Monday, March 5, 2012

myra breckinridge (1970)


Unknown.
Satire on the Hollywood movie system, intercut with clips from famous Hollywood films. One of which has a woman on hearing the phone ringing, picks up a cat instead!

yangtse incident (1957)


Simon (though the cat is not named in the film).
A retelling of a true incident, when the Chinese people's army captured a British Naval frigate in 1949. As the crew prepare to escape, we see the ship's cat, asleep in a hammock.
In reality Simon was considered a hero for being wounded during the incident, maintaining the crew's morale during the months of capture they endured, and eating his fair share of rats. Unfortunately he wasn't around to take a staring role in the film, dying in quarantine on his return from action. But in death he was afforded a full military burial, and was postumously awarded the Dickin Medal.