by Linda Kay

Directed by: Stan Dragoti

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

Synopsis: Count Dracula (George Hamilton) is forced to leave his castle and so he ventures to New York to find the girl of his past, model Cindy Sondheim (Susan Saint James).

Kitty Cameos: On the plane ride to New York, Dracula stays in his coffin in baggage while his assistant Renfield (Arte Johnson) travels in coach next to a woman (Jacque Lynn Colton) with a Siamese cat in a carrier. When the stewardess asks what they want for their meal, Renfield balks at the choices pointing out the meats are all dead and asks if they don’t have anything alive. The woman orders chicken kiev then asks for a nice juicy mouse for her cat Salome. Renfield asks if he can have one, too, and they share a laugh.

Renfield then hisses at the cat who looks utterly confused.

When Dracula finally meets Cindy she invites him back to her messy apartment. As she opens the refrigerator door to get some champagne she sees a grey tabby kitten. “Oh, so that’s where you’ve been for the last two days,” she admonishes the kitty, pulling him from the fridge. “And I thought you were lost, your little devil.” Thankfully she sets the kitten outside the refrigerator.

Cindy’s kitten is never mentioned again, although it is curious that when she runs away with Dracula and they meet Renfield at the airport she specifically tells him to be careful with the little suitcase she has brought. Perhaps it was intended for Renfield to find the kitten in her bag as a last minute gag? Then again, she left the kitten in the refrigerator for two days so there’s no indication she would have remembered to take him with her in the end.

There is one other cat reference late in the film. During a brown out at the Plaza Hotel where Dracula is staying, Lt. Ferguson (Dick Shawn) is on a pay phone in the lobby as various people walk by. One is a woman calling for her cat Maurice, whom we can hear meowing off screen.

Final Mewsings: When you lose your cat for two days it’s time to clean your apartment.

Many thanks to Nick Wale for letting us know about the cats in this film.

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