That Darn Cat 1965
Disney Plus carries a lot of the old Disney movies, including the live action movies. Many of those movies are just geared towards kids and are low budget and silly. One of the better ones maybe is That Darn Cat!. Made in 1965, it was the last movie Disney did with Hayley Mills and the first one with Dean Jones, who would do many more including the Herbie the Lovebug series. Jones plays an FBI agent looking for bank robbers who also kidnapped a woman who was working at the bank. The bank robbers aren’t completely bungling and are kind of menacing since they plan on killing their hostage before leaving their hideout. Jones isn’t just there for slapstick either, being fairly competent in running a stakeout involving other agents and surveillance technology. Hayley Mills plays an older teenager who owns a neighborhood cat that comes home with possible evidence. She and her older sister are pretty and funny and their parents are conveniently out of town, though they could almost be living on their own at this point. The production values aren’t great and it reminds me more of something made for TV or an episode of Andy Griffith or Bewitched. But it is still mostly fun and the title song is by the Sherman brothers and sung by Bobby Darin. There are a few small time but known stars who show up too. Mills does a good job with her part, not overplaying it and not explaining why she has a British accent. There are romances involved, but mostly innocent, while acknowledging some things that appear inappropriate, so it has a bit of an edge to it. It’s not great movie making, but it is entertaining. I had never seen Haley Mills in anything and was impressed. I could also see how Dean Jones landed more roles with Disney.
Written: 16 Sep 2020