User reviews

Sleuthing in suburbia--Disney style--after a small town teller is kidnapped by two bank robbers. Not only does this comedy feature the least-objectionable performance by Dean Jones ever, it also has Hayley Mills and Dorothy Provine as a wonderfully kooky pair of sisters and a fantastic feline hero. This Siamese cat is just gorgeous, and it's a lot of fun watching the bumbling humans trying to tail him down alleys and city streets. The bad guys of the piece (Neville Brand and Frank Gorshin) are also perfect, threatening but not overbearing, with just enough menace to make the kidnapped woman's predicament a little scary. I also loved the wacky next-door neighbors (Elsa Lanchester and William Demarest), Hayley's surfer-boyfriend named Canoe (Tom Lowell), and befuddled Ed Wynn as a jewelry salesman. Simply put, a wonderful modern-day caper for parents and kids which puts the remake with Christina Ricci to shame. ***1/2 from ****

I have fond memories of watching this as a child, but I thought my memories might be too rosy, so my expectations were not high as I got ready to re-watch this film. However, it was surprisingly entertaining throughout, except near the end, where I agree that the scene showing everybody trailing everybody else went on a little too long. You can tell the plot was taken from a novel - there are several funny lines, there is more telling detail, the bad guys are convincingly threatening (as others have said), and the characters are more three-dimensional than usual for a 1960s "family" movie. The teenage heroine (played by Hayley Mills) is resourceful and actually has a steady boyfriend(!), though of course she never kisses him, even at the drive-in! I also like the actress who plays the hostage - she *looks* like an older woman who might actually work at a bank - not like a Hollywood glamour girl! I haven't seen the 1997(?) remake, but I suspect it isn't as good as the original. All in all, an enjoyable movie for a Saturday night at home!

The Siamese cat not only has the title role, he steals the film! The silly plot involves a couple of bumbling bank robbers (FRANK GORSHIN is one of them), who kidnap a woman from the bank who's able to signal for help by putting her wrist watch around the cat's neck. The cat belongs to HAYLEY MILLS, who picks up on the signal and then must convince the FBI to help her (and her cat) find the robbers in time to save the woman. DEAN JONES is the earnest but bumbling FBI man who decides to help Hayley.

All of the incidents surrounding the cat are deftly handled with a great deal of humor. ELSA LANCHESTER and WILLIAM DEMAREST are funny as snooping neighbors and RODDY McDOWALL and ED WYNN have some good moments too. But it's HAYLEY MILLS at her most appealing and "that darn cat" that really steal the show. The cat "DC" is simply amazingly natural and perhaps the most convincing member of the cast.

Summing up: One of the better Disney comedies during the '60s.

Saw this about '74 or so, it was great. Loved the garage door gags, the cats, Elsa and William, the two gals are fine, Hayley Mills especially. Dean Jones had to have been in about 100 Disney things back then, this was def. one of his better roles.

You also have to like what they did w/ the baddies, Neville Brand and The Riddler. They work well together and do a fine job w. the mix of comedy and real malice towards their captive.

The cat was a funny part, i remember them trying to 'paw print' him and them winding up plastering poor Dean Jones head to foot w/ the cat's inky paw prints.

Say what you will, Disney doesn't make things like this anymore and that is our loss.

*** outta **** it's fun.

I sat down in 2021 to watch the 1965 movie "That Darn Cat!". And I just realized that this was actually my second time to watch the movie. As the movie progressed, I recalled having seen this movie in my childhood, though I had entirely forgotten about it. So this was a trip down memory lane for me, just as it was sitting down watching an old movie.

Now, I will say that "That Darn Cat!" really was surprisingly entertaining and enjoyable. And the fact that the movie is now 56 years old really doesn't play in here, because this movie is rather timeless.

Writers Gordon Gordon, Mildred Gordon and Bill Walsh definitely managed to write a very wholesome and entertaining story. "That Darn Cat!" is a movie that has an appeal with both young viewers and adults.

It should be mentioned that "That Darn Cat!" has a really interesting cast ensemble. With the likes of Dean Jones, Roddy McDowall and Frank Gorshin on the list, just to mention but a few. So you are in for quite a treat when you sit down to watch "That Darn Cat!".

