Who doesn’t love the 1942 romantic film Random Harvest about love that is challenged by war and lost memories? Ronald Coleman and Greer Garson on screen brought us to tears. What could have made this movie better? How about a cat?

Was there supposed to be a cat in the movie? We recently saw a photograph that made us do a double take. But let’s first set the stage:

There is a scene in the film in which a young woman named Kitty (played by Susan Peters) is writing a letter to Charles (Ronald Colman’s character). She is in a window seat as she writes, sharing her thoughts with a stuffed dog. A few props relating to the fact that she is in college are beside the dog. As she recites the letter she has written aloud, the camera pushes in on the dog and the props. It’s a simple and sweet scene, but a little strange. Let’s be honest, how many college students would be talking to a stuffed dog?

We spotted this photograph on a recent retrospective intro on Turner Classic Movies about Susan Peters. It shows her in this same scene from Random Harvest, only instead of a stuffed dog and props there is a tuxedo cat! Kitty is cradling the cat’s chin in her hand as if she is talking to it.

So what’s the story? Was there originally supposed to be a cat in the scene that the actress was going to share her innermost thoughts with? Perhaps the cat actor proved to be uncooperative during shooting, not staying in place or not reacting to Susan Peters, which necessitated the stuffed dog replacement to be used instead? Or was this just a publicity photo meant to remind audiences that the character’s name was Kitty?

We may never know the story behind the photo, but it’s interesting to think about what might have been!

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