Editing That Darn Cat!

{{Short description|1965 American thriller comedy film by Robert Stevenson}}
{{For|the 1997 remake|That Darn Cat (1997 film)}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = That Darn Cat!
| image          = That Darn Cat - 1965 Poster.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Robert Stevenson (director)|Robert Stevenson]]
| screenplay     = [[Gordon Gordon]]<br />[[Mildred Gordon (writer)|Mildred Gordon]]<br />[[Bill Walsh (producer)|Bill Walsh]]
| based_on       = {{based_on|''[[Undercover Cat]]''|Gordon Gordon<br/ >Mildred Gordon}}
| producer       = [[Walt Disney]]<br />Bill Walsh<br />[[Ron W. Miller]]
| starring       = [[Hayley Mills]]<br>[[Dean Jones (actor)|Dean Jones]]<br>[[Dorothy Provine]]<br>[[Roddy McDowall]]<br>[[Neville Brand]]<br>[[Elsa Lanchester]]<br>[[William Demarest]]<br>[[Frank Gorshin]]<br>[[Ed Wynn]]
| cinematography = [[Edward Colman (cinematographer)|Edward Colman]]
| editing        = [[Cotton Warburton]]
| music          = Robert F. Brunner
| studio         = [[Walt Disney Pictures|Walt Disney Productions]]
| distributor    = [[Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures|Buena Vista Distribution]]
| released       = {{Film date|1965|12|2}}
| runtime        = 116 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| gross          = $28,068,222<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1965/0THTD.php|publisher=The Numbers|title=That Darn Cat, Box Office Information|access-date=January 22, 2013}}</ref>
}}

'''''That Darn Cat!''''' is a 1965 American [[thriller (genre)|thriller]] [[comedy film]] directed by [[Robert Stevenson (director)|Robert Stevenson]] and starring [[Hayley Mills]] and [[Dean Jones (actor)|Dean Jones]] in a story about bank robbers, a kidnapping and a mischievous cat. Produced by [[Walt Disney Pictures|Walt Disney Productions]], the film was based on the 1963 novel ''[[Undercover Cat]]'' by [[The Gordons (writers)|Gordon and Mildred Gordon]]. The title song was written by the [[Sherman Brothers]] and sung by [[Bobby Darin]].

''That Darn Cat!'' was [[Hayley Mills]]' last film of the six she appeared in for the [[Walt Disney Studios (division)|Walt Disney Studios]] until she returned in 1986 for three ''[[The Parent Trap (film series)|Parent Trap]]'' films. Mills later said it was a mistake to leave Disney.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Vagg |first=Stephen |date=March 19, 2022 |title=Movie Star Cold Streaks: Hayley Mills |url=https://www.filmink.com.au/movie-star-cold-streaks-hayley-mills/ |magazine=Filmink}}</ref> It was [[Dean Jones (actor)|Dean Jones]]' first film for Disney.  A [[That Darn Cat (1997 film)|remake]] of the film was released in 1997, and features a cameo appearance by Jones.

==Plot==
"Darn Cat" or "DC" is a wily, adventurous [[Siamese cat|Siamese]] tomcat, who lives with young suburbanite sisters Ingrid "Inky" and Patricia "Patti" Randall. He enjoys an evening route wandering through town, which includes teasing local dogs, swiping food, and marking vehicles with muddy paws.

One night, DC follows bank robber Iggy into the apartment where Iggy and his partner Dan are holding bank employee Margaret Miller hostage. Miss Miller uses the opportunity to replace DC's collar with her watch, on which she has inscribed most of the word "HELP".

DC returns home to the Randalls; Patti discovers the watch, and suspects that it belongs to the kidnapped woman. She goes to the FBI and tells Agent Zeke Kelso of her discovery. Supervisor Newton assigns Kelso to follow DC in the hope that he will lead them back to the robbers' hideout.

Kelso sets up a headquarters in the Randalls' house and assigns a team to keep the cat under surveillance. Despite multiple attempts and a bugging system, DC eludes them in humiliating and comedic ways, culminating in a chase where he leads Agent Kelso through several back yards and a [[Drive-in theater|drive-in theatre]]. As DC ends up trying to open a pigeon cage, he is discovered by the owner Gregory Benson, who is in Ingrid's carpool. Benson chases DC and Kelso out and angrily announces he is leaving the carpool.