If you haven't already seen "That Darn Cat!", then this is definitely a movie that I would warmly recommend that you take the time to sit down and watch, because it is very enjoyable and entertaining.

My rating of this old Disney movie lands on a seven out of ten stars.

I wasn't expecting much more than some light disney badly acted time waster but this definitely has some things going for it.

Hayley Mills is the shining star of it all. Her energy and commitment to her character, which may well just be her being herself carries the movie all by itself. She's charming, interesting, clever and funny all at once.

Dean Jones is focused and interesting in his own way as were many of the characters.

The plot is secondary to their characters, it's not a nothing idea but it's not edge of your seat fare either, but that doesn't matter as it's just fun watching the actors do their thing.

The 2 baddies were surprising chilling, they obviously didn't get the memo this was a Disney movie. Frank Gorshin (AKA Mr Riddler) was quite scary, channeling any number of mob thug movies as was his partner in crime.

Roddy Mcdowell was creepy but performed his roll, and it was great to see Richard Eastham doing some fast comedy. There was a bit of that. Witty fast dialog.

Definitely not fluff, it was fun and funny.

I hadn't seen this movie in 30 years when my kids decided to rent it the other night! The cast is classic, from The Riddler(Batman), to Roddy McDowell, to Uncle Charlie(My Three Sons). And of course, Dean Jones and Haley Mills. It's one of those timeless, goofy Disney comedy classics that stands in a kitsch class of it's own! Ya gotta see it again!

YMMV if you're a tweener at this point (too mature for it's cornball silliness, and too young to be nostalgic!)

This is probably about as good as the Disney comedies of the 50's and 60's get. I think one reason it works is that it doesn't exist in that goody-two-shoes world where many Disney films of the past took place. The crooks in this film are nasty guys, they steal, kidnap, and nearly beat and kill their female hostage. Not that that's a good thing, but it's certainly uncharacteristic for a Disney film. The script is also well written, the dialogue is, for the most part, believable. It does get a little too long toward the end though.

My main problem with Disney now is their live-action films. Although their animated features are miles ahead of every other company's (yes, they are), they seem to have forgotten to add the same quality to their live-action movies. Disney, give us more movies like "That Darn Cat!" (the remake never happened for me) "The Princess Diaries" was very good, in my opinion, but it's nowhere on the level of this movie. Like someone else said, this film doesn't talk down to children; it spurts big, clever words like "conspicuous" and doesn't care whether the kids will get it or not. This film is clever, fast and amazingly funny. In fact, I'm shocked it only got a measly 6 out of 10 here. It deserves much, much more.

This film may be unexceptional and not a 5-star masterpiece but goodness isn't it an improvement over the 1997 remake? Even with Christina Ricci in it, that film turned out to be very disappointing if somewhat watchable with one or two decent performances to savour. This 1965 film is a little too long and dated, and there are some parts where it is a little slow, however it is a lively piece of entertainment that is efficiently directed and is further advantaged by an exceptional cast. The script does have some nice, subtle, humorous touches while the music is nice and the plot carefully constructed. The cast elevate this though from a moderately enjoyable film to an entertaining, lively if somewhat unexceptional one. Hayley Mills is just perky enough in the title role, and William Damerest and Elsa Lanchester are fun support. However it is Dean Jones as the FBI agent with a cat allergy and Roddy McDowall as a drip whose ducks are the feline's favourite playmates who are the standouts in the human cast, while it is the cat who steals the film by a considerable whisker. Overall, not always exceptional, but a vast improvement over its remake. 7/10 Bethany Cox

J. Edgar Hoover must have been put out by That Darn Cat. He must have had a few words with Walt Disney producing a film that made his FBI agents look like idiots. That was one big no-no when Hoover was alive even an innocuous Disney film.

