Radio Pictures
Starring: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Victor Moore
Directed by: George Stevens
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!
Synopsis: Tap dancer and gambler Lucky Garnett (Fred Astaire) inadvertently jilts his girlfriend at the altar, so he heads to New York City to make his fortune and return to her. But when he meets dance instructor Penny Carroll (Ginger Rogers) he has a change of heart about his plans.
Kitty Cameo: After Lucky’s hoofer friends cause him to be late for his wedding (they don’t want him to break up their act) he hurries to still try to make the wedding. He’s late and encounters his jilted fiance, Margaret (Betty Furness) and her enraged father (Landers Stevens). A dog is sitting nearby and barks at Lucky. Then a black cat is seen backing onto its cushion and screeching at Lucky with its ears back.
Later when Lucky assures them that he is going to make a fortune and return, everyone treats him with newfound respect. The dog jumps up onto one of Lucky’s legs and the cat rubs itself on Lucky’s other leg. Or at least that’s what the cat is supposed to be doing. If you look closely, someone must be crouched down behind Margaret’s wedding dress and pushing up the cat’s rear to make it look like it’s rubbing against the leg. At one point the cat’s hind feet even leave the floor altogether! It’s a strange moment, since it makes the cat look like it has more than just a passing interest in Fred Astaire’s leg!
Final Mewsings: You can lead a cat to a leg but you can’t make him rub.
Relevant Links:
