This is an excellent little remembered made-for-TV thriller featuring Kirk Douglas as a biology professor (nicknamed "Mousey," much to his resentment, because of his quiet and shy manner) who quits his job and goes looking for his former wife who has moved to Montreal with her son from a previous marriage. He wants the boy (whom he regards as his own) back but he has been blocked from doing so by a court order.
Now, without work, without a family, obsessed with a son he has been told he can't go near, he decides to have his vengeance on his wife and the world - with a scalpel in his hand. Douglas is a marvel as the professor, alternately pathetic and creepy, as he follows his wife (played by Jean Seberg) around the city. He is, in turn, being followed by a private eye, hired by his former's wife's fiancee (John Vernon) to be sure they know where he is. The cat and mouse games that Douglas will play will not only be with the wife but with that detective, as well. And along the way, meeting "Mousey" in a laundromat one night, a lonely young woman will make the mistake of taking this man home with her.
Shot in England as well as on location in Canada, Cat and Mouse effectively builds its suspense towards the inevitable clash. And then, at the climax, there is a twist I didn't see coming. Film buffs will appreciate the presence in the film of Bessie Love (The Lost World, Broadway Melody) playing Vernon's mother. However, it's the bravura performance of Douglas that will remain in the memory. I'd actually rate this one a 7.5 rather than just a 7/10.
