by Linda Kay
Directed by: Paul Aaron
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains spoilers for this film!
Synopsis: Real estate agent Stella (Meg Foster) takes in Albert (Perry King) after he has been fired by his rich boss / lover. The situation is meant to be temporary but grows more permanent as Stella ends up marrying Albert to keep him from being deported. The couple eventually falls in love and have a child before the story devolves into the typical marriage on the rocks story. Oh, and did we mention that both Stella and Albert are homosexuals?
Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): Stella regularly feeds a stray ginger tom she calls Chuck. She introduces Albert to Chuck when the former first arrives. Later they hear Chuck caterwauling outside and Stella explains that he’s the lover of the neighborhood.
In a later scene, Stella takes a phone call in her bedroom. Chuck is lying on her bed alongside an adorable stuffed Siamese cat.
Stella pets Chuck as she talks. When she stops, Chuck sidles up to her for more pets. Eventually he jumps down and out of the scene.
Rushing home one day looking for Albert, Stella opens the back door and Chuck scurries inside.
One domestic scene has Albert vacuuming while Stella does stretching exercises on the floor accompanied by the adorable Chuck who seems strangle unfazed by the machine (the vacuum probably wasn’t running during the shoot, the sound of the vacuum being dubbed in later).
When the couple and their baby move to a bigger house they take Chuck with them. Stella asks Albert where the cat is and he points out Chuck is lying in the back window of their car, ready to go.
In the new house, Stella feeds Chuck.
Chuck isn’t seen again until the couple is estranged. Stella is cuddling the cat in a house, apologizing that the kitty can’t be with her and the baby since her mother is allergic.
Stella quickly leaves Chuck when Albert arrives and the cat is not seen again.
Final Mewsings: It has to be the 70’s when your ginger cat’s color matches your walls.
Many thanks to Nick Wale and Mark Murton for letting me know about the cat in this film.
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