by Mark Murton

Directed by: Montgomery Tully

This review contains an Implied Kitty Carnage Warning!

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

Synopsis: Based on the 1956 play Tabitha by Arnold Ridley. Three elderly spinsters, Miss Goldsworthy (Amy Dalby), Miss Bowering (Mary Merrall) and Miss Prendergast (Ellen Pollock), toy with the idea of revenge when someone poisons Miss Goldsworthy’s beloved kitten.

Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): The film opens after the funeral of the three old ladies’ landlord, Mr. Trellington, as the interested parties return to the house for the reading of the will. Upon entering the house Mrs. Trellington (Vanda Godsell) is not impressed to find Miss Goldsworthy’s kitten, Tabitha, playing with the ball of wool from her knitting. She quickly establishes her character by informing Miss Goldsworthy that if Tabitha does any more damage she’ll have to pay for it, before crudely suggesting, “Why don’t you just get rid of it?”

At the reading of the will, Miss Goldsworthy sits holding Tabitha as the ladies learn they will be able to carry on living at the property with any arrears cancelled.

Angry that she hasn’t simply inherited everything as she expected, Mrs. Trellington summarily dismisses the trio who then gather in Miss Prendergast’s room for a cup of tea. When she finds some of her milk has gone missing, Miss Prendergast is convinced that Mrs. Trellington has, not for the first time, simply helped herself.

Mrs. Trellington soon informs the ladies that she intends raising their rent, leading Miss Goldsworthy to fear she’ll have to move into an institution. Her biggest concern is not for her own well being but the realization that such a place may not let her keep Tabitha.

Some time later, Mrs. Trellington’s step-daughter, Mary (Natasha Pyne), answers the door to Mrs. Sandforth (Joan Sanderson), the vicar’s wife, who has come to see the three ladies. Together they find Tabitha playing with a ball at the bottom of the stairs. (Look closely and you can see the shadow of the person off screen throwing the toy into frame!)

Gathering up Tabitha, Mary shows Mrs. Sandforth to Miss Bowering’s room.

Mary returns Tabitha to Miss Goldsworthy’s room. Before setting her inside the door, Mary gives Tabitha a bit of a scolding. “And next time be more careful! I know you’ve got nine lives but you’re using them up at an awful rate, my girl!” The cat actor reacts as any cat would while being scolded . . . completely indifferent.

Implied Kitty Carnage Warning! Soon after Mrs. Sandfofth leaves, Miss Goldsworthy enters Miss Bowering’s room crying, announcing that she has found Tabitha dead! The ladies are shocked, not believing it can be true. But Mrs. Prendergast goes to check and comes back to confirm the sad truth.

Convinced that Mrs Trellington poisoned Tabitha (earlier Mary had bought rat poison for her), the trio come up with a plan to exploit her pilfering to exact their revenge. This leads to numerous complications and another unexpected death.

At the end of the film, with matters finally resolved, the three ladies are gathered in Miss Prendergast’s room happily preparing for Christmas when Mary arrives with her boyfriend Peter (Gregory Philips) keen to show them his Christmas present to her – a new kitten for the household to share! Mary declares the new kitten to be “just like Tabitha” (and it does look suspiciously like the same cat actor!)

Final Mewsings: Heartless landlords who kill cats have their own special place in Hades.

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