Box Office Draw (1945)

Aug 8, 2021

British Pathé

Synopsis: Wonderful newsreel footage of actor James Mason and his wife Pamela Kellino at home in Hertfordshire, England.

Reality Cats: James Mason is coming home from working at the studio and joins Pamela in feeding their geese. As they head out to feed the birds, they are followed by one of their cats, a tabby named Lady Leeds.

Box Office Draw - tabby cat Lady Leeds

After this they go inside where a Siamese cat named Tree is sitting on a couch. Pamela plops down and Tree is irritated, moving away.

Box Office Draw - Siamese cat Tree on couch
Box Office Draw - Siamese cat Tree on couch as Pamela Kellino sits down

Tree is then lying on some papers, getting a rest.

Box Office Draw - Siamese cat Tree sleeping on papers

A white cat named Whitey Thompson is sitting in a window getting some sun.

Box Office Draw - white cat Whitey Thompson sleeping in window

James hands Pamela her typewriter as Tree watches.

Box Office Draw - Siamese cat Tree on couch with Pamela Kellino and her typewriter

The narrator says they own four cats but only these three are shown. Pamela writes as James draws, something they would do together when they later wrote their books The Cats in Our Lives (which mentions the three cats in this newsreel) and Favorite Cat Stories.

Box Office Draw - Siamese cat Tree, tabby cat Lady Leeds and white cat Whitey on couch with Pamela Kellino
Box Office Draw - Siamese cat Tree, tabby cat Lady Leeds and white cat Whitey on couch with Pamela Kellino

Final Mewsings: The next best thing to cat actors is actors with cats!

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