Universal Pictures
Starring: Donald Sutherland, Sean Penn, Wallace Shawn
Directed by: Louis Malle

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

Synopsis: An American remake of I soliti ignoti (Big Deal on Madonna Street). An oddball group of friends led by a man named Weslake (Donald Sutherland) decide to rob one of their circle, a stingy owner of a pawn shop named Garvey (Jack Warden).

Kitty Cameo: The group get together at Weslake’s apartment to plan the safe robbery. A man called Turtle (Wallace Shawn) is perpetually hungry and always eating anything he can get his hands on. He walks outside the apartment while eating a piece of bread. Looking down he sees a gray cat ravenously devouring some wet cat food in a dish.

Turtle pushes the cat away and helps himself to the food, putting it on his bread and eating it like a sandwich.

Featured Feline:  When the heist begins they try to gain access into a multi-storied Victorian home located behind the pawn shop. Turtle slides down the coal chute to get inside. A moment later an orange tabby cat appears out of nowhere. The cat nonchalantly passes the men and hops up into the coal chute, sliding down to get inside. The cat is heard meowing inside as Turtle screams.

After several failed attempts, the would-be crooks get into the apartment which happens to have a wall that joins to the back of the pawn shop. They start cutting a hole but hit a pipe and water flies out. They are further surprised when the front door opens and the elderly deaf owner of the building, Mrs. O’Malley (Marjorie Eaton) enters the apartment carrying the orange tabby cat.

After setting the cat down, Mrs. O’Malley calls the apartment’s tenants to let them know that leaving the door open has worked and the cat has returned. The guys are hiding around the corner from her.

Mrs. O’Malley is surprised to hear the tenant wanted the cat out. “How come?” she asks. Just then she sees a puddle of water forming on the floor from the broken pipe. Misunderstanding its source, she says, “Never mind. I know why you wanted her out.” She starts to look for the cat, saying, “Naughty kitty!” To keep from being found out, Ramon (Trinidad Silva) picks up the cat and throws her toward the door where she runs out.

After finishing the phone call, Mrs. O’Malley leaves. But she doesn’t notice the cat sneaking back into the apartment as she’s closing the door.

Finally the gang gets into the pawn shop and rigs the safe with nitro glycerin and wires to blow it up. Before they are able to do so, Garvey surprises them by coming back, carrying a salmon. He is sad because his mother has died. Forgetting their plans, the guys sit around Garvey to console him, all eating the salmon. But the fish attracts the cat, who comes closer, sniffing for the fish.

The cat paws at the wires, completing the electrical circuit to the safe, which blows up. The cat is not seen after this but we can assume she ran away when the safe blew.

The cat’s trainer was Gary Gero of Birds & Animals Unlimited.

Final Mewsings: Cats know how to complete a circuit.

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