I also could not figure out why bank robbers Neville Brand and Frank Gorshin took bank teller Grayson Hall hostage. I would think that would slow up a planned getaway. But on one of his nocturnal prowlings the cat owned by sisters Dorothy Provine and Hayley Mills wanders into the boardinghouse of Iris Adrian where Brand and Gorshin are keeping Hall. Hall slips her wristwatch on the cat in place of a flea collar. She takes it back to home and hearth and Hayley who gets on the case like Nancy Drew.

Mills takes it to the FBI who assigns agent Dean Jones to lead a team to get back the stolen loot, the crooks, and Hall. Needless to say they make a botch of it at first. Mills's brain dead boyfriend Tom Lowell gets caught up, nosy neighbor Elsa Lanchester gets involved against the advice of her husband William Demarest and finally another neighbor Roddy McDowell has threatened to shoot the cat on sight for stealing his dinner.

One thing about the Disney films starting in the 60s. They gave work to a lot of familiar character players you rarely got to see on the big screen any more. That cast list is reason enough to watch That Darn Cat. If that isn't enough add Ed Wynn in a funny bit as a jewelry store owner and Richard Deacon as a much put out drive-in theater manager.

Not the greatest of Disney films, but should satisfy for good family entertainment.

"That Darn Cat!" is terrific entertainment. It's a thriller that's disguised as a family movie. Think about what's going on in this movie. There's kidnapping, murder plots, jealous lovers and a race against time. The villains are great because they play it straight. Neville Brand and Frank Gorshin both deliver excellent performances. They are bad guys. They're not the usual Disney bumbling villains. These guys are killers. The rest of the cast are also great. "That Darn Cat!" is very funny and surprisingly suspenseful. It's so refreshing to see a family movie that doesn't talk down to the kids in the audience. Honorable mention: Ed Wynn.

The first time I saw this movie, I was ten years old. For the longest time, it was my favorite Disney live-action film, and, do you know what? It still is. I don't like cats but D.C. will have you rolling in the floor with his antics. Interesting cast with Haylie "Miss Bliss" Mills playing D.C.'s owner and instigator of his sleuthing with the help of Zeke Kelso (Dean Jones, who incidentally is from my home state of Alabama.) And what's this? Dr. Julia Hoffman (Grayson Hall) of DARK SHADOWS fame plays a kidnapped bank teller with The Riddler from BATMAN (Frank Gorshin) and Al Capone (Neville Brand) from THE UNTOUCHABLES television show as the heavies. There is also good old Uncle Charlie from MY THREE SONS who plays a beleaguered husband trying to keep his nosy neighbor wife out of other peoples' business. Those scenes toward the end of the movie when everyone is following each other are a real hoot. I'll say one thing for D.C. He knows how to keep an entire neighborhood on its toes. Wonderful, clean family fare. 7 out of 10.

This is one of those movies I saw in the theater as a kid. Simply put, it was hilarious. Maybe it was mob mentality, but virtually EVERYONE in the entire place was laughing uncontrollably throughout the entire film. We're talking a real side-splitter here, folks. I have never laughed so hard at a movie before or since, with the possible exception of another Disney film, "The Absent-Minded Professor" (1961) which I also saw in a theater.

So what makes a good film, anyhow? Fantastic acting? Great plot? Beautiful cinematography? Superb directing? Babes? Well, you can't say it had any of those things. But it DID set out to do what it attempted to do, which was: make people laugh. A lot. And that makes it, in my opinion, a pretty darn good movie.

That Darn Cat! is out of Disney Productions and directed by Robert Stevenson. Collectively written by Bill Walsh and The Gordons (Mildred & Gordon), it stars Hayley Mills, Dean Jones, Dorothy Provine, Roddy McDowall, Neville Brand and Frank Gorshin. Music is by Robert F. Brunner and cinematography by Edward Colman.

When DC the Siamese cat is found to have a watch around his neck, one of his owners, Pattii Randall (Mills), alerts the FBI to the possibility it's a clue to a recent kidnapping. Cue much malarkey as humans and cat try to solve the crime whilst staying one step/paw ahead of the criminals...

