It’s Showtime (1976)

Also Known As: The Wonderful World of Those Cuckoo Crazy Animals; also Paws, Claws & Jaws

Directed by: Paul M. Heller, Alan Myerson, Fred Weintraub

Synopsis: A compilation of old movie clips focused on animal actors.

Featured Felines: The opening title card for the film shows one cat actor, most likely a drawing of Orangey even though the cat is brown.

It's Showtime - opening title card

The placard for the section about cats is pretty accurate, as a lion is featured above a tabby cat. Lions make up a majority of the segment, but we will not cover them here.

It's Showtime - cats title card

The clips with cats which are featured in the segment included a couple of scene segments from Footlight Parade with both James Cagney and Frank McHugh shown with the black cat actor.

It's Showtime - Jimmy Cagney and black cat from Footlight Parade
It's Showtime - Jimmy Cagney Frank McHugh and black cat from Footlight Parade

For the rest of the segment, the song Here Pussy Pussy written by Sid Kuller and Ray Golden is played over the footage. Scenes from Rhubarb starring Orangey are shown twice at different times.

It's Showtime - close up of Orangey as Rhubarb
It's Showtime - close up of Orangey as Rhubarb

Next is a scene showing two cats boxing in a ring in front of a crowd. A man is holding the cats, who are wearing boxing gloves on their paws, upright as they fight. This may have been a newsreel segment of some kind. Boxing cats have been filmed before, but this particular footage is of Arthur Nelson and his boxing cats circa 1931. It is clear that after the fight the cats are panting in discomfort.

It's Showtime - Arthur Nelson's boxing cats close
It's Showtime - Arthur Nelson's boxing cats in ring
It's Showtime - Arthur Nelson's boxing cats panting

In other existing footage, the cats were introduced as Red Mulligan of Hogan’s Alley and Lester of Shinbone Alley.

It's Showtime - Arthur Nelson's boxing cats
It's Showtime - Arthur Nelson's boxing cats close up of Red Mulligan
It's Showtime - Arthur Nelson's boxing cats close up of Lester

A shot of a long-haired cat walking along a counter with fly paper stuck to its paws is from the 1919 comedy short The Grocery Clerk starring Larry Semon.

It's Showtime - long haired tabby cat walking on counter with fly paper on paws from The Grocery Clerk

Often used newsreel footage of a chimpanzee giving a Siamese cat a bath is then shown. It dates back to a 1940’s short entitled Zoology Animal Intelligence.

It's Showtime - newsreel footage of chimpanzee giving Siamese cat a bath

What appears to be a newsreel segment of a cat chewing on something with a rat gnawing on the other end has yet to be identified.

It's Showtime - tabby cat and rat sharing food

There is also a quick shot of a beautiful long-haired tortoiseshell cat wearing a ribbon which we also do not recognize.

It's Showtime - long haired tortoiseshell cat wearing bow

Finally a shot of the cat in the 1934 film The Black Cat is seen. Neither the cat actors or the films are identified on screen.

It's Showtime - silhouette from The Black Cat 1934 (https://cinemacats.com/the-black-cat-1934/)

Final Mewsings: Someone clearly didn’t do enough research into cats in films!

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