by Brian H
Behind the Scenes by Linda Kay

Directed by: Arthur Lubin

This review contains a Kitty Carnage Warning!

Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: Pierre St. Laurent (Cornel Wilde), a French nobleman and officer, returns to France after military service in India. He finds that Count Narbonne (Herbert Lom) has taken and sold his estate to the Countess Katrina de Lodeve (Jean Wallace), the widow of a nobleman. Count Narbonne has a collection of jewels including a large sapphire named the “Star of India” which Katrina asks Pierre to steal for her.

Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): Count Narbonne owns a beautiful Siamese Cat whom he refers to as Beautiful. After looking at some precious pearls, Narbonne teases the cat with a necklace of them as he recites, “And all for the adornment of women. We mustn’t trust anybody, must we, my sweet? Blue, the color of your eyes. And pearls, pearls, only for you, only for you, my sweet, my little one. My silent one.”

Kitty Carnage Warning! At the end of the speech Narbonne suddenly slaps the cat off the chair and accuses her of being greedy like the rest of them.

Moments later Pierre calls to the cat, asking her whereabouts and seems relieved when the Siamese jumps onto his dressing table. Despite scolding the cat for being interested in the jewels, Narbonne indicates that he is indeed saving them for the cat!

Pierre calls on the Count to complain as the man picks up and holds the cat next to his face then sets the kitty down on his dressing table.

Later Pierre accompanies the King and Queen of France back into Narbonne’s treasure room where the sapphire is located. Pierre picks up and holds the Siamese cat as he backs toward a window to unlock it without being seen.

Once this is done he sets the cat onto a chair.

Still later Pierre has sneaked back into the treasure room and ducks under a desk when he hears the Narbonne approaching. The Count enters holding the cat, which he sets on the desk.

As Narbonne retrieves the Star of India from its hiding place, the cat jumps off the desk and walks around Pierre, threatening to give him away.

As Narbonne walks back to the desk it appears as if he is destined to step on the cat’s tail. Thankfully he steps to the side at the last moment.

Pierre manages to toss the cat away from the desk and Narbonne picks up his precious pet without spotting Pierre. The cat is not seen again after this.

Behind the Scenes

The seal point Siamese cat actor was not credited for the film and little is known about him. But the October 25, 1953 issue of the London weekly newspaper Reveille had a small blurb in the Telling Tales column by Bridget Jones about one aspect of making the movie:

    There was something fishy about that famous director Arthur Lubin for a long time. Arthur, who directs all the “Francis the Mule” pictures, came over to England to direct “Star of India” with Cornel Wilde and Jean Wallace appearing in it.
    Another member of the cast is a Siamese cat who Arthur hoped to coax to do his part with the help of the cat-attracting herb cat-mint.
    But after a wide search no catmint could be found, so Arthur had to resort to smearing himself with sardines.
    The smell hung around the studios — and Arthur — for weeks.

Of course this was not the first time Arthur Lubin had directed a cat, as he had directed one of the most famous cat movies of all time, Rhubarb, starring Orangey. So Lubin knew how to work with animals and this fact did not escape the attention of Mildred Martin, who had some harsh criticism for the film in her review for The Philadelphia Inquirer on May 21, 1956, which read in part:

    . . . Narbonne, Louis’ tax collector and the stone’s present, unlawful custodian, wants it as part of the treasure he has been tucking away for Beautiful, his pampered, very vocal Siamese cat.
    In writing this yarn, Dalmas slipped further than he realized. For the royal cats of Siam weren’t permitted to leave that country until almost 200 years after the period of this 17th Century pipe dream.
    Lubin, who directed a feline called “Rhubarb” in 1951, has succeeded in getting a better performance from the anachronistic Siamese than from his human players.

Final Mewsings: Diamonds are not a cat’s best friend; they prefer sardines!

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