Who Killed the Cat?

This is a slow burning murder mystery that keeps you guessing till the end. Perhaps the final reveal is a bit quick, especially if you are used to Columbo style re-enactments of the murder, so you need to pay attention. As usual there are plenty of possible murder suspects to choose from, or perhaps it's even suicide. Although based on a play (by Arnold Ridley, more commonly known for his role in Dad's Army) this does not have the usual hallmarks, such as the action being set primarily in one location. Well worth watching. A picture credit for the cat, an on-screen natural, would have been welcome though.

A nasty landlady is peeved because her late husband has left most of his estate to her stepdaughter. She takes it out on her boarders who are three lady pensioners. She raises their rent exorbitantly. One of the ladies has a cat which is then found poisoned to death. The boarders suspect their landlady is the killer. The landlady has been a thieving magpie helping herself to items from their rooms. For a moment the old ladies plan drastic revenge. But then the landlady is found poisoned to death anyway. This British mystery from Eternal Films has a fine senior cast. I enjoyed stage actress Ellen Pollock who plays a widow fantasizing about some rich grand past. Also entertaining is jeweler Mervyn Johns who keeps his safe permanently wide open. This is not Ladykillers or Arsenic And Old Lace but it is likely to appeal to fans of those movies.

This looked like a mid 1950s film rather that one of 1966 especially as it was not in colour but the story suited this look. The old ladies were great and in the mould of an Ealing film and I half expected Alastair Sim or George Cole to pop up at any time.

An excellent "who dunnit" which keeps the audience guessing all the way to the end and very well cast possibly with "William Tell" being it it to attract some more cinema ticket buyers.

A must see for lovers of classic 1950s mystery films even it it was made in 1966. I changed my mind several times as to who the guilty party was and still got it wrong.

A great little movie, the ladies were brilliant keep me watching clued to the tv.

Made in the sixties but with a distinctly thirties feel (except that in the thirties it would have taken place in a house the size of Blenheim). 'B' movie workhorse Montgomery Tully was still working in black & white and thirty shillings was still a substantial sum of money when this diverting little potboiler with a predominately female cast was dashed off (it even includes a very rare film appearance by the sorely missed Joan Sanderson).

No prizes for guessing who the prime candidate for the rat poison one of the characters buys is.