The next day, agent Kelso's supervisor Newton shuts down the operation, determining the watch not a useful clue. Patti disguises herself as the [[hippie]] niece of her friend Mr. A. Hofstedder the jeweler, and persuades the FBI that the watch is indeed hard evidence. Newton and Kelso set up one last surveillance from the Randall home and trail DC through several neighborhoods before finally arriving at the bank robbers' hideout. Kelso enters the apartment just in time to save Miss Miller's life, and Patti enters moments later in an attempt to keep Kelso alive. After a brief scuffle, the kidnappers are arrested and Miss Miller is liberated.

In the epilogue, Patti reconciles with her on-and-off-boyfriend Canoe Henderson, who has suffered with jealousy due to the secretive nature of the FBI investigation. Kelso becomes Ingrid's new carpool and begins a romance with her, while DC starts a family with a gray cat he has been visiting on his nightly rounds.

==Cast==
{{div col|colwidth=26em}}
* Syn Cat the [[Siamese cat]] as D.C. (Darn Cat)
* [[Hayley Mills]] as Patricia "Patti" Randall
* [[Dean Jones (actor)|Dean Jones]] as Agent Zeke Kelso
* [[Dorothy Provine]] as Ingrid "Inky" Randall
* [[Roddy McDowall]] as Gregory Benson
* [[Neville Brand]] as Dan
* [[Frank Gorshin]] as Iggy
* [[Elsa Lanchester]] as Mrs. MacDougall
* [[William Demarest]] as Mr. Wilmer MacDougall
* [[Tom Lowell]] as Canoe Henderson
* [[Ed Wynn]] as Mr. A. Hofstedder
* [[Richard Eastham]] as Mr. Newton
* [[Liam Sullivan]] as Agent Graham
* [[Grayson Hall]] as Miss Margaret Miller
* [[Iris Adrian]] as Mrs. Tabin
* [[Richard Deacon (actor)|Richard Deacon]] as the drive-in theater manager
* [[Ben Lessy]] as Burton the drive-in concessionaire
* [[Don Dorrell]] as Spires
* Gene Blakely as Cahill
* [[Karl Held]] as Kelly
{{Div col end}}

==Production==
The exterior neighborhood scenes were filmed on [[Walt Disney Studios (Burbank)|The Walt Disney Studios]] [[backlot]] in [[Burbank, California|Burbank]], California.

Each of the [[Siamese cat|Seal Point Siamese cat]]s who collectively play the role of DC is a so-called [[Thai cat|"traditional" or "old style" Siamese]], as opposed to the more dainty, long and tubular modern Siamese show cat. One of the cats used for the film belonged to longtime cat breeder Edith Williams, a member of the Stud Book Fanciers Association. One of the feline actors also starred, along with two dogs, in [[Walt Disney Pictures|Disney]]'s 1963 film ''[[The Incredible Journey (film)|The Incredible Journey]]''.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dGYzZLrBrS4C&pg=PA16 | title=Animal Movies Guide | publisher=Running Free Press | author=Wilson, Staci Layne | year=2007 | pages=16 | isbn=9780967518534}}</ref>

==Reception==
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Mills cat.jpg|thumb|alt=young girl holding cat|Patti Randall (Hayley Mills) with DC the cat.<br/>{{ffdc|1=Mills cat.jpg|log=2015 April 12}}]] -->
[[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''."<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1965/12/03/archives/the-screen-walt-disneys-darn-cathayley-mills-and-feline-star-at.html ''New York Times: That Darn Cat''.] December 3, 1965.</ref> ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' said: "[[Walt Disney]] comes up with a novelty charmer in this lilting translation of [[The Gordons (writers)|the Gordon's]] [sic] whimsical tale of a Siamese cat who helps the FBI solve a kidnapping case."<ref>"Film Reviews: That Darn Cat". ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]''. September 22, 1965. 6.</ref> Philip K. Scheuer of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' stated: "As a detective story, ''That Darn Cat!'' is strictly for juveniles and the juvenile-minded. It contains little of the step-by-step development which in good detective stories brings out the sleuthing in all of us, being content to settle for a series of gags in which that darn cat, a brownish Siamese, leads the FBI and others on a number of false scents till he and we finally barge in on the criminals."<ref>Scheuer, Philip K. (December 30, 1965). "'D.C.' Will Take Juveniles' Fantasy". ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. Part IV, p. 9.</ref> [[Richard L. Coe]] of ''[[The Washington Post]]'' declared: "''That Darn Cat'' is a dandy Christmas present for everyone except the [[Ebenezer Scrooge|Scrooges]]. Children will enjoy its pranks, adults its whimsy, cat-lovers its Siamese and even [[J. Edgar Hoover]] won't mind this use of the FBI."<ref>Coe, Richard L. (December 25, 1965). "Disney's 'Cat' Fuel for Yule". ''[[The Washington Post]]''. B7.</ref> [[Brendan Gill]] of ''[[The New Yorker]]'' called the film "a typical product of the giant Disney flapdoodle factory, which for many years now has devoted itself to grinding out lavish falsifications of contemporary life."<ref>Gill, Brendan (December 11, 1965). "The Current Cinema". ''[[The New Yorker]]''. 232.</ref>

