Columbia Pictures Corporation
Starring: Kim Stanley, Betty Lou Holland, Patty Duke
Directed by: John Cromwell

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

Synopsis: Emily Ann Faulkner (Kim Stanley) is a troubled girl who grows up with dreams of grandeur which lead her to become a Hollywood star, yet the unhappiness of her life doesn’t change.

Kitty Cameos: At the beginning of the film Emily is seen as a little girl (played by Patty Duke) who is rejected and unloved by her mother. She is lonely and has no one to talk to about her school promotion. She goes home and pours a glass of milk for herself and eats some graham crackers. Suddenly a tuxedo cat appears.

Emily is surprised by the appearance of the cat but gets a dish from the cupboard and pours out some milk.

Emily sets the dish on the floor and the cat jumps down and starts drinking. Emily pets the cat and tells it about her school promotion.

Later in the film when Emily is a successful movie star a Siamese cat is seen jumping up on the bar beside her.

The Siamese follows Emily as she walks away.

Emily has had a nervous breakdown on the set of a film and tells her mother (Betty Lou Holland) about it. She says there was a cat on the set and she just started screaming at it to get away. She goes on to admit that she loves cats and even has the two Siamese, although we only ever see one. The cat is seen again in Emily’s arms as her mother prepares to leave.

Emily is upset and screams at her mother, saying horrible things, all the while holding on to the patient Siamese.

Final Mewsings: Cats are there for us even at our very worst.

Many thanks to Lucy Gothro for recommending this film to us!

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