That Darn Cat!

Two women are taken hostage in a bank robbery. A Siamese cat that roams the same neighbourhood comes home one night wearing a different watch: a call for help has been scratched into its strap. The young woman who keeps the cat goes to the FBI, and the bureau decides to follow the animal. The subject is not the robbery but a serious institution being forced to accept a ridiculous method. The agents fit the cat with a transmitter and spend the night walking the neighbourhood behind an animal; the comedy comes out of that loss of dignity. The form is the sixties Disney template: bright colour, broad playing, brisk chases. The cat itself is genuinely well used, and in most scenes the animal's natural behaviour drives the comedy. It was the last film Hayley Mills made under her Disney contract. She was the studio's best-known young performer at the time and moved into adult roles afterwards. Robert Stevenson directs, the same director who made Mary Poppins. Dean Jones plays the FBI agent and Dorothy Provine the sister. Who it is for: viewers who like classical Disney live-action comedy and light detective stories. Who it is not for: anyone expecting suspense; the film never takes its threat seriously.