In September 1965, [[Hedda Hopper]] reported Disney had commissioned a sequel from the Gordons enritled ''Undercover Cat Prowls Again'' but it was not made.<ref>Looking at Hollywood: Elvis Shows His Gratitude to Filmdom Hopper, Hedda. ''Chicago Tribune'' September 27, 1965: b4.</ref>

The film holds a 94% rating on [[Rotten Tomatoes]] based on 16 reviews.<ref>[https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1021130_that_darn_cat That Darn Cat.] [[Rotten Tomatoes]]. Retrieved April 14, 2019.</ref>

==Awards and nominations==
The film's writers, Mildred Gordon, Gordon Gordon, and [[Bill Walsh (producer)|Bill Walsh]], were nominated for the [[Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written Comedy]] at the [[18th Writers Guild of America Awards]]. The film was also nominated for an [[Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay]], and a Golden Leaf nomination for Best Supporting Actress ([[Elsa Lanchester]]). Hayley Mills won the 1966 second place Golden Leaf Award for Comedy Performance, Actress. The [[Sherman Brothers]] won the third place Golden Leaf award for Best Song.

==Comic book adaptation==
* [[Gold Key Comics|Gold Key]]: ''That Darn Cat'' (February 1966)<ref>{{gcdb issue|id=19836|title=Gold Key: ''That Darn Cat''}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of American films of 1965]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|http://movies.disney.com/that-darn-cat-1965}}
* {{IMDb title|0059793|That Darn Cat!}}
* {{TCMDb title|92690|That Darn Cat!}}
* [http://www.ultimatedisney.com/thatdarncat.html''That Darn Cat! DVD release review'']
* [http://learning2share.blogspot.com/2008/02/cross-promotional-advertising-glut-in.html "1965 cross promotions for ''That Darn Cat!''"]
* [https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/That-Darn-Cat#tab=summary The film's profile in the Numbers]

{{Robert Stevenson}}
{{Sherman Brothers}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:That Darn Cat!}}
[[Category:1965 films]]
[[Category:1965 children's films]]
[[Category:1960s buddy comedy films]]
[[Category:1960s children's comedy films]]
[[Category:1960s comedy mystery films]]
[[Category:1960s comedy thriller films]]
[[Category:American buddy comedy films]]
[[Category:American children's comedy films]]
[[Category:American comedy mystery films]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
[[Category:Films about the Federal Bureau of Investigation]]
[[Category:Films about kidnapping]]
[[Category:Films about animals]]
[[Category:Films about bank robbery]]
[[Category:Films about cats]]
[[Category:Films about missing people]]
[[Category:Films adapted into comics]]
[[Category:Films based on American novels]]
[[Category:Films based on children's books]]
[[Category:Films based on mystery novels]]
[[Category:Films directed by Robert Stevenson]]
[[Category:Films produced by Walt Disney]]
[[Category:Films produced by Bill Walsh (producer)]]
[[Category:Films shot in California]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by the Gordons]]
[[Category:Walt Disney Pictures films]]
[[Category:1965 comedy films]]
[[Category:1960s American films]]
[[Category:English-language comedy mystery films]]
[[Category:English-language comedy thriller films]]
[[Category:English-language buddy comedy films]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Bill Walsh (producer)]]