The Red Mill (1927)

The Red Mill poster

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Starring:
 Marion Davies, Owen Moore
Directed by: Roscoe Arbuckle (as William Goodrich)

Cat Out of the Bag Alert!  This review contains some spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: Tina (Marion Davies) is a poor scrub-girl who works at the Red Mill Inn and happens to fall in love with a rich prince named Dennis (Owen Moore), ignoring the fact that he initially doesn’t feel the same about her.

Kitty Cameo: Tina enters an all-girl ice skating race for which Dennis is the judge and has promised a kiss to the winner.  Her bulky, clumsy skates would make it seem she doesn’t have a chance.  But as they start racing a black cat suddenly exits a house through a window.

The Red Mill - black cat on windowsill

The cat sees a dog nearby and hisses.

The Red Mill - black cat hissing on windowsill

The cat takes off running with the dog in pursuit.  Actually someone tosses the cat out of the crowd in a classic example of a catapult.  The dog chases the cat along the race course and Tina grabs the dog, straddling him so she is pulled along ahead of the others.

The Red Mill - black cat being thrown out of crowd animated gif

Later Tina is locked in the “haunted” old mill by the evil landlord (George Siegmann).  The place is full of bizarre items one usually wouldn’t find in a mill, including a pile of cannon balls.  Another black cat (or maybe the same one) falls onto the balls and sets them rolling down the spiral staircase, sounding like footsteps.  Again the cat doesn’t fall but is dropped onto the balls.

The Red Mill - black cat being dropped onto cannon balls animated gif

Final Mewsings: Cats don’t particularly like being dropped onto cannon balls.


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