Paramount Pictures
Starring: Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey, Barbara Everest
Directed by: Lewis Allen
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!
Synopsis: Roderick Fitzgerald (Ray Milland) and his sister Pamela (Ruth Hussey) buy an English seaside home situated on a cliff above the sea. They ignore stories about the house being haunted until they begin to experience strange sounds and eerie happenings, all seemingly centered around a young woman named Stella (Gail Russell), the daughter of a woman who fell from the cliff.
Kitty Cameo: After moving into their new home, Pamela’s housekeeper Lizzie (Barbara Everest) arrives with her Maine Coon cat Frisky in a basket. The cat makes itself at home, heading into the kitchen and finding something to eat on the floor.
When they are ready to go upstairs to bed Lizzie intends to take Frisky with her, but when she sets Frisky down at the foot of the steps the cat reacts violently, hissing and arching his back. Roderick offers to carry the cat up but when he picks up Frisky he yowls and fights then runs away. Bobbi, a terrier, also wouldn’t go up the stairs and even left the house altogether before Frisky’s arrival.
Later when things have started getting scarier and more dramatic, Lizzie is waiting for the family to come home. They enter to find her sitting in a chair with Frisky in her lap. Lizzie refuses to spend the night in the home and leaves shortly afterward carrying the wicker basket she used to bring Frisky with her when she first arrived.
At the end of the film when the ghosts have left the people notice that Frisky is sitting on the stairs and isn’t afraid to go upstairs any more. But Lizzie had not returned yet that morning . . . so how did Frisky get there? Another mystery to solve!
Final Mewsings: Cats and dogs are smart enough to stay away from angry ghosts!
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