Original Air Date: April 3, 1962
Starring: John Forsythe, Noreen Corcoran, Sammee Tong, Del Moore
Directed by: Earl Bellamy

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

Synopsis: Bentley Gregg (John Forsythe), his daughter Kelly (Noreen Corcoran) and their house servant Peter Tong (Sammee Tong) find that a mother cat has strayed into their basement during a storm and given birth to a litter of kittens.  When their neighbor Cal (Del Moore) finds out about the cats after reading about a missing expecting cat worth a million dollars in the newspaper, he tricks Bentley into giving him the cats, setting off a battle of possession between the two.

Featured Feline: They call the cat in question Sally because that is the name of the missing cat as reported in the newspaper.  Sally is an absolutely gorgeous black and white cat, part Angora with beautiful markings and a wonderful personality.

She (or maybe he, since it’s unlikely the cat playing Sally actually gave birth to the kittens as many of them appear to be tabbies) is playful in her scenes, interacting with the actors and even padding her part by reaching up into a scene for more food or for attention.  The end scene when she swipes at the Gregg’s dog, Jasper, is particularly well done.  A running joke throughout the show is Peter Tong telling Bentley an old Chinese proverb which says, “You don’t pick cat, cat picks you!”

Cat Burglars (Scene Stealers): And then there are Sally’s kittens, which are too cute for words and steal every scene they are in, especially when they are mewing.

Final Mewsings: Anyone who is picked by a cat like this would be rich indeed!

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