Jewel Pictures
Starring: Jackie Robinson, Ruby Dee
Directed by: Alfred E. Green
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!
Synopsis: The first film biography of baseball great Jackie Robinson (played by Jackie Robinson himself), the first black baseball player to play in the Major League.
Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): When Jackie joined the Dodgers’ Organization he started out playing for Montreal and was summarily booed and jeered by people in the stands who did not want to see a black man playing with white men. In one scene Jackie goes to sit in the dugout and two men start verbally attacking him from the stands. One of them then lifts up a black cat with a rope around its neck.
“Here’s a friend of yours, Jackie!” the man says, “Why don’t you take him along? He wants to get into baseball, too.” The man drops the cat to the ground and pulls the rope taut.
Jackie is appalled at what he sees, not only for the poor cat but for the imagery it implies. In a poignant moment he gets up and walks towards the men. They cower back but Jackie simply picks up the black cat.
Jackie pets the cat and carries him to the shelter of the dugout.
Jackie continues to pet the cat as he sits.
Final Mewsings: No cat and no man deserves such poor treatment.
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