Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Warner Bros.
Starring: Jennifer Jones, Fred Astaire, O.J. Simpson
Directed by: John Guillermin
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!
Synopsis: The star-studded high rise disaster movie finds a group of people trapped in a deadly burning tower seeking various means of escape.
Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): Early in the film we see an older man named Harlee (Fred Astaire) call upon a beautiful woman named Lisolette (Jennifer Jones) at her apartment in the high rise. When she opens the door she is holding a pretty tabby cat.
Lisolette sets the cat, whom she calls Elke, on a nearby chair and tells her to behave and that she’s left some milk for her in the kitchen.
Lisolette and Harlee go to the party upstairs as the building goes up in flames below. A security guard named Jernigan (O.J. Simpson) is making a check of apartments when he opens the door to Lisolette’s. Elke the cat is sitting on a chair.
Jernigan almost misses the cat but spots her and goes in to pick her up and take her with him.
At the end of the film Harlee is looking for Lisolette, not realizing she has been killed. Jernigan then catches up with him and hands him the cat, Elke. It is one of the most touching moments in the movie.
Final Mewsings: Jernigan sure walked around a long time with that cat!
Many thanks to our dear friend Yasuko for letting us know about the cat in this film!
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