That Darn Cat! (1965)

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

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.

Disney is at it again, providing a cavalcade of laughs for the whole family.

a cat, a kidnap and a young woman with rich imagination. and Disney mark. this is all. and enough for a lovely comedy . like in each similar case, the feline is the star. because entire story seems be created around it. because the performances are only sketches and the old clichés are used in generous ( and smart) manner. and this does "Than Darn Cat !" a real seductive comedy. and, maybe , legendary because it is a good example for the American cinema spirit from "60. one of motifs - the meet with Grayson Hall, Dean Jones and Roddy McDowell, the seductive job of Halley Mills , the soft crime film who respects the rules of genre , representing a nice comedy.so, "That Darn Cat !"

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!)