The Wrong Box (1966)

The Wrong Box poster

Columbia Pictures
Starring:
 Peter Sellers, Peter Cook
Directed by: Bryan Forbes

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

Synopsis: A comedy of errors occurs when two elderly brothers (John Mills and Ralph Richardson) are the last of a group of men who stand to win money from a tontine and find themselves the center of attention from their greedy and not-so-greedy heirs.

Cat Cattle Call: One of the men’s nephews, Morris Finsbury (Peter Cook) visits Doctor Pratt (Peter Sellers), a physician he has learned may be willing to do something illegal, in the hopes of obtaining a falsified death certificate.  As he walks up the stairs to the doctor’s flat he hears cats meowing and there are numerous cats on the landing outside the man’s office.

The Wrong Box - cats and food on landing

Once inside the office there are even more cats.

The Wrong Box - cats and food in Doctor Pratt's office

The place is filled with cats!  One even falls from a shelf.

The Wrong Box - cat looking down from high cabinet

The Wrong Box - black cat falling from shelf behind Peter Cook animated gif

Morris sits down on one cat in a chair and Dr. Pratt tells him not to sit on that moggy because she is the finest ratter in the East End.  Needless to say Dr. Pratt is not all there.

The Wrong Box - Morris almost sits on tuxedo cat in chair

The Wrong Box - Dr. Pratt Peter Sellers with cat in bowl on lap

When Dr. Pratt walks to his desk he picks up a gray cat from his chair and says, “Sorry, Basil.”

The Wrong Box - Dr. Pratt Peter Sellers lifts gray cat Basil from chair

Opening his desk drawer a tiny tabby kitten pops out.  Dr. Pratt asks Morris if he would like to buy a moggy.

The Wrong Box - Dr. Pratt Peter Sellers finds tabby kitten Mervin in desk drawer

When Morris returns later for the death certificate, Dr. Pratt insists on washing his hands first, which he then wipes on a nearby cat.

The Wrong Box - Dr. Pratt Peter Sellers wipes wet hands on gray cats

The little tabby kitten watches as Dr. Pratt signs, dripping ink from the pen.

The Wrong Box - Dr. Pratt Peter Sellers signs death certificate with tabby kitten Mervin watching

Dr. Pratt then uses the little kitten to blot the ink.

The Wrong Box - Dr. Pratt Peter Sellers uses tabby kitten Mervin to blot ink

After Morris leaves, Dr. Pratt refers to the kitten as Mervin as another cat approaches.

The Wrong Box - Dr. Pratt Peter Sellers with tabby kitten Mervin and black cat

Final Mewsings: Cats have many uses!

Many thanks to Francesco for being the first to recommend this movie to us!


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