Utterly harmless fluff from the House of the Mouse, That Darn Cat! is basically a live action cartoon. Away from the wonderful cat(s) performance - and the skillful capturing of said cat(s) reactions to situations - there's no great technical genius here. Nothing wrong with that, this is good old fashioned entertainment for the kids to chuckle along with and for the adults to smile at. Yes some of the performances are twee or precious, and the story is silly, but it's honest family fare that's also boosted by Ed Wynn and Elsa Lanchester in secondary support slots. 6.5/10

My first thought as the movie started was that it was "a live action Tom & Jerry". The film spends a lot of its time following the title cat, and whilst the cinematography and editing(complete with footage that has been sped up for comedic effect) might not break any new ground, it works really well, and the overall product is entertaining and never really slow or repetitive. The humor remains fresh throughout, and in spite of several changes of perspective and which characters it focuses on, the whole thing runs smoothly. The picture may not be intricate, but it's good for what it is, it's good to watch without having to think, and hey, it never claims to be Shakespeare. This is good, slightly goofy and occasionally overplayed(but never to the point of annoyance) fun, with a Siamese cat in the lead. The score, as my fiancée pointed out, surely to fill with just the cat on the screen, is most apparent when, well, it's only the cat on the screen. It works very well, a nice jazz composition(keep your ears open for a Batman-esquire cue(although this precedes the infamous show)). The acting is fitting... some is over the top, some nicely underplayed. Grayson Hall does well with fairly little in amount. The plot is fairly simplistic, and many of the situations come from complications and such. I recommend it to fans of Hayley Mills, cats and Disney. 7/10

If you've ever had a Siamese cat, you will know that they are the wise guys of the cat world.

In the history of the movies, there haven't been too many significant cat performances. Cats do not take direction well. On the movie set, they probably spend a lot of time arguing with directors over how to play a scene. If the studio would let them, cats would probably want to direct the movie themselves.

"That Darn Cat!" features the best movie performance ever by a cat. The leading man -- or cat, in this case -- is a crafty Siamese named D.C. (Darn Cat). He is the star of the movie, the one who carries the story. And he does it with suave feline sophistication. (Never mind that several cats played the role of D.C. in making the film. They were *all* good.)

D.C. is a smooth operator. Like Bogart, he prowls the back streets of his suburban L.A. neighborhood, the king of his territory, his blue eyes observing everything, his nose to the wind, his mind working out all the angles.

Throughout the movie, D.C. is performing tricks and stunts that would make Lassie or Rin-Tin-Tin envious. Take the movie's opening scene. D.C. hops up on a backyard fence, attracting the neighbor's dog, a Scottie, who jumps up and down at the fence, barking furiously, trying to get the cat. Then, D.C. hops down and slips into the yard through a crack in the fence. He strolls casually past the barking, leaping dog, and helps himself to the dog's supper dish. Eventually, the dog turns around. He does a double-take and runs at D.C., who calmly slips out through another crack in the fence.

It's a classic Siamese trick! I have *owned* Siamese cats who would pull tricks like that on the neighborhood dogs.

One night, when he is out for a stroll, D.C. stumbles into the hideout of two bumbling bank robbers (Frank Gorshin; Neville Brand) who took a female bank teller (Grayson Hall) as a hostage in their last robbery. The bank teller puts her wristwatch around D.C.'s neck with a message for "help" on the back, and tosses D.C. out the door.

When D.C. returns home, his young owner, Patti Randall (Hayley Mills), finds the watch and the message. Patti is smart enough to figure out what has happened, and contacts F.B.I. agent Zeke Kelso (Dean Jones). The following night, the F.B.I. sets up a unique operation to track D.C. through the neighborhood, hoping the cat will lead them back to the bank robbers' hideout.

The movie has a genuinely funny script, co-written by Bill Walsh (screenwriter on "Mary Poppins") and Gordon and Mildred Gordon, authors of the novel, "Undercover Cat," on which the movie was based. I've read the novel, and the Gordons really knew their cats, and how cats relate (or don't relate) to humans.

A lot of the humor in the movie comes from D.C. having to deal with "non-cat people," especially Agent Kelso, who is allergic to cats. One of the funniest scenes in the movie comes when Kelso has to take D.C.'s paw print, and can't figure out how to fit D.C.'s prints onto the standard FBI fingerprint card. Needless to say, D.C. does not like having his paw printed.

