by Mark Murton and Linda Kay

Directed by: Maclean Rogers

Synopsis: Freelance mining engineer Johnny Breakes (Hugh McDermott) goes to confront a man who cheated him in business, only to find the man dead. He then discovers another body in the same house at the same time and flees the scene, becoming the prime suspect as he fights to clear his name.

Kitty Cameo: The film opens with Johnny finding the bodies in the dead man’s house. Suddenly he hears piano music. The piano is being played downstairs by a blind man (Douglas Herald) who has a large tabby and white cat sitting on the piano beside him.

We return to Johnny upstairs and when the film cuts back to the blind piano player the cat has disappeared. The blind man calls out, “Where are you, m’lovely?” followed by “Here, beauty boy, come on.” The man deduces the cat has gone upstairs and sets off to find him, finally calling him by his real name, “Timmy.” Since this is the only time Timmy appears in the film it’s safe to say he was just a plot device to give the blind man a reason to go upstairs and interact with Johnny.

Purr Blur: Finding a phone box, Johnny calls his artist friend Paul Carrington (Paul Carpenter) looking for somewhere to hide out and is invited to use Paul’s studio. In the next scene as Paul arrives at the mews house a cat is sitting on the mat outside one of the adjoining properties. The cat barely moves, even when someone reaches out from the door behind to remove a pair of shoes.

Final Mewsings: Either incidental or plot devices, cats make even the worst movies better.

Relevant Links:

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