Warner Bros.
Starring: Steve Martin, Kathleen Turner, George Furth
Directed by: Carl Reiner
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!
Synopsis: Reknowned brain surgeon Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr (Steve Martin) falls in love with one of his patients but then falls in love with the disembodied brain of another woman.
Kitty Cameos: The film begins with Dr. Hfuhruhurr in the operating room calling out instructions to his nurses. During the procedure we hear a cat meow and the doctor famously says, “Get that cat outta here!” This is a running joke for the early part of the film. But the first cat we actually see is a black cat which belongs to an elderly rich man named Timon (George Furth) who is with the femme fatale Dolores (Kathleen Turner). She delights in raising his ire and does so by serving him one of his prize fish. A black cat can just be seen sitting on a chair to one side.
As Timon gets up and goes after Dolores in anger, the cat can still be seen but appears to be a stuffed cat. This could be because the real cat may not have wanted to sit still while the actors chased each other around the set. The stuffed cat would come in handy a moment later.
The cat jumps down from the chair and Dolores almost steps on it.
Kitty Carnage Warning! A moment later Dolores punt kicks the cat across the room (in actuality kicking the stuffed cat). The cat flies up on the wall and lands on a Renoir painting them slowly slides down, tearing the canvas with its claws and destroying the painting.
After Dolores is hit by Dr. Hfuhruhurr’s car and is in surgery, a gray cat jumps up on her during the procedure. The doctor makes a noise to make it run away and then sighs, “Damn cats.”
Final Mewsings: We wouldn’t mind staying in a hospital that was infested with cats!
Many thanks to Ted Davis for letting us know about the cats in this film!
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