RKO Radio Pictures
Starring: Tom Conway, Veda Ann Borg, Walter Soderling
Directed by: Gordon Douglas
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!
Synopsis: Tom “The Falcon” Lawrence (Tom Conway) has sworn off solving murders when he is drawn into yet another case, this time the murder of an actor on a movie set.
Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): When the Falcon arrives at the movie studio he is stopped at the gate by watchman Ed Johnson (Walter Soderling). The elderly man is in his guard booth and has a black cat in front of him. He is feeding the cat some milk from a bowl.
The Falcon manages to sneak past the guard by carrying a musician’s cello and leaving the man to explain who he is.
Later the Falcon is searching a soundstage for a body that has been mysteriously moved. Accompanying him is a brash and enthusiastic cabbie and part time stunt driver named Billie (Veda Ann Borg). A man is moving around in the shadows nearby and the black cat is on top of some shelves near him.
The man slips away as Falcon and Billie approach but the cat remains on the shelf behind them.
The cat then knocks a light bulb off the shelf, causing it to pop on the ground. Billie thinks she has been shot.
Still later the police, Falcon and others are in the office of movie producer Martin S. Dwyer (John Abbott). The man has a tendency to quote Shakespeare and is superstitious to boot. He is startled when the black cat suddenly enters his office.
Dwyer quotes the Bard with the line, “Hang off, thou cat, thou burr. Vile thing,” from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He then demands to know who let the wretched black beast into his office. The watchman enters and takes the cat from him. He holds the cat through the rest of the scene.
The cat is only seen once more crossing the studio driveway ahead of a line of cars going to a location shoot.
Final Mewsings: What did Shakespeare have against cats?
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