the actor skillfully conveyed how the older man could could be even more dangerous than Iggy with a subtle, yet powerful menace. That one scene, which featured Miss Miller's attempt to attract the cops with a burning trash can nearly had me on the edge of my seat, thanks to Brand's performance. "THAT DARN CAT!" was the first of five Disney movies Roddy McDowall had made for the studio between 1965 and 1979. He portrayed Gregory Benson, the Randalls' slimy neighbor with a romantic eye for the older sister. I think Gregory proved to be one of the best villains McDowall had ever portrayed, conveying the character's aggressive nature, sense of entitlement, unhealthy attachment to his mother and willingness to exploit Ingrid Randall's need for a carpool in order to romance her. Gregory was a real piece of work and McDowall had portrayed him beautifully.
I do not know whose idea it was to cast British-born Elsa Lancaster and William Demarest as the nosy Mrs. MacDougall and her caustic husband, Mr. MacDougall. They seemed like the last two people I would cast as a suburban middle-aged to elderly married couple. And yet . . . Lancaster and Demarest complimented each other like ducks to water. I would consider their screen teaming as one of those happy accidents. The Disney Studios brought back Ed Wynn, last seen in 1964's "MARY POPPINS", to portray Mr. Hofstedder, the nervous jeweler whom Patti recruits to help her renew the F.B.I.'s interest in the case. Although I found Wynn's performance funny, there were times when I found his portrayal of Mr. Hofstedder's tics a bit overdone. Iris Adrian managed to give a perfectly garish performance as Dan and Iggy's boorish landlady without being over-the-top. I really enjoyed Tom Lowell's hilarious portrayal of Canoe Henderson, Patti's slacker boyfriend, who seemed to center his life around surfing and food. I especially enjoyed those scenes that featured Canoe's fears that Patti may have moved on to the older Zeke Kelso. The movie also featured solid and competent performances from the likes of Grayson Hall, Richard Eastman and Richard Deacon.
My only complaint about Dorothy Provine's performance in "THAT DARN CAT!" is she did not have more scenes. Not only did I really enjoy her portrayal of Ingrid Randall, Patti's sardonic sister, I also enjoyed her screen chemistry with Hayley Mills. Like the pairing of Lancaster and Demarest, the pairing of Provine and Mills as two sisters struck me another happy casting accident, despite one actress being British and the other American. "THAT DARN CAT!" turned out to be Dean Jones' first movie for the Disney Studios for the next twelve years. Needless to say, the actor struck gold in his portrayal of Zeke Kelso, a pragmatic F.B.I. agent who had the misfortune to be allergic cats. Granted, Jones gave a skillful performance as a pragmatic and intelligent law enforcement agent. But his scenes with featuring Kelso's allergic reactions and handling of DC practically had me on the floor, laughing. Where as the 1965 comedy was Jones' first movie for Disney, it was Hayley Mills' last one after five years with the studio . . . at least until another twenty-three years later. Someone had once dismissed Mills' portrayal of Patti Randall as another one of those Disney roles that had the actress prattling on needlessly before coming to the point. A rather superficial assessment of a performance, if you ask me. I thought Mills gave a fabulous performance as the energetic and intelligent Patti, whose boredom with her life led her to become involved in a case regarding a bank robbery and a missing bank teller. This was especially apparent in scenes involving Patti's boredom with her boyfriend's obsession with surfing and the cunning she utilizes to reignite the F.B.I.'s interest in DC and the case. It was a great way for Mills to end her association with Disney.
"THAT DARN CAT!" may have possessed a few issues. Overall, I thought it was an excellent comedy thriller that more than deserved its success at the box office. Even after nearly six decades, it still managed to produce a great deal of laughter and thrills, thanks to a first-rate script written by Gordon and Mildred Gordon, along with Bill Walsh; excellent direction by the always superb Robert Stevenson; and a first-rate cast led by Hayley Mills, Dean Jones and a scene-stealing cat actor named Syn.
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