Tweet SCENE STEALING KITTIES

And before that, Richelieu was always stroking cats while plotting. But it's hardly scene stealing, to be honest.

In Henri Diamant-Berger's 1921 serial of The Three Musketeers, Richelieu's desk is perpetually covered in cavorting kitties. So many, in fact, that Richelieu loses some menace as a result. In real life the Cardinal owned 14 cats at the time of his death.
The ultimate scene-stealing kitty movie just might be Kon Ichikawa's I Am a Cat (1975).

Yes, I can imagine that that hints more of crazy cat lady than of the merciless statesman.

THE FIRST AUTO (1927) has a magic lantern show scene where a local moggy wanders in front of the lens to the general hilarity of the audience, and Russell Simpson in particular...

The first was probably the cat in G. A. Smith's THE OLD MAID'S VALENTINE (1900). There is a close-up of the same cat in GRANDMA'S READING GLASS (1900). THE SICK KITTEN (1903) apparently shows the same cat as the mother of the kitten. So she seems to have been G. A. Smith's family cat and may be considered as the first feline film star.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-Lu7Qu8WFo

There's the famous scene that goes on rather too long In "The Bells Of St. Mary's"(1945) where a kitten on a mantlepiece upstages an unaware Bing Crosby as he addresses Ingrid and the other nuns.

There's a fair bit of cat action in The Blot.

There's a fair bit of cat action in The Blot.

Yes, that's one I'd love to see, but don't know if out on Region 2 yet...

There's a fair bit of cat action in The Blot.

Yes, that's one I'd love to see, but don't know if out on Region 2 yet...

Lucky for me, it turned up on TCM recently, with some other Lois Weber titles.

As well as several other moggies, there's the tiny black-and-white kitten George Bancroft pauses to give milk to in the final battle of UNDERWORLD (1927)

As well as several other moggies, there's the tiny black-and-white kitten George Bancroft pauses to give milk to in the final battle of UNDERWORLD (1927)

And there's a long-haired cat who plays a significant role in another Josef von Sternberg picture, DISHONORED (1931). (Saying any more than that would be telling.)

In "The Horseman on the Roof," set in the Napoleonic era, a well-trained cat accompanies Olivier Martinez over rooftops in an extended chase sequence. And in "L'Atalante" cats are repeatedly HURLED into scenes set on a garbage barge, usually onto actors' shoulders if I remember correctly; you're supposed to think that the vessel is so infested with cats that they are always jumping around like gnats - doesn't work, but the scenes are certainly stolen by the outside-the-frame hurler if not the cats alone. Finally, there is the Coen Bros film "Inside Llewyn Davis" that appears to feature an orange tabby in numerous scenes but it was actually several lookalike orange tabbies - anyway, they stole their scenes as far as I was concerned.

THE FIRST AUTO (1927) has a magic lantern show scene where a local moggy wanders in front of the lens to the general hilarity of the audience, and Russell Simpson in particular...

And Mel Kaufman's tune "Me-Ow" playing in the music score makes it even better!

Harry and Tonto (1974) has Art Carney (his Oscar win) and his big orange cat crossing the country for a last road trip. Wonderful film, full of warmth and humor.

Not so much scene stealing as armed robbery--Charley Bowers's Now You Tell One.
(Edit: incomplete video link removed.)

There's a lengthy gag with a fluffy cat and i think flypaper or something in Larry Semon's The Grocery Clerk (1918), currently playing on endless rotation in the Oakland Museum history exhibit.

greta

[silentfilm]

Not so much scene stealing as armed robbery--Charley Bowers's Now You Tell One:
https://vimeo.com/101625590

The Vimeo upload is incomplete, and lacks the kitties. For the full version, go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85GOtSPAgD0



Hilarious!

And the moggy in BED AND SOFA (1927) upstages both male leads...

Carl Dreyer's LOVE ONE ANOTHER (1922) has a kitten playing with the treadle arrangement rocking a baby (19m).
THE SOUL OF YOUTH (1920) has a pampered puss as the centre of discord in a childless couple's household, and a (food) burglary is disturbed by a kitten knocking over some tins in the larder.

Another one to add is Dwain Esper's delirious MANIAC (1934), which steals shamelessly from Poe's 'The Black Cat', features a moggy which polishes off a living heart and has a horrid neighbour who breeds them for their fur...