Hayley Mills does well in her last role for Disney. As Patti, she projects a kind of eager, Nancy Drew-like enthusiasm when she finds herself embroiled in a mystery. Even when the FBI starts to doubt her theory that D.C. has found the bank robbers, she still persists in her investigation. She knows she is right! Perhaps that's why she is the only human in the film that D.C. puts up with -- he finds her to be of equal intelligence to himself.

There are small but ingenious supporting performances in the movie, little gems of character acting. Dorothy Provine plays Patti's older sister, Ingrid, who can't believe the fuss that occurs. Roddy McDowell is Ingrid's snobbish boyfriend. Elsa Lanchester and William Demarest are a pair of squabbling neighbors who know that something is going on next door. And Tom Lowell plays Patti's dopey boyfriend, Canoe, who is obsessed with surfing movies.

(Some of the funniest gags in the movie occur late in the film, when Canoe accidentally gets involved in the FBI's trailing of D.C. through the neighborhood.)

There are some funny cameos. Ed Wynn plays a nervous shop owner that Patti cons into helping her with the investigation. Iris Adrian has a great scene as a landlady who bullies the two bank robbers. And Richard Deacon has a funny role as a drive-in manager.

But again, it is D.C. the cat who really carries the picture. It is the cat who outwits both the FBI and the bad guys, and saves the day at the end of the film. He probably wouldn't even care that Hayley Mills got star billing in the movie. For D.C., the greatest joy would be in the giving of his performance -- for what greater joy is there for a cat than simply the joy of...being a cat?

P.S. The sly opening song, written by the Sherman Brothers, and sung by Bobby Darin, sets the tone of D.C.'s character perfectly. It is the most accurate song ever written about the character of a cat.

Yes I, a fully grown man, watched this movie after having not seen it since it was on television in the '70s, shown on The Wonderful World of Disney. What can I say, I was feeling nostalgic. Naturally, it would appear that not a single Black person lives in the burg in which the story takes place, and it is pretty sexist in parts; but, barring those characteristics of the time, it's actually pretty hilarious in parts in a screwball comedy kind of way. In addition to some occasionally inspired hijinks, highlights include a great cast of wonderful character actors, along with an always likeable Dean Jones, as well as an upbeat jazzy score (including a theme song by no less than Bobby Darin).

As the youngest boomer, I somehow missed this one growing up even though the title was familiar. It holds up reasonably well even if the characters are a little stereotypical and silly. Haley Mills carries the movie in the portions that the cat can't. A couple scenes apear to either use a puppet (nearly unnoticable) or a moderately sedated cat, but otherwise I can only imagine how many treats and catnip were used to film the scenes with the cat.

Part of the fun for me was seeing small roles and cameos filled by recognizable character actors from back in the day.

The movie takes awhile to set up and get going, but pays off in the end. Some minor editing, mostly shaving a second here or there for pacing, would improve it a bit, especially in the first half. But overall this was a refreshing and enjoyable watch.

Dean Jones made quite a few films for Disney, and "That Darn Cat!" was the first. As for Jones, he was pretty good in the movie. However, apart from that, it's not particularly good nor worth your time....mostly because the characters, apart from Jones, were poorly written and acted.

The film has a strange plot, as it's VERY adult yet the acting and writing seemed as if it was aimed at kids no older than perhaps 10. How is it adult? Well, two bank robbers have taken a hostage and they plan on murdering her! However, using a Siamese cat, an FBI agent (Jones) and his tag-a-long assistant (Hayley Mills) investigate--using the cat to lead him to the vicious crooks(??).

The plot was silly but the acting and characters were one-dimensional and silly....but not in a good way. In particular, the sister as well as her boyfriend were just awful and the characters seemed more like caricatures....just silly and impossible to believe.

