An Allergic FBI Agent Squares Off Against a Furry Informant in That Darn Cat

Last week, I watched Norman Tokar’s The Cat From Outer Space and was surprised to discover that it starred not Dean Jones but Ken Berry, another leading man from Disney’s Herbie franchise. The next DVD to arrive in my mailbox was Robert Stevenson’s That Darn Cat!, and it made me smile to see Jones in the lead in that movie. I don’t know if I had my Herbie stars mixed up or my Disney cat flicks mixed up, but either way, it felt as though the world had righted itself.

Jones plays Zeke Kelso, the FBI agent who leads the investigation when plucky Patti Randall (Hayley Mills) reports her suspicion that her drifter of a cat, whom she calls D.C. (short for “Darn Cat”), may have a crucial clue that could lead to the bank teller whose kidnapping is headline news. The reason for this mental leap is the watch Patti finds around D.C.’s neck in place of his collar, particularly what looks to be the beginning of the word “HELP” scratched into the back. So begins a curious partnership as Zeke channels his resources into trailing this felicitous feline on his nighttime rounds.

Mills is sweet and energetic, if a tad on the daffy side, while her older sister Ingrid (Dorothy Provine) is rather snippy. She has good reasons for it, though; Zeke sets up shop in her room while she’s out, leaving her confused and under suspicion of untoward behavior by nosy neighbor Mrs. MacDougal. This sour busybody is played by Elsa Lanchester, who I recognized right away as indignant nanny Katie Nana from Mary Poppins. She is, if possible, even more comically unpleasant here, and the efforts of her disgruntled husband (William Demarest), who has a habit of turning off his hearing aid to tune her out, to undermine her are quite entertaining.

Ingrid also has to deal with the amorous advances of slimy carpool driver Gregory Benson (Roddy McDowall), who reminds me of Big Bang Theory’s Howard Wolowitz. There’s a part of me that feels sorry for this socially awkward Brit who seems cowed by an overbearing mother, but he’s too generally rude to stay in my sympathies long, and the scene in which he tries to seduce Ingrid with an explanation of how to properly prepare a duck for dinner is just plain skeezy. McDowall, incidentally, is in both this movie and The Cat from Outer Space, perhaps another reason I got them confused.

There’s really nothing all that remarkable about D.C. He’s basically a typical cat with a touch of wanderlust and a knack for knowing when he is being followed. While Lanchester and Demarest are probably the biggest sources of comic relief here, there are some funny scenes of D.C. thwarting those who want to use him as an “informant.” The antagonism between him and Zeke, who goes into sneezing fits whenever he is nearby, adds to the humor. Additionally, while he’s only in the movie for a short time, the always-funny Ed Wynn is a hoot as a frazzled jewelry store owner.

While I generally found the movie engaging, I had a hard time really connecting with Patti and especially Ingrid, so when they were in scenes apart from Zeke or D.C., I usually found my attention wandering a bit. Still, this is a fun flick with a swingin’ Sherman Brothers theme song that Bobby Darin sings with all the swagger he can muster. As someone who has been known to affectionately utter the title phrase a few times myself, I think That Darn Cat! is darn entertaining.

The Cat From Outer Space Needs a Little Human Help

Years ago, my great-uncle, a jovial man known by the nickname Happy, died, leaving behind a large collection of movies he had taped off of television. We inherited many of those, one of which was The Cat from Outer Space. Most of those tapes went kaput long ago, but I remember my brother Benjamin being enthralled with this particular movie when it made its way to us. This fall, I watched it again for the first time since the mid-90s, this time with my brother Nathan, who wasn’t quite so mesmerized but still found the movie fun.

As the movie opens, we see the landing of a vessel from outer space that contains an alien intelligence in communication with his commander. It isn’t until the conversation ends that we see who was talking: a nondescript cat who spends the next 20 minutes or so of the movie silently observing the ruckus the landing of his ship has caused. Finally, he reveals himself to a bumbling scientist rather like the title character in The Absent-Minded Professor, explaining that he needs help getting back to his ship after gathering the materials needed to get it running again.

That scientist is the endearing Frank, played by Ken Berry, who I mostly know as the sweet-natured Willoughby in Herbie Rides Again. I found his presence interesting because I could have sworn that his role was occupied by Dean Jones, who starred in the original Herbie movie and a sequel. I think Berry makes more sense in this role, however; while Jones tends to come across as rather arrogant, Berry instead projects a charming awkwardness that is especially apparent in his dealings with his perky colleague Liz (Sandy Duncan), whose crush on him causes considerable complications throughout the movie.

The cat, who takes on the name Jake after Frank gives it to him, is voiced by Ronnie Schell, whose delivery is rather detached, with certain novelties arousing unexpected interest. For instance, Jake is very impressed with human cuisine, particularly tuna, and Sandy’s female cat proves a definite distraction. Jake’s ability to interact with humanity in an unusual way comes from his collar, which glows when its powers are in use. With it, he can transmit thoughts out loud and manipulate matter with his mind as well; without it, his skills are limited to those of a typical housecat.

As a big fan of the classic TV show M*A*S*H, I found it curious that both McLean Stevenson and Harry Morgan are in this movie, though they rarely interact. Stevenson played the rather inept Colonel Blake on the series, while Morgan was the more efficient Colonel Potter, who replaced him several seasons in. Here, Stevenson is Frank’s buddy Link, a loafer whose addiction to gambling proves surprisingly helpful, while Morgan is the irritable General Stilton, who is trailed by a gaggle of underlings who pass instructions to each other. Stilton is in charge of the investigation into Jake’s ship, so getting past him is an obstacle, though he mostly serves as comic relief. The more potent antagonist is Mr. Olympus (William Prince), who, thanks to the efforts of weaselly freelance spy Stallwood (Roddy McDowall), has a pretty good idea of what Jake’s collar can do and will stop at nothing to harness that power himself.

