The Rat Race (1960)

by Linda Kay

Directed by: Robert Mulligan

Synopsis: Aspiring jazz musician Pete Hammond Jr. (Tony Curtis) arrives in New York City with big dreams but soon learns the reality of life in the big city from beaten down taxi dancer Peggy Brown (Debbie Reynolds) with whom he ends up sharing a flat.

Kitty Cameo: One scene takes place in the corridor of the apartment building where Pete and Peggy live. The grumpy landlady, Mrs. Gallo (Kay Medford) is greeted by her friendly elderly tenant (Hal K. Dawson) who wishes her good morning. “Shrivel up,” she grumbles. This kills the man’s good mood, so when his wife (Marjorie Bennett) joins him and asks if he’s ready he barks at her in reply. This sours her mood, so when the custodian (Johnny Lee) greets her she mumbles, “What’s good about it?” In turn the janitor kicks at a ginger tabby cat who comes running down the hall with a dubbed over Poor Cat Screech.

The Rat Race - ginger tabby cat about to run down apartment hallway past custodian Johnny Lee
The Rat Race - ginger tabby cat running down apartment hallway past custodian Johnny Lee
The Rat Race - ginger tabby cat running down apartment hallway past kicking custodian Johnny Lee animated gif

Final Mewsings: Cats try to avoid catching bad moods from people.

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

Relevant Links:

IMDb logo
tcmlogo
Amazon Instant Video logo




To discuss this film and other cats in movies and on television, join us on Facebook and Twitter.

Share this with your cat and movie loving friends!