English Title: The Defector
PECF
Starring: Montgomery Clift, Roddy McDowall, Hardy Krüger
Directed by: Raoul Lévy

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

Synopsis: American scientist Prof. James Bower (Montgomery Clift) gets caught up in cold war intrigue when he’s asked to help a prominent Russian scientist with whom he has worked to defect from East Berlin.  But he soon realizes that everyone has different plans for him.

Purr Blur: In one bizarre segment of the film, the Russians place Bower into a hotel room and then subject him to a series of psychological confusions to try to break him down.  He keeps reawakening to bizarre scenarios. One time he wakes up to look into a mirror and see the reflection of two women, naked from the waist up, having a strange conversation.  Between the women, sitting on a chair, is a big fuzzy orange cat who is looking very bored.

Cat Burgler (Scene Stealer): Halfway through the film Bower meets with a doctor in a synagogue to receive a secret microfilm.  Counselor Peter Heinzmann (Hardy Krüger) shows up as well.  As Heinzmann is sitting, he spots a tiny white Persian kitten in the aisle.

Heinzmann gets up and gently picks up the kitten then places it outside the door.  Moments later Heizmann sees Bower.

Cats may have a significant meaning to the director, as they appear to be a running theme in the film, since there is no logical reason for the cats to have appeared in the previous scenes.  Near the end of one scene we can see some cats drawn on the blackboard behind the actors (one looking fairly phallic!)

Final Mewsings: Cats aren’t keen on being used in freaky psychological scenarios.

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