Directed by: Charlotte Zwerin
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!
Synopsis: A fascinating look into the life of jazz great Thelonious Monk featuring performance footage and interviews with many who knew him.
Reality Cats: At one point in his life Thelonious Monk befriended an heiress and Baroness named Pannonica De Koenigswarter. She explains how she ended up purchasing a home in Weehawken, New Jersey, after late night jazz sessions in her apartment got her in trouble with the landlord and neighbors. Thelonious referred to the home as “Catville” because, as the footage shows, the house is full of cats!
Several shots of the cats are shown, including a black and white photograph of Thelonious holding a Siamese cat (although the musician reportedly hated cats).
No explanation for the cats is given, except that it would be safe to say that the Baroness was an eccentric woman. It has been reported that she lived with over three hundred cats.
Final Mewsings: Cool cats hang out with cool cats!
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