Original Air Date: October 1, 1964
Directed by: James V. Kern
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains spoilers for this episode!
Synopsis: Mike (Tim Considine) and Sally (Meredith MacRae) have different views about shower gifts; Sally thinks the gift can cost a bit more if it reflects a romantic gesture while Mike thinks economically that a gift should be practical.
Featured Feline: As the couple are discussing this difference of opinion they pass a pet shop where a beautiful long haired white cat is sitting in the window. Sally sighs over the cat, which she says is a green-eyed Persian (note the cat actor is a either a traditional Persian or an Angora). She asks Mike if one day when they are very rich would he buy her a Persian cat. Mike is shocked when she tells him that the cat could cost as much as sixty dollars. Sally ends up agreeing she wouldn’t pay that much for the cat and they move on.
Bub (William Frawley) decides he is going to buy the cat for Sally since Mike won’t be so extravagant. He goes to the pet shop with Chip (Stanley Livingston) and tells the worker there, Miss Olander (Shirley O’Hara), that he’ll take the cat. She says she will get him ready with his papers and carrier, included in the price, and gives the final cost of seventy five dollars. Bub quickly changes his mind and she puts the cat away (for someone who is supposed to know how to care for priceless cats, she looks more like she’s putting the poor animal into a chokehold!)
Still later Chip and Ernie (Barry Livingston) visit the shop and look at the cat. Ernie can’t believe the cat costs so much and suggests they find another cat for Sally, pointing out that his father says it’s better to use American products instead of foreign, so they set out to find a real American cat.
Cat Burglars (Scene Stealers): Having no luck finding any cats for free, Ernie gets the idea to catch a cat in the alley. He uses a nickel to buy some liver and the two go cat fishing. They put some liver on fishing lines (no hooks, thankfully!) and wait. The first cat to bite is a little tortoiseshell.
They lure the cat into a box and catch it. As they take the cat out of the box several cat screeches are dubbed in (the cat seems quite calm, actually).
Chip sets out more liver and this time he catches three cats which fight over the bits of liver.
Now they have four cats in the box. They try to choose which one Sally might like but can’t decide. Chip suggests they take them home and let Sally make the choice. Ernie goes one further by suggesting they catch a whole bunch of cats and put them in Chip’s basement so Sally has a variety to select from.
Cat Cattle Call: Of course the Douglas’ dog Tramp smells the cats, which the boys accidentally let loose right in the middle of Sally’s bridal shower. Cats go running everywhere with Tramp chasing them.
After the shower the boys are still finding cats all over the house.
As it turns out Bub sold a sentimental key to buy Sally the cat. What he doesn’t know is Sally bought Bub a gold chain for the key.
In the end, it turns out Mike bought Bub’s key back and everyone is happy.
The canines who played Tramp (Spud and Speed) were trained by Frank Inn as well as Cindy James working with Inn’s animals. It’s almost certain the cats in this scene were also provided by Inn, and the orange tabby Ernie pulls out from beneath the couch could very well be one of the Orangey team.
Also when the boys are gathering the cats up in the house Mike is carrying what appears to be one of the Orangey cat actors under one arm and a Siamese cat actor in the other. There would be a possibility that the Siamese could have been one of the cat actors who played Pyewacket in Bell, Book and Candle, but these sightings cannot be confirmed.
Final Mewsings: Free or expensive, all cats are priceless!
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