On Approval (1944)

Directed by: Clive Brook

This review contains a slight Kitty Carnage Warning!

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

Synopsis: George, the 10th Duke of Bristol (Clive Brook) tries to help his friend Richard (Roland Culver) whose love interest Maria (Beatrice Lillie) suggests they go away together for a month to test their relationship.

Kitty Cameos: In the opening segment several frivolous activities are shown via film footage. One clip shows several men dressed in nightgowns jumping up out of beds that are placed in the middle of the street. A crowd watches as the men run to some doors. It is hard to see but they are each carrying a cat.

On Approval - men in nightshirts running with cats toward doors in street

Kitty Carnage Warning! A shot from the other side of the doors shows the men throwing the cats through before running back to the beds. The cats thankfully don’t seem to be hurt but they obviously don’t appreciate being tossed through fake doors.

On Approval - black cat being thrown through door by man in nightshirt
On Approval - white cat being thrown through door by man in nightshirt
On Approval - white cat after being thrown through door by man in nightshirt

This is obviously some kind of silly competition along the lines of It’s a Knockout or Jeux sans frontières. It’s not clear if this is newsreel footage or was taken for another movie, but it appears to take place in England and has something to do with international relations as the flags other countries, including America, are hung above along with an eagle flag that reads, “Welcome Visitors.”

On Approval - tuxedo cat being thrown through door by man in nightshirt
On Approval - tuxedo cat after being thrown through door by man in nightshirt
On Approval - men in nightshirts throwing cats through doors in street animated gif

Final Mewsings: We don’t suppose the cats were consulted about this contest beforehand.

Many thanks to Ted Davis for letting us know about the cats in this film.

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