Directed by: Josef von Sternberg
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!
Synopsis: Gangster ‘Bull’ Weed (George Bancroft) is on top of the world until he suspects his right hand man Rolls Royce (Clive Brook) may be falling for his main moll Feathers (Evelyn Brent).
Kitty Cameos: Near the beginning of the film the trio are at the Dreamland Cafe. An establishing shot of the place shows a tiny kitten on a windowsill above the sign.
Outside the club three more cats are seen hanging around.
Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): Bull escapes from prison and goes to the gang’s apartment hideout. He hears someone approaching the door and after a tense moment he throws it open, pulling a gun. Outside a tiny black kitten with white paws approaches the milk bottle the milkman has just left.
Bull picks up the kitten and the milk and gently brings them inside, setting the kitten on a table.
Dipping his finger into the milk, Bull offers it to the tiny kitten to lick.
Feathers arrives and is surprised to see Bull, but he thinks she has double crossed him with Rolls Royce. The police arrive and a gun battle ensues. The kitten is playing in the window when a bullet crashes through but fortunately the cat is not hit.
Featers grabs the kitten from the windowsill and holds onto it while the gunplay continues. Eventually the kitten just disappears, not to be seen again.
Director Josef von Sternberg was known to use cats in most of his movies, and this early film was no exception!
Final Mewsings: Even tough gangsters are suckers for kittens.
Many thanks to Ted Davis and D.P. Elliott for letting us know about the cats in this film.
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