English Title: The Night Porter
Lotar Film Productions
Starring: Dirk Bogarde, Charlotte Rampling
Directed by: Liliana Cavani
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!
Synopsis: Max (Dirk Bogarde) is a former Gestapo agent working as a night porter in Vienna when one of his former victims, a girl named Lucia (Charlotte Rampling) checks into the hotel, leading to unexpected consequences.
Kitty Cameo: Max owns a Siamese cat with a bobbed tail that is seen several times in the man’s apartment.
The cat runs away from Lucia when she first enters Max’s apartment.
The Siamese becomes familiar and comfortable with Lucia, lying on the bed with her even when Max is putting a chain on her wrist.
Lucia holds the cat when Dr. Folger (Gabriele Ferzetti) comes to question her.
The cat is also seen on the bed with Dr. Folger as Lucia crawls beneath a table.
The last time the cat is seen is when Max is cutting up pieces of bread for rations, as he and Lucia have been cut off from getting any supplies by Max’s Nazi compatriots. What is not addressed or made clear is whether or not they resort to eating the cat at some point, as they are literally starving and the cat is not seen again.
Final Mewsings: Cats should not be considered part of emergency rations.
Many thanks to @OSUItalian2053 for letting us know about this film!
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