MovieChat Forums > Mrs. Miniver (1942) Discussion > What Happened to the Cat?

What Happened to the Cat?

posted 16 years ago by Welch57
20 replies | jump to latest

Oh, yes, the cat in Mrs. Miniver. I had a book once called 'Cats in the Movies' and it profiled the cat in Mrs. Miniver. Her real name name was Beth, and she was born in Los Angeles in 1938. She belonged to a lady called Mrs. Friary and had a contract with MGM. Beth can be glimpsed in Cabin in the Sky (1943), The Human Comedy (1943), National Velvet (1944), and Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945). Margaret O'Brien was photographed with her on the set of the latter and, allegedly, has a 'signed' copy of the photo (Beth's paw print). She passed away in 1947 (Beth, not Margaret O'Brien!). In the 1980s Greer Garson was approached to support a campaign for Beth to have a star bearing her name on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, but the Oscar-winning leading lady of Mrs. Miniver declined.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] angieant 16 years ago

Thanks for sharing info about the cat and the book! I had not heard of this book, now I am going to have to look for it through my local library. Off to check www.worldcat.org to see who owns this book.

-----------------------------------
Angie

'...ten thousand midnights ago...'

[–] stargazer1701-1 15 years ago

Napoleon met his Waterloo. The last time we see him;her was in the under ground bunker huddling with the rest of the family.

Smoke me a kipper. I’ll be back for breakfast

[–] netshopper-2 15 years ago

The cat was a give away about the sound effects in the film during the bomb shelter scenes. The dubbed in bombing noises were quite loud but the cat is sleeping soundly through it or cleaning itself. With noise that loud, the cat would have been freaking out...like they do when fireworks go off.

[–] Welch57 15 years ago

Maybe the cat was deaf. Some are.

[–] thundercloud47 12 years ago

This is an interesting thread. I did not know there was a web site called world cat. I'll have to go check it out.

I sort of agree with the poster who brought up the fact that the cat slept during the bombing but sort of don't. I've seen cats that were so calm they'd sleep during a bad thunderstorm especially if they are with a human they trust. I used to own a cat who keyed in on how his humans acted. If we were concerned about something he'd be concerned too. I'd go outside and watch the clouds when storms approached. I did that to try and spot tornadoes ahead of time.Kitty would come out with me and would act like it was a normal day but while he was doing that he'd be watching me. If he saw me all at once head for the back door he'd get upset.

Usually by the time I had taken my third or fourth step he'd go blasting past me and be at the door by the time I got there. His hair and his tail would be all fluffed out like he'd just seen a pit bull. Even though he knew I was coming he'd scratch frantically at the door. Once inside he'd immediately run to the basement door and wait impatiently. He never disobeyed me during a storm.

[–] rdoyle29 15 years ago

That cat was a great little actor. Far better than the children.

[–] tmf_scipio 15 years ago

I'd disagree with that. Toby stole every scene he was in. He acted his age perfectly.

"Whenever Mrs. Kissell breaks wind, we beat the dog."

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] hobohemian 9 years ago

Quite right. Young Toby and Napoleon nearly steal the film.

[–] tuffysmom 9 years ago

Did you notice the part where the maid's boyfriend is saying goodbye to the family before he goes off to war? He says farewell to each family member, including the cat, who is eating. When he addresses the cat, Napoleon briefly looks up from his food in acknowledgement -- now that's good acting!

[–] Danusha_Goska 14 years ago

fun thread. Thank you.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] Kathe75 13 years ago

LOL, aliceone11! Excellent!

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] princesstinymeat 12 years