Directed by: Robert B. Sinclair
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains spoilers for this film!
Synopsis: Captain Abe Peabody (Charles Coburn) loses his house due to bad investments. When his wife (Beulah Bondi) moves into a retirement home for women, he is invited to move in as well.
Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): Late in the film the Captain is despondent that he has brought so much trouble to his wife and decides to end it all so she can cash in his life insurance. In the dead of night he heads to a high cliff to end it all. But over the sound of the wind and the sea he hears a tiny kitten mewing. He finds an adorable calico kitten crying in a nearby tree. The Captain picks up the kitten and asks, “What the matter, li’l fella? They got you out on a limb, too?”
As he holds the kitten he tells her, “You wouldn’t want to go where I’m going. It’s too dang hot for little cats.”
He tells the kitten to run on home and starts to put it down. The kitten cries as the Captain realizes it is starting to rain.
The Captain tucks the kitten into his coat, obviously having decided the kitten is more important than his plans.
Just then Abigail (Helen Westley), the woman who runs the home and who has caught on to Abe’s plans, approaches him. She asks what he’s hiding and sees the kitten then orders him to get home. Oddly enough when they get back to the home the kitten is nowhere in sight and is never mentioned again!
Final Mewsings: Kittens who save the life of the hero deserve more screen time!
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