That Darn Cat! (1965) is a Walt Disney Productions feature film starring Hayley Mills in a story about bank robbers, a kidnapping and a mischievous cat. The film was based on the book Undercover Cat by Gordon and Mildred Gordon and was directed by Robert Stevenson. The title song was written by the Sherman Brothers and sung by Bobby Darin. That Darn Cat! was the last of six films Mills made for the Disney Studios. The film was remade in 1997 starring Christina Ricci. This was Hayley’s last role for Disney. It was shot at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California.
Plot
“That Darn Cat” or “DC” is the feline pet of suburbanite sisters Ingrid (Dorothy Provine) and Patti Randall (Hayley Mills). One night, DC follows Iggy (Frank Gorshin), a bank robber, to an apartment where he and his partner Dan (Neville Brand) are holding bank employee Margaret Miller (Grayson Hall) hostage. The robbers let the cat in and feed him. When Margaret is alone for a moment, she scratches “help” into the wristband of her watch, places it around the cat’s neck, and releases him into the outdoors. At home, Patti discovers the watch and calls the FBI. Supervisor Newton (Richard Eastham) assigns Zeke Kelso (Dean Jones) to the case but DC eludes Kelso and his three agents. Eventually a bugging device is implanted in DC’s collar and the cat leads Zeke into a comical chase at a drive-in movie and several backyards. Eventually, Patti and Zeke rescue Margaret and bring the robbers to justice. A subplot involves a romance between Patti’s sister Ingrid and Gregory Benson (Roddy McDowall). Cast includes Elsa Lanchester and William Demarest as nosy neighbors, the MacDougalls, Ed Wynn as Mr. Hofstedder, Richard Deacon as a Drive-In Theatre Manager, Liam Sullivan as Graham, Iris Adrian as the Landlady, and Tom Lowell as Patti’s boyfriend Canoe.
Reception
Bosley Crowther of the New York Times wrote, “The feline that plays the informant, as the F.B.I. puts it, is superb. Clark Gable at the peak of his performing never played a tom cat more winningly. This elegant, blue-eyed creature is a paragon of suavity and grace”, and concluded, “…it’s an entertaining picture. Even a king might profitably look at That Darn Cat.“
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