Exit Smiling (1926)

by Linda Kay

Directed by: Sam Taylor

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

Synopsis: Violet (Beatrice Lillie) works as a go-fer in a traveling theatre troupe but longs to tread the boards herself. Her life intersects with that of small town boy Jimmy (Jack Pickford) who runs away after being accused of a bank theft. Jimmy joins the acting group and does well with Violet to guide him, but when the performance is booked for Jimmy’s home town its up to Violet to clear his name.

Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): Life imitates art and Violet gets her big chance to finally play the part of the femme fatale she’s longed to perform, only this time for real when she has to delay Jesse Watson (Harry Myers), the man who really stole the money from the bank, for one hour so that Jimmy’s name can be cleared. As she vamps the scoundrel, he accidentally breaks her “pearl” necklace. The beads roll down her dress onto the floor where an adorable longhair tabby cat starts playing with them.

Exit Smiling - longhair tabby cat playing with pearls at Violet's feet
Exit Smiling - longhair tabby cat playing with pearls at Violet's feet

Violet looks down before shooing the kitty away with her foot. The cat does not appear again.

Exit Smiling - longhair tabby cat being shooed away from pearls at Violet's feet
Exit Smiling - longhair tabby cat being shooed away from pearls at Violet's feet
Exit Smiling - longhair tabby cat playing with pearls at Violet Beatrice Lillie feet with Watson Harry Myers animated gif

Final Mewsings: Mr. Watson can’t be a complete villain if he owns a cat.

Many thanks to Jon R. Kennedy for letting us know about the cat in this film.

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