That Darn Cat! (1965)

Director:

Robert Stevenson

Writers:

Gordon Gordon (screenplay) &
Mildred Gordon (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

2 December 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Comedy | Thriller

Tagline:

It takes a Siamese secret agent to unravel the PURR-fect crime!

Plot:

A woman is kidnapped. While in captivity, she manages to send a message out with a wandering cat. The cat's owner calls the FBI...

Plot Keywords:

Cat | FBI | Hostage | Kidnapping | Bank Robbery

Awards:

3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Hayley Mills	...	Patti Randall
Dean Jones	...	Zeke Kelso
Dorothy Provine	...	Ingrid Randall
Roddy McDowall	...	Gregory Benson
Neville Brand	...	Dan
Elsa Lanchester	...	Mrs. MacDougall
William Demarest	...	Mr. MacDougall
Frank Gorshin	...	Iggy
Richard Eastham	...	Supervisor Newton
Grayson Hall	...	Margaret Miller
Tom Lowell	...	Canoe
Richard Deacon	...	Drive-in-Mgr.
Iris Adrian	...	Landlady
Liam Sullivan	...	Graham
Don Dorrell	...	Spires

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

UK:U | Australia:G | USA:Approved (certificate #20977) (original rating) | Canada:G (video rating) | USA:G (re-rating) (1972) | Canada:F (Ontario) | Finland:S | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Walt Disney Studios, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivia:

The Seal-Point Siamese cats who collectively play the role of DC in this film are all "traditional" Siamese, as opposed to their more streamlined contemporaries. Among fanciers of traditional Siamese, they're affectionately known as "Appleheads".

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): As clearly evidenced by the numerous scenes in which D.C. makes a rear-view retreat from the camera..."he" keeps switching sexes!

Quotes:

[first lines]
Iggy: [as Iggy buys four different newspapers, Iggy sees DC smelling the salmon, he had just purchased] Hey, what do you say fella? Hey, you're taking my food, huh?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Pod People (#4.3)" (1991)

Soundtrack:

That Darn Cat!

Not bad for a Disney comedy

This is probably about as good as the Disney comedies of the 50's and 60's get. I think one reason it works is that it doesn't exist in that goody-two-shoes world where many Disney films of the past took place. The crooks in this film are nasty guys, they steal, kidnap, and nearly beat and kill their female hostage. Not that that's a good thing, but it's certainly uncharacteristic for a Disney film. The script is also well written, the dialogue is, for the most part, believable. It does get a little too long toward the end though.