English Title: Big Deal on Madonna Street
Lux Film
Starring: Vittorio Gassman, Marcello Mastroianni
Directed by: Mario Monicelli
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!
Synopsis: A bungling group of crooks get wind of a prime job and attempt to rob a pawn shop safe, only to run into countless difficulties.
Kitty Cameos: As the group breaks into the apartment next to the pawn shop, there are at least two cats present sitting near the window. One of the cats ducks under the seat as soon as the group enters.
They begin the job of drilling a hole through the wall to gain entrance to the adjacent shop. We don’t see the cats but we can hear them meowing. When Capannelle (Carlo Pisacane) tries to drill a hole he hits a water pipe. Water spills out onto the floor. Just then Fernando (Aldo Trifiletti), the night porter, enters the apartment to make a phone call. The gray and white cat is sitting in a chair between the criminals in the dining room and Fernando.
Fernando talks to the owner of the apartment who then asks him about the cats. He sees the puddle of water from the pipe spilling into the doorway and explains the cats are a little filthy. He offers to get the cat and put it outside. Realizing the porter will find them in the dining room, Dante Cruciani (Totò) tries to grab the cat from the chair. The cat digs its claws in and is not so easy to pick up.
Just as Fernando reaches the doorway the cat comes flying out. “Damn it! You filthy fiend!” Fernando cries. The cats are not seen again after this.
Final Mewsings: Cats don’t typically hold *that* much water!
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