That Darn Cat!
by Robert Stevenson
List Price:
Our Price: $6.08
You Save: $8.91 (59%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $5.86 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Dean Jones, Dorothy Provine, Hayley Mills, Neville Brand, Roddy McDowallDirector: Robert Stevenson
Brand: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Cinematographer: Edward Colman
Producer: Bill Walsh
Writer: Bill Walsh
Producer: Ron Miller
Producer: Walt Disney
Writer: Gordon Gordon
Writer: Mildred Gordon
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 112 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-05-03
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Product features:
- His name is "D.C." -- short for "Darn Cat" -- the sleekest sleuth ever to grace the silver screen! Hayley Mills stars as a young woman with an active imagination who contacts the FBI when D.C. suddenly sports a wristwatch around his neck. She's convinced it's the tip-off to crack a baffling bank robbery and kidnapping case. Dean Jones is the allergic federal agent who sniffs around for clu
DVD Reviews of That Darn Cat!
DVD Review: "He's a sly old codger, an artful dodger, a scrounger unsurpassed..." (referring to the cat, of course, and not Ed Wynn)
Summary: 4 Stars
Forty years plus later, THAT DARN CAT! still holds up very well as a live action Disney movie. I saw it again recently, after not having seen it for many years, and it's just as entertaining and silly, although for the most part not so dumbed-down silly that it becomes aggravating. Based on the book UNDERCOVER CAT by the Gordons (That Darn Cat AKA Undercover Cat) and with the theme song sung by Bobby Darin, several things work to make this a fun flick. First and prominently, there's Hayley Mills, who spent a huge chunk of her teenhood making Disney movies (Pollyanna (Vault Disney Collection), the classic PARENT TRAP (The Parent Trap (1961) and The Parent Trap II (1986): 2-Movie Collection (2-Disc Set)), In Search of the Castaways, Summer Magic, The Moon-Spinners). THAT DARN CAT! marks the end of 19-year-old Hayley Mills's Disney run, but she exits on a high note. To make up for her departure, lanky everyman Dean Jones makes his Disney debut and would go on to be the featured star in ensuing Disney pictures. In this movie Hayley is as warm and plucky as ever, and Dean brings his likeability and his talent for physical comedy. Both are terrific, someone in charge being wise enough to ensure enough screentime for these two to do their thing.
But it's also about the cat. At exactly 9pm the always ravenous blue-eyed Siamese cat D.C. (for Darn Cat!) goes on the prowl and makes his rounds, scavenging for food, getting into messes, getting the neighbors all ornery. But when D.C. comes home one evening wearing an expandable wristwatch with part of the word "Help" scratched on it, her teenaged owner Patti Randall (Mills) makes an improbable leap of logic: that the watch is somehow linked to the daring bank robberies and kidnapping so featured in all the newspapers. I guess back in the '60s one can just stroll into the FBI offices and walk out with an FBI guy, because this is exactly what Patti does. Except that the agent assigned, Zeke Kelso (Jones), happens to be highly allergic to cats.
There's a bit of anthropomorphism thrown in, with D.C. seemingly able to understand most of the conversations going on around him. And certainly D.C. is a clever cat, and there's almost a cartoon feel in how he outsmarts the local backyard mutt. We also get absurd shenanigans with Agent Kelso attempting to take the cat's pawprints and the FBI guys tasked with surveillance detail on D.C. But thankfully the cat doesn't monopolize the movie. And, except for Kelso's attempts to fingerprint D.C. (a scene which feels really contrived), the frankly farfetched plot developments generate the humor. The funniest sequence takes place in a drive-in theater as manager Mel Cooley chases down Kelso and the cat and has ungodly amounts of icky concession stand foods dumped on him. There's also a very vague stab at romance but that gives way in favor of getting the plot moving.
Incidental characters also provide comedy support and generally liven up the place, particularly Elsa Manchester and William Demarest as, respectively, the snoopy neighbor and her hearing-impaired husband. And, yes, the snoop gets her just desserts. Roddy McDowall plays a stuffed shirt who courts Patti's older sister; Ed Wynn shows up in one scene as a nervous jeweler; and Frank Gorshin (later, the Riddler in the Batman show) is interesting as a fidgety bank robber. A dichotomy regarding Gorshin's character is that while he's the one pushing to kill off the hostage bank teller, he's a big softie for cats. By the way, another element which elevates the film is that the bad guys aren't portrayed as bumbling types but rather as fairly smart ne-er-do-wells. They probably would've gotten away with their crimes... if not for That. Darn. Cat! And who plans for cats?
So I cut my teeth on Disney flicks and grew up on Hayley Mills and Dean Jones, Fred MacMurray and Kurt Russell. Hayley Mills was excellent in all of her Disney pictures, so I'm not too surprised that, although not as timeless as THE PARENT TRAP, THAT DARN CAT! decades later has managed to retain its magic and its watchability. Even the more sophisticated, more savvy kids of today will giggle themeselves silly at THAT DARN CAT! The only down side to this, really, is that we're still waiting for a dvd release with the original theatrical wide screen format. Why dole out the skimpy, Disney?
Description of That Darn Cat!
Features include:
?MPAA Rating: G
?Format: DVD
?Runtime: 112 minutes
Bestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Million Dollar DuckWalt Disney Home Entertainment; Release date: 2005-04-12; DVD
Best price: $5.96
Price in other shops:
The Love Bug (Special Edition)Buena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2003-05-20; DVD
Best price: $6.03
Price in other shops:
The Moon-SpinnersBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2003-01-14; DVD
Best price: $6.01
Price in other shops:
In Search of the CastawaysBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2005-05-03; DVD
Best price: $5.16
Price in other shops:
Summer MagicWalt Disney Home Entertainment; Release date: 2005-05-03; DVD
Best price: $5.79
Price in other shops:
The Three Lives of ThomasinaBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2004-07-06; DVD
Best price: $5.75
Price in other shops:
The Shaggy D.A./ The Shaggy DogBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2009-04-26; DVD
Best price: $5.90
Price in other shops:
Pollyanna (Vault Disney Collection)Buena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2002-05-07; DVD
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops:
The Ugly DachshundBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2004-07-06; DVD
Best price: $5.91
Price in other shops:
The Cat From Outer SpaceWalt Disney Video; Release date: 2004-07-06; DVD
Best price: $4.73
Price in other shops: