by Linda Kay

Original Title: Gardenia il giustiziere della mala

Directed by: Domenico Paolella

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

Synopsis: Gardenia (Franco Califano) is a much beloved local criminal who owns a restaurant in Rome. Mob boss Salluzzo (Martin Balsam) tries to force Gardenia and the other local crooks to sell drugs for him and attacks the restaurant when Gardenia refuses, prompting Gardenia to seek vengeance.

Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): Having bought a house in an upscale neighborhood, Gardenia is at odds with his designer girlfriend who shows more interest in decorating and throwing parties than she does in him. In fact Gardenia has a more honest and close relationship with his little white cat who is first seen chomping down some food as Gardenia heads upstairs.

Gardenia talks aloud to the cat, sharing his thoughts with the unnamed kitty who seems patient but disinterested.

When the cat scratches while he is speaking, Gardenia takes offense.

The cat shows up again riding shotgun in Gardenia’s car as he heads to a meeting with Salluzzo. The adorable kitty is rolling and stretching on the seat as Gardenia complains again about his love life.

He actually takes the cat inside with him and startles one of Salluzzo’s goons when they try to frisk him.

We don’t see Gardenia collect his cat after the meeting but the kitty is seen sitting in his home again in a later scene.

Shockingly, instead of commisserating with the cat at the end of the film Gardenia instead befriends a stray dog who follows him. He decides to take the dog home and just when we are giving up hope that his kitty has been completely forgotten in the plot he muses, “What am I going to tell the cat?”

Final Mewsings: Replacing a cat with a dog for the climax is a sure way to ruin a movie!

Many thanks to Nick Wale for letting us know about the cat in this film.

Relevant Links:

To discuss this film and other cats in movies and on television, join us on Facebook and Twitter.