DC (short for Darn Cat) is a Siamese cat who regularly prowls the neighborhood getting into mischief involving the neighbors, local businesses, and other pets in the neighborhood. When DC stops outside a delicatessen, he follows a customer, Iggy (Frank Gorshin), who has just purchased some salmon back to an apartment. Iggy in actuality is one of a pair of bank robbers, along with partner Dan (Neville Brand), who've stollen $160,000 in a robbery and have taken hostage bank teller Margaret Miller (Grayson Hall). Iggy allows the cat inside the apartment having a soft spot for cats, and Ms. Miller overhearing Dan and Iggy's plans to kill her and dispose of her body desperately attaches her wristwatch in place of DC's collar and sends him with a partially written "Help" spell "HEI" in the hopes someone will get it. DC returns to his home with sisters Patti (Haley Mills) and Ingrid Randall (Dorothy Provine). Patti notices the watch on DC's neck and against Ingrid's wishes contacts the FBI where she meets Agent Zeke Kelso (Dean Jones) who presents the find to his superiors who decide to pursue the lead as tracing the marked currency from the robbery has only resulted in dead ends. As Zeke sets up for the operation of tailing DC in the Randall home, the operation is met with all manner of complications involving nosy neighbors, the sisters' pushy boyfriends, and of course the erratic and unpredictable nature of DC himself.

That Darn Cat directed by Mary Poppins and Old Yeller director Robert Stevenson is an adaptation of the novel Undercover Cat by Gordon and Mildred Gordon (credited as The Gordons) who collaborated on the adaptation with noted Disney screenwriter Bill Walsh. Produced for a little over $1 million the film became a major hit for Disney becoming the 6th highest grossing film of 1965. The movie is notable for being the last major Disney release for Haley Mills (though she would do some TV work for the studio) and the first for Dean Jones. While That Darn Cat isn't ranked with the best of Disney's live-action offerings, it really should as it's a unique and well-made comedic thriller that takes that familiar Disney atmosphere and gives it enough of an edge.

What differentiates That Darn Cat form other Disney farces such as The Absent Minded Professor is in the way the film contains many of the hijinks you expect from a movie like this, but they're framed within a story that's not filmed too dissimilarly from how you'd expect a typical film noir or police procedural of the time to be approached. While actors such as Haley Mills, Dean Jones, Dorothy Provine, Roddy McDowall, and Elsa Lanchester play their roles like they're in a comedy, Neville Brand and Frank Gorshin as the robbers Dan and Iggy are playing the material straight in a way that wouldn't be out of place in The Desperate Hours with Grayson Hall also looking legitimately terrified for her life. Noted director Quentin Tarantino used the Dan and Iggy scenes as reference for how he wrote the Gecko Brothers in From Dusk 'til Dawn, and seeing these scenes in the movie you'd be hard pressed to say this was a Disney film out of context. But while the scenes in Dan and Iggy's apartment are intense they never get explicit so the movie is stakey while still maintaining its family friendly core.

The cast outside of Brand, Gorshin, and Hall all show solid comic timing with Haley Mills playing a more mature character and showing solid screen presence, Dean Jones a likable put-upon protagonist who is stuck literally herding a cat, or Dorothy Provine who makes no secret of being frustrated at being involved in these shenanigans. The movie also boasts a likable and funny supporting cast such as Tom Lowell's Canoe who's quirk of making odd sandwiches and smoking pipes is one of just a few things the character does that makes him endearing odd and he shows great chemistry with Mills. Roddy McDowall is also a lot of fun playing Ingrid's intense tightly wound boyfriend Gregory whose controlled and refined manner of speaking gives him a Norman Bates-esque demeanor that contrasts well with the shenanigans going on around him. But of course the real star of the movie is DC himself who is brought to life as a character through 18 Siamese cats trained by William R. Koehler over a period of 3 months who did the various stunts in the movie and combined with the tight editing and craft behind the scenes makes DC a surprisingly fleshed out character.

That Darn Cat doesn't often rank with Disney's best live-action features when they're discussed, but it really should. Not only is That Darn Cat very funny with some charming performances and well-choreographed physical comedy, but the level of training that brought DC's character to life with the various cats is really impressive on screen. That Darn Cat is an impressive piece of Disney's filmography and you owe it to yourself to see it.