by Linda Kay

Directed by: Paul Mazursky

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

Synopsis: A slice-of-life story about an ambitious young man named Larry Lapinsky (Lenny Baker) who leaves his childhood home in Brooklyn and moves to the wilds of Greenwich Village to pursue an acting career.

Kitty Cameos: Larry’s new group of friends occasionally get a call from a woman named Anita (Lois Smith) who is threatening suicide. The calls are frequent enough that the group, which includes Larry, his girlfriend Sarah (Ellen Greene), Anita’s friend Connie (Dori Brenner), their gay friend Bernstein (Antonio Fargas) and playwright Robert (Christopher Walken), take a casual attitude in their journey to her apartment. Once they arrive Connie meows outside the door to try to lure Anita into answering. Anita is a cat lover and it is implied her apartment is filled with cats, although we only ever see one gray kitty on the stove. Anita has locked herself in the bathroom and finally Robert threatens to drown her cats which makes her finally open the door.

In a later scene, Anita is entering a coffee shop as Robert, Larry and Sarah are leaving. She is holding a small white and black cat which Sarah gives a little pet.

Anita continues to the table where Connie is still sitting and announces, “Look what I found!” Connie asks, “What are you going to call this one?” Anita answers, “Freud,” then adds sarcastically, “Maybe it’ll help.”

The next time the group visits the apartment the gray cat is still present but there is no sign of Freud or any other cats yet.

Final Mewsings: Cats can be very therapeutic but don’t expect them to psychoanalyze you.

Many thanks to Mark Murton for letting us know about the cats in this film.

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