U.F.O. – “The Cat With Ten Lives”

Mar 29, 2016

U.F.O. Season One DVD

Original Air Date: September 30, 1970
Starring: Alexis Kanner, Geraldine Moffat, Ayshea Brough
Directed by: David Tomblin

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

Synopsis: SHADO pilot Jim Reagan (Alexis Kanner) and his wife Jean (Geraldine Moffat) stop their car on a country road to avoid hitting a Siamese cat, only to have a terrifying encounter with the aliens.

Bad Kitty: The beautiful Siamese Cat is a featured feline in this episode.  Reagan’s wife immediately want to adopt it but never really gets the chance when the aliens intercede.  Reagan calling the cat Jonah might have been an accurate call.

U.F.O. - The Cat with Ten Lives Siamese cat Jonah with Reagan and Jean

Reagan awakens in the car with Jonah the cat and realizes his wife is missing.

U.F.O. - The Cat with Ten Lives Siamese cat Jonah with Reagan when he awakens in car

Reagan returns to S.H.A.D.O. headquarters and Jonah tags along, spending much of the episode slinking around the secret buildings.  The cat actor’s nervous walking lends itself well to the cat character supposedly sneaking around and spying.

U.F.O. - The Cat with Ten Lives Siamese cat Jonah sneaking through S.H.A.D.O. headquarters

U.F.O. - The Cat with Ten Lives Siamese cat Jonah close up

There are some interesting angles used to film the cat in this episode.

U.F.O. - The Cat with Ten Lives Siamese cat Jonah filmed from beneath animated gif

It turns out Jonah is actually an alien and the team realizes that the aliens have the ability to take over the minds of earth creatures.

U.F.O. - The Cat with Ten Lives Siamese cat Jonah on couch

Somehow the cat alien is able to also control Reagan’s mind, which leads to some tense moments and a suspenseful ending in which a pack of dogs are set loose on the cat alien.  No violence is actually shown on screen, just some weird shots of Jonah through a fish eyed lens as the dogs rush towards him.

U.F.O. - The Cat with Ten Lives Siamese cat Jonah with dogs running animated gif

Final Mewsings: Apparently alien cats don’t know how to run.

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