That Darn Cat!1965

That Darn Cat! is a 1965 American Walt Disney Productions feature film starring Hayley Mills and Dean Jones, starring in his first film for Disney in a story about bank robbers, a kidnapping and a mischievous cat. The film was based on the book Undercover Cat by Gordon and Mildred Gordon and was directed by Robert Stevenson. The title song was written by the Sherman Brothers and sung by Bobby Darin. That Darn Cat! was the last of six films Hayley Mills made for the Disney Studios. The 1997 remake featured a cameo appearance by Dean Jones.
"Darn Cat" or "DC" is a wily, adventurous Siamese tomcat who lives with two young women, suburbanite sisters Ingrid (Dorothy Provine) and Patti Randall (Hayley Mills), whose parents are traveling abroad at the time of the story. One night, while making his rounds around town, teasing Blitzy the Bulldog as usual, DC follows Iggy (Frank Gorshin), a bank robber, to an apartment where he and his partner Dan (Neville Brand) are holding bank employee Margaret Miller (Grayson Hall) hostage, calling her "Moms" in the process. The robbers let the cat in and feed him. When Margaret is alone for a moment, she attempts to scratch "help" into the back of her watch (only able to add "H,E" and what looks like an "L" before being interrupted), places it around the cat's neck, and releases him into the outdoors. At home, Patti discovers the watch, has a gut feeling it belongs to the kidnapped woman and visits the FBI. She likes the kind looks and Agent Zeke Kelso (Dean Jones) and tells him of her discovery. Supervisor Newton (Richard Eastham) assigns Kelso to follow DC in hopes he will lead them back to the robbers' hideout. Kelso sets up a headquarters in the Randalls' house and assigns a team to keep the cat under surveillance, but DC manages to elude them. Eventually a bugging device is implanted in DC's collar and the cat leads Zeke into a comical chase at a drive-in movie and several backyards. Eventually, Patti and Zeke rescue Margaret and bring the robbers to justice. Subplots involve a "romance" between Patti's sister Ingrid and Gregory Benson (Roddy McDowall) and the meddling of nosey neighbor Mrs. MacDougall (Elsa Lanchester) and her disapproving husband (William Demarest).
Cast

Hayley Mills as Patti Randall
Dean Jones as Zeke Kelso
Dorothy Provine as Ingrid Randall
Roddy McDowall as Gregory Benson
Neville Brand as Dan
Frank Gorshin as Iggy
Elsa Lanchester as Mrs. MacDougall
William Demarest as Mr. MacDougall
Tom Lowell as Canoe Henderson
Ed Wynn as Mr. Hofstedder
Richard Eastham as Supervisor Newton
Liam Sullivan as Agent Graham
Grayson Hall as Margaret Miller
Iris Adrian as the landlady

Written by Gordon Gordon
Mildred Gordon
Bill Walsh
Starring Hayley Mills
Dean Jones
Dorothy Provine
Roddy McDowall
Neville Brand
Frank Gorshin
Music by Robert F. Brunner
Cinematography Edward Colman
Editing by Cotton Warburton
Studio Walt Disney Productions
Distributed by Buena Vista Distribution
Release date(s)

December 2, 1965

Running time 116 minutes
Country United States
Language English