JohnHowardReid Review of The Cat and the Fiddle

The Cat and the Fiddle (1934)

A fascinating movie which repays constant visits!

[10/10 · 28 September 2016]

Two directors were involved in this one and my problem is who did which? My colleague, Barrie Pattison, would probably say it was no problem. "Sam Wood did all the good stuff, William K. Howard, the less inspired!" I'm not so tempted to go along with that. The problem is that, as everyone knows, every studio in Hollywood was in a bit of a mess in 1934 when the Depression was really starting to bite on cinema attendances. Both top-billed Ramon Novarro and Jeanette MacDonald were not happy with their roles. Jeanette insisted that her part be built up. Contemporary press reports confirm this and some even suggest that Vivienne Segal's role was lessened as a consequence. The additions have certainly made MacDonald's role far more interesting – she is a presented as a person who has no taste – but far less sympathetic. She was probably unaware of this. In real life, she took herself very seriously and hated to be made fun of – unless, of course, the funster was Maurice Chevalier (who could always take refuge in the fact that English was his second language). Getting back to The Cat and the Fiddle, money was spent like water on sets and costumes. In fact, it doesn't look like a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film at all. Notice that Gibbons is not credited – and was he mad as hell! Anyway, my educated guess is that the first half of the film was mostly directed by William K. Howard and that Sam Wood took over at some stage in the second half. Three photographers were employed: Ray Rennahan for the Technicolor sequence, Harold Rosson and Charles Clarke for the black-and-white. In all, a fascinating movie which repays constant visits, year after year!