by Linda Kay

Directed by: Juraj Herz

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

Synopsis: Sisters Klára and Viktoria (both played by Iva Janzurová) are complete opposites. Klára is sweet and trusting while Viktoria is bitter and conniving. When Viktoria decides to poison her sister in order to obtain the inheritance their father left Klára, things quickly spiral out of control for both of them.

Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): The artwork in the title sequence includes a blue cat’s eye.

Viktoria lavishes what little affection she has on her beautiful blue-eyed, seal point Siamese cat, Morgiana. Shots which are supposed to be from the cat’s point of view were created with a special lens the director had made and used extensively making this film.

The woman’s true nature is revealed when she holds Morgiana up to the birdcage holding Klára’s pet parrot and tells the cat to catch the bird. Fortunately Morgiana’s temper is much milder than her owner and she only looks confused.

Viktoria’s plan to poison her sister is observed by the cat, giving the director the opportunity to insert some lovely shots of the expressive kitty.

After putting the nefarious drops into her sister’s drink, Viktoria moves to the large estate Klára inherited, bringing Morgiana with her.

The poison takes longer than expected and Viktoria starts questioning the validity of the poison, which leads her to experiment on her sister’s dog. Unfortunately the little boy of one of the servants in the home also partakes of the milk and becomes ill.

Kitty Carnage Warning! As it turns out, the milk was also drunk by Morgiana, which becomes evident when Viktoria gives her some water which she laps up greedily (the poison causes one to have excessive thirst). As if realizing the source of her pain, the cat hisses at her owner. In a later scene the kitty is found stiff and unresponsive and Viktoria tells the servant to dispose of her.

To say much more is to ruin too much of the ending. Sufficed to say the cat in this film, despite seemingly being nothing more than a passive observer, ends up having a notable role in doling out justice.

According to director Juraj Herz in an interview with Celluloid Diaries, seven cats shared the role of the titular Siamese and he almost adopted one of them but his wife nixed the idea after just three weeks.

Final Mewsings: Cats don’t just observe, they judge.

Many thanks to Cella Carmichael for letting us know about the cat in this film.

Relevant Links:

To discuss this film and other cats in movies and on television, join us on Facebook and X.