The Three Lives of Thomasina

Today we’ll start off a trilogy of reviews covering the films featuring Disney’s most memorable adolescent acting duo: Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garver. First up is a mildly popular film from 1964, The Three Lives of Thomasina - which, for a movie named after a Cat, doesn’t really feature the namesake feline all that much.

Based on the interestingly-titled Thomasina, The Cat Who Thought She Was God (written by Paul Gallico, who would co-author the screenplay along with Robert Westerby,) the film takes place in the fictional Scottish village of Inveranoch in the year 1912. Through the point-of-view of Thomasina herself (provided by slinky narration from English actress Elspeth March) we are introduced to the town’s recently widowed veterinarian and staunch “man of science,” Andrew MacDhui (played by The Prisoner’s Patrick McGoohan) and his young daughter, Mary (Dotrice.) The traditional-minded townspeople are wary of their new animal doctor, thanks to his chilly demeanor and willingness to put the well-being of “useful” farm animals above those of domesticated pets. One day, after being chased by Dogs through a marketplace, Thomasina suffers a near-fatal injury, and is not brought to the vet until she’s found under a box the next day. MacDhui, unfortunately, is busy operating on the injured Dog of a beloved blind man (with most of the town watching,) and cannot devote time to help his daughter’s Cat. He therefore instructs his assistant (Wilfrid Brambell) to euthanize Thomasina. After a trippy sequence following said feline through “Cat heaven,” Thomasina returns to life, where she is nursed back to health by a local recluse, Lori MacGregor (played by Susan Hampshire) - herself labelled a “witch” by the town’s children due to her unique ability to cure wounded animals.

Before I get to the good stuff, let me get this off my chest: the title song that accompanies the opening credits of the film is gawd-awful. Well, the first portion of the song is, anyway. Written by frequent Disney songwriter Terry Gilkyson, the song's opening (sung in a halting, Oompa-Loompa-like rhythm) contains some of the most groan-inducing lyrics that have ever passed through my ears. A sample: "...do we need to ask more than that? You must know now - it's a cat - but a very important cat - at that." and the choir (which sounds a lot like Disney mainstays The Mellomen, of "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" fame,) comes as close to "phoning in" a melody as I've ever heard. No wonder I've never seen this song pop up on a compilation album! Thankfully, the main body of the song is performed with an appropriately feline-like vocal by Robie Lester, and prevented me from smashing my finger down on the "Mute" button.


I am not a number - I am a person! Och!

The acting in the film is uniformly superb. McGoohan plays a believably conflicted man whose faith and compassion have been drained away by the loss of his wife and inability to emotionally connect with his daughter. For a while I thought it strange that a veterinarian should be so bereft of compassion for animals, though a late-film confession reveals that he was pushed into the practice by his father, himself a vet. Noteworthy for me was another appearance by Laurence Naismith, last seen in 1961’s Greyfriars Bobby, as Reverend Angus Peddie. I had been impressed by the actor’s cautiously sensitive performance in that other Scotland-set film concerning a headstrong pet, and his warm acting here (as the keeper of the village’s faith, and ironically the only resident who fully supports MacDhui’s practice) has only cemented my opinion of him as a fine character actor.

Father, may I take some haggis with my tea? Och?

Little Karen Dotrice, in her first role for Disney, delivers one of the finer performances from a child actress I’ve seen - at 8-years old, no less! The stricken look that crosses her face when her father lets her know he didn’t save Thomasina is heartbreaking, and the character's slow descent into depression (and eventual sickness, after she contracts pneumonia following a harrowing flight through a rainstorm) is a miniature tour-de-force of understated acting. Her emotionless exchange with family maid Mrs. MacKenzie (Jean Anderson) following Thomasina’s death is a doozy, as well: “You’ve made your father angry.” “No I haven’t. My father’s dead.” Damn! Dotrice’s one-day acting partner, Matthew Garber, is fun to watch as village youngster Geordie McNab. In one of the film’s more memorable sequences, Geordie and his brother Jamie (Denis Gilmore) and playmate Hugie (Vincent Winter) throw the presumably deceased feline a traditional funeral, leading a procession of black-clothed children past bewildered adults as they attempt to play “Loch Lomond” on the bagpipes. Already displaying a talent for puckish little boy charisma, Garber’s handful of scenes with Dotrice reveal an easy chemistry that would serve both of them well in their next two roles for Disney.

Thomasina is tripping balls!

Following Thomasina’s passing, we are treated to a Cat’s-eye-view of her passage through a Kitty-Cat afterlife, fronted by scenes of the feline “falling through eternity” which, amusingly, are simply shots of a flailing Cat being tossed in front of a black backdrop. The remainder of the sequence is a marvel of kooky effects work, showcasing a cavernous temple full of Siamese Cats lounging around a monolithic statue of Egyptian Cat-goddess Bastet, all surrounded by shimmering gold light. For a moment I felt like I was watching a lost scene from Powell & Pressburger’s The Tales of Hoffman. Interestingly, the special effects are credited to Jim Fetherolf (a prolific matte artist) and Ub Iwerks. Iwerks was originally Walt Disney’s filmmaking partner when they first started out in animation, and the man who personally animated the first Mickey Mouse cartoon produced, Plane Crazy, in 1928. After a professional falling-out in 1930, Iwerks eventually returned to the studio ten years later and became an innovator in technical effects for the remainder of his professional career, creating extraordinary work in films such as The Three Caballeros, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, and Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds.

Och! Nobody understand this pussy like I do.

The characterization of Lori MacGregor, while suitably sensitive and serene, comes off as somewhat bland when all’s said and done. Rather than being a fault with Susan Hampshire’s performance, though, I feel this is due to too little focus being placed on developing the character. "The witch" MacGregor isn’t really given much depth in the script, her natural compassion for animals of all types presented “as is” with no explanation or background. The village children believe she is a witch, due to her relative isolation in a woodland cottage and her ability to heal sick and injured animals (her home acting as a sort of hospital for creatures with minor injuries); the film almost affirms this notion, since no alternative reason or motivation is presented (but, the narrative insists, she’s a good witch! Look how purdy she is!)

Once this bonnet's on, I'm gonna claw someone's face off...

The slight writing of the MacGregor character is a good indication of my main issue with the film: uninspired, boilerplate writing. While all others aspects of the production are firing on all cylinders (the acting, production design, music and effects are all exemplary,) they are supporting a weak and sadly predictable script. I had a heck of a time sitting down to even write this review, my lack of interest summed up by a brief conversation between me and the HiddenQueen: “So how was Thomasina?” “It was ... fine. It was exactly like most of the other Disney movies I’ve watched.” Beyond the trippy (but brief) “Cat heaven” sequence, much of this movie seems to blend into a lot of other movies I’ve seen over the years. In a 1964 New York Times review, critic Howard Thompson noted that the film felt “mighty, mighty cozy,” and was a “genteel little movie ... best suited for small girls.” While I wouldn’t put it quite as condescendingly as that, it’s a conclusion that’s not far off the mark.

To be fair, the film does seem fairly popular amongst fans (like The Parent Trap, this one seems to hold a place of nostalgia for a number of viewers,) and it’s certainly enjoyable enough on it’s own. Perhaps after sitting through a number of gentle Disney films, one craves something a little more out-of-the ordinary to differentiate a new film from its brethren?