This is a silly movie, no doubt about it. Like countless Disney sports comedies, it involves using dubious methods in order to secure a victory, in this case for the purposes of winning enough money to repair Jake’s ship. The government officials are ineffective, and as concerned as they are about Jake’s ship, they certainly don’t keep it very well guarded. The ending leaves some rather significant threads dangling, and some of the dialogue is just plain goofy. My favorite instance would have to be Link, having burst in on Frank in the middle of using Jake’s collar to levitate himself, plopping down on the couch and then casually asking, “Say, what were you doing up in the air?”

I knew from my experience of watching Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo with him a couple years back that my sophisticated brother would probably find plenty of reasons to pick the movie apart, and I was right, but we still had a great time watching the movie together, and his running commentary just added to the hilarity of the movie for me. The Cat from Outer Space is a madcap comedy with an A-list cast, and I happily recommend its brand of intergalactic silliness.

Rankin and Bass Tackle Tolkien Once Again

One of my first reviews on this site concerned the Rankin and Bass version of The Hobbit, for which my major complaint was the editing out or editing down of several key events. I have come to realize that this is an unavoidable casualty of war occurring when a book is translated onto the screen, and were I writing that review now, I would award five stars to The Hobbit, if for no other reason than that it set my vision of what the characters in my favorite book ought to look like. I also enjoyed the rustic tone of the animation and the songs, particularly the theme The Greatest Adventure.

The other night, I watched both The Hobbit and The Return of the King, and I noticed the extent to which the former set the audience up for the latter. First, Gandalf's comment that Bilbo's story of his encounter with Gollum "rings true," and then Gandalf's remarks to Bilbo at the end of the film, concluding with the tantalizing prediction that the adventures are only beginning.

The Return of the King makes good on those not-so-hidden promises of a sequel. I do wish that the time-honored duo would have tackled The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. I believe they could have done a marvelous job with all three, and their version could have washed away the nasty taste left by the abysmal half live-action, half-animated attempt at Fellowship which rightfully flopped in theaters, leaving plans for a second film abandoned. As it stands, Return of the King relies primarily on The Ballad of Frodo of the Nine Fingers, sung by Glenn Yarborough in the guise of the minstrel of Gondor, to bring viewers up to speed on what is happening. The film does have the feel of being a continuation, despite the introduction, and the uninitiated may find themselves rather confused.

That said, I think that Rankin and Bass did a fine job with this film for what they were trying to do. John Huston reprises his Hobbit role of Gandalf magnificently and serves as narrator for much of the film. Orson Bean, who starred as Bilbo in The Hobbit, lends his voice to Frodo, portraying a distinctly different character who bears some familial resemblance to Bilbo.

My biggest complaint about the newly released live action version of Fellowship of the Ring was that they seemed to skimp on Sam. Not so here, though that would have been pretty difficult since Sam has several scenes to himself in Return of the King. Still, Sam's character is developed very well in this film, and Roddy McDowall does a perfect job portraying him. He sounds exactly as I would have imagined, and he imbues Sam with the necessary mixture of tenderness and spunk. Excellent performance.

The animation isn't exactly Disney-quality. The landscapes are usually static, and one segment in particular, the orc march, is comprised of a few seconds of animation repeated several times. However, the rustic quality remains, adding to the overall tone of the film. I especially like the way Sam and Frodo glow with power whenever they lay hands on the ring. Unlike the gentle glow of the elves, this is a throbbing, blaring, malevolent glow, and it is very effective.

Glenn Yarborough again sings several of the songs which appear in the film, including the haunting adaptation of Roads Go Ever, Ever On, which is just as effective a theme song as The Greatest Adventure. While The Hobbit featured adaptations of songs in the book, with the exception of the theme song, in Return of the King, only the theme song is adapted from the book. The remainder are original, and many are quite impressive.

My favorite of these is Beware, the Bearer of the Ring, the song that pops up every time Sam or Frodo is tempted by the ring's power. Featuring a chorus of deep, imposing voices and some shuddering percussion, it perfectly fits the mood of the moment. "The wearer of the ring, the bearer of the ring / hears a voice compelling him, / filling him with thoughts that echo in his mind. / It should be telling him, / "Beware, the power is a power never known, / beware, the power that was simple now has grown..." The silliest, in my opinion, though it's my brother's favorite, is Where There's a Whip There's a Way, sung by the marching orcs.

Neither of these is sung by Yarborough, but my favorite lines of song, part of the theme song, are. These lines, sung during the departure of Bilbo, Frodo, Gandalf, and Elrond for the Grey Havens, give me the shivers every time. "Leaving havens grey with rain, / now the years have slipped away, / leaving friends with gentle pain / as they start another day. / Roads I've traveled I must leave / for I’ve turned the final bend. / Weep not empty tears but grieve / as the road comes to an end."

There is much left out of this film, including many characters. Faramir, Arwen, Legolas, Gimli, Fangorn, Saruman, and others are either omitted or shown briefly without introduction. The film focuses primarily on Sam's rescue of Frodo from Cirith Ungul and their ensuing journey to Mordor. It breaks up this action with scenes of the demise of Denethor and the fierce battle which includes the slaying of the Witch-King and ends with the return of Aragorn. The movie begins with Bilbo's 129th birthday, and the ending picks up from that point, heralding the end of the age of Middle Earth and the beginning of the age of man.

This production is intended primarily for children, and I believe that it is appropriate for that audience. It serves as a good introduction to The Lord of the Rings for those who might not quite have the attention span required for a three-hour film. Adults can enjoy it too, and anyone who watches may indeed be inspired to wonder, as Gandalf suggests that we might, "Is there hobbit in me?"