Post Updated: May 18, 2024

Starring: Hamlet

Directed by: Preston Sturges

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

Synopsis: A screwball comedy in the classic Sturges’ style. Jimmy MacDonald (Dick Powell) is convinced that he will be the winner of a slogan contest held by a nationally recognized coffee company. His co-workers decide to play a trick on him, sending him a telegraph stating he has won the $25,000 first prize, which sets off a series of events and complications for Jimmy, his girlfriend Betty (Ellen Drew) and everyone around them.

Purr Blur: A black cat appears very briefly near the beginning of the film in a quick sight gag in which Betty is trying to climb down off the roof and falls, scaring the cat away with a Poor Cat Screech.

Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): Near the end of the film another black cat approaches them as they talk to the janitor after hours in the office where they work. As the adorable kitty rubs against Jimmy’s legs, Betty asks the janitor if it’s good luck or bad luck when a black cat crosses your path. “It all depends on what happens next!” the janitor answers wisely.

The cat follows them into an office just before they exit with kitty following.

They stand in the hallway and the cat sidles up to Betty as a series of good fortune finally smiles upon the couple.

The final shot of the film is a classic, with the camera taking a point-of-view shot from the descending elevator, showing the black cat sitting on the floor and then moving down into darkness with the words “The End” coming up.

Behind the Scenes

Even though the cat’s scenes in this film are brief, director Sturges realized the importance of the kitty’s presence and set about finding just the right cat to play the part. The search for the ideal feline to fill the role was first reported in newspapers in July of 1940 (at this time the title of the picture was The New Yorkers):

Studio Hunts Cat That Can Take It

    Paramount is looking for a trained black cat with an insulated tail.
    It’s not a gag. Preston Sturges, writer-director of “The New Yorkers,” ordered Oscar Lau, prop man, to locate one.
    There is a scene in the picture in which Ellen Drew steps on a cat’s tail. The cat leaps and protests, but it does not scratch Miss Drew’s legs.
    Lau offered to make a pair of gloves for a cat, but Sturges refused. “We have to do it in a closeup and the gloves on the cat’s paws would show,” he explained.
    So the problem is this:
    If some one steps on a cat’s tail, the cat is hurt and instinctively counters with unsheathed claws. That can’t be. Miss Drew’s legs must not be scratched.
    So, it must be a cat which is not hurt when someone steps on its tail, and yet the step on the tail must be a signal for the cat to yell. So the cat must be trained. And it must be black. — The Evening Sun – July 27, 1940

Since there was no instance of a cat havings its tail stepped upon in the film it would appear this entire idea was itself scratched and replaced with Ellen Drew falling backwards off the roof and startling the cat instead. Still the search for the ideal cat appeared to be settled a month later when another press release explained how the role eventually went, not to a professional cat actor, but to a professional mouser who was a natural choice for the director who was reportedly a fan of cats himself:

(Note that a version of this release first appeared in the Democrat and Chronicle on August 5, 1940 in truncated form when the title of the film had changed to Something to Shout About. It was republished in various newspapers closer to the film’s release date of October 25, 1940):

Hamlet Saves Day for Boss In Film Scene

    Hamlet, a tobacco-brown cat of mixed ancestry, lately made a $5000 debut in a Hollywood motion picture, for a fee of two sardines and a quarter-pound of liverwurst.
    After deducting the 23 cents’ worth of delicatessen, which Hamlet consumed on the spot, the feline thespian saved his producing company a tidy $4,999.77 from what had been budgeted for the scene that he saved.
    Hamlet was in stellar company for his bow in the movies. He appeared in closeup with Dick Powell and Ellen Drew in a scene which Writer-director Preston Sturges wanted for laugh purposes.
    A professional cat was first hired for the scene, coached carefully in its routine of meowing on cue, and then purring contentedly as it rubbed against Dick’s trouser cuffs. It muffed the scene miserably, through a succession of takes.
    Sturges is a man of action. He dispatched a studio car to his restaurant, to find, snare and bring back Hamlet, the institution’s official mouser.
    Hamlet blinked in the glare of studio lamps while Sturges walked him through the action, persuaded him that acting would be worth his while. That was simple. Sturges just dangled a sardine out of reach.
    From now on it’s “One Take” Hamlet. — The Salt Lake Tribune – October 15, 1940

The restaurant in question was Sturges’ pet project at the time; a previously private home located at 8225 Sunset Boulevard which Sturges had renovated into a two level restaurant and supper club which he christened The Players. Sadly this location would prove to be cause of Hamlet’s untimely end. But before taking that dark turn in this story, here is another article which offered a more detailed accounting of Hamlet’s time on the set:

Appetite Makes Cat an Actor

‘Christmas in July’ Pussy Performs Ably

    Hamlet makes his debut in Paramount’s “Christmas in July,” which is at the Fox Brooklyn Theater, co-starring Dick Powell and Ellen Drew. Like any other actor Hamlet just acts so he can eat.
    Hamlet is owned by Preston Sturges, the author and director of the picture, and is as black as the ace of spades.
    Hamlet boasts no previous professional experience, save as a mouser, but responds, like any other feline trouper, to the intended reward of two sardines and a quarter-pound of liverwurst.
    Sturges calls for action. Dick and Ellen walk into the scene. The property man tosses Hamlet into it, too.
    “Look,” says Ellen, pointing to the cat.
    “Is it good luck or bad luck when they rub against you?” Ellen asks, anticipating the cat’s action.
    “That depends on what happens afterwards,” remarks the porter, grinning from ear to ear.
    That’s Hamlet’s cue, but he traitorously scurries out of camera range. Sturges halts the scene.
    “We’ll do it again,” he sighes, with a meaningful glance at his cat. “And this time, Hamlet, we’ll make certain your interest won’t stray.”
    He directs that a piece of raw hamburger will be shown to Hamlet, then placed on the floor where it will be under Dick’s right foot when he and Ellen pause in their stroll. Hamlet watches excitedly and tries to squirm loose to get at the tidbit.
    They start the scene again. Hamlet bounds into action with enthusiasm, rubbing vigorously this time against both of Dick’s ankles, until and after the scene is completed.
    “You’re not kidding me any, Hamlet,” Dick says, when it’s over and Hamlet is wolfing the raw meat. “It’s appetite that’s made you an actor — just like most of the rest of us.” — The Brooklyn Daily Eagle – November 24, 1940

As talented as Hamlet turned out to be, the cat with star potential fell short in one area, as explained in this blurb:

Search Launched For Soprano-Voiced Cat

    Hollywood today launched a search along the back fences of the nation for a cat with a 10,000-cycle meow.
    The vocalizing pussy is needed to give voice to a movie, the Dick Powell – Ellen Drew romantic comany, “Christmas in July.”
    Many cats are available in Hollywood. The picture’s writer-director, Preston Sturges, has two of his own in the film already. But vocally the feline pair are a bust.
    The meows of Hamlet and Macduff are of medium range, oscillating in the neighborhood of 8900 cycles, or contralto. So their voices could not be used for a scene in which Sturges feels a soprano meow is essential. — The Pittsburgh Press – September 12, 1940

The soprano voiced cat was probably wanted for the Poor Cat Screech in the earlier segment of the film as the cat scurries away from the falling Ellen Drew. It’s interesting to note the mention of another cat actor, Macduff, who is never referred to in any other articles about the film. It would stand to reason the two cats were possibly related and maybe Macduff played the scurrying cat in the earlier scene? But one can only speculate.

Sadly what could have been the start of a new career for Hamlet ended suddenly and tragically along the famed Boulevard where he resided, as reported by Frazier Thomas in his A Hoosier Looks at Hollywood column not long after the original press release about Hamlet was circulated.

    Tragedy today brought to an untimely end to the screen career of the most promising feline star in a decade. Hamlet, a black and amiable cat who makes his film debut — and farewell — as companion to Dick Powell and Ellen Drew in Paramount’s “Something to Shout About,” died of injuries received while jay-walking across Hollywood’s glamorous Sunset Boulevard, the victim of a hit-and-run motorist.
    No ordinary cat, Hamlet became a movie actor by successfully playing a role which a professional — another cat which the studio hired — failed at, miserably. It was a role which required many of the finer touches of portrayal — purring on cue, arching his back to brush against Dick Powell’s trouser cuffs, meowing meaningfully, carefully watching his entrances and exits.
    For this Hamlet was paid by his boss and owner, Writer-director Preston Sturges, a fee of two sardines and a quarter-pound of liverwurst, daily, during the course of the performance. He grew fat on this through a week of work, which culminated with the big moment when Hamlet played the final scene of the picture, by looking wistfully at Dick and Ellen through the wickets of an elevator cage in which they were descending.
    It made Hamlet a trouper, but lost the world a hunter. Returning to his more mundane duties as a mouse-catcher at his boss’ new restaurant, Hamlet lost all interest in the chase. He took to wandering in quest of greater excitement. He began to be seen at the better night spots. The doorman at Ciro’s knew him. He mingled with the crowds in front of Cafe Le Maze and the Club Bali.
    But it was Hamlet’s undoing! The lure of the bright lights took their toll. Hamlet became careless in traffic. Most cars pulled to a screeching stop when he made his way across the thoroughfare. But one did not. It was all over in an instant, a whine of tires, an impact.
    A star is gone! — Rushville Republican – September 5, 1940

So poor Hamlet never even got to enjoy the fame his role brought about but thankfully we can still enjoy his performance to this day.

Final Mewsings: A black cat crossing your path is good luck for everyone except maybe the cat.

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