by Linda Kay

Synopsis: A fascinating look at the auction of a Victorian Cross as well as film footage of several past recipients.

Reality Cats: One of the recipients featured was the head of the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association at the time of this film, Brigadier Sir John G. Smyth, also a member of Parliament. Sir Smyth is shown with his wife and four Siamese cats who are sitting on the windowsill next to the man’s desk.

The narrator mentions that Sir Smyth is an author and one of his books is about his four Siamese cats.

Behind the Scenes

The book referred to in this short is Beloved Cats published in 1963. According the the book’s inside dust jacket two of the cats’ names were Pooni and Tomkin (full name Venari Tampan). Pooni was the younger sister of a cat named Chou who belonged to a friend and won over the hearts of the Smyths after a twenty year period of no cats (following some kind of unfortunate experience with their first kitten).

An review in the December 3, 1963 issue of the Evening Standard explained the newly revealed fascination Sir Smyth had for these Siamese:

    We have known Brigadier Sir John Smyth as gallant officer (VC, MC) politician (MP for Norwood), military historian, playwright, authority on defense.
    Now he stands revealed in a new role — that of a man absolutely soppy about cats.
    He has two of them, aristocratic Siamese called Pooni and Tomkin. He also has a wife and they all live together in an eighth-floor flat in Dolphin Square. In Beloved Cats (Muller, 15s.) the Brigadier describes their lives together purr by purr.
    The Smyths worship the cats. The cats, in return, tolerate the Smyths, just so long as the Smyths know their places and don’t do insubordinate things like going on holiday.
    Life, in this large flat with its balcony and river view, revolves round the cats. They sleep on the Brigadier’s bed, watch him have his bath, sit on the dining-room table while he has his breakfast . . .
    They live on rabbit, with occasional chicken and raw minced beef — it costs £150 a year to feed them — and engage the Smyths in light conversation.
    Each has a vocabulary of miaows which the Brigadier translates for us. What their cats say are endearing things like: “The trouble with humans is they are so clumsy . . . “
    Clearly this is a book that can be enjoyed only by readers who equal the Smyths in their devotion to cats — or, as the Brigadier would say, to kitters.

The book contains photographs of the cats by Rex Coleman as well as sketches drawn by Lady Smyth herself. Included in the text are explanations of what it is like to try to raise cats in an apartment, especially one eight stories up. Their balcony needed to be retrofitted to make it safe. Pooni is described as a rather refined petite female and Tomkin the large more boisterous male. Sir Smyth wrote: “It is something that the anti-cat brigade will never understand — the complete and utter relaxation that a cat can give to one.”

After the Smyths adopted Pooni and Tomkin, they took in a foster cat named Blue Magnolia who inspired a book of their own, published in 1964. Blue Leander was the fourth in the family, and these are likely the four cats seen in this newsreel.

After the passing of Tomkin and Blue Leander, the Smyths adopted a Burmese kitten named Ming who inspired yet another book entitled Ming: The Story of a Cat Family (1966). Also added to the menagerie was another Siamese named Sampson. This last book covers the stories of all the members of this cat family and how they impacted the lives of the Smyths.

Final Mewsings: Those who love cats are our heroes.

Many thanks to Rob G for letting us know about the cats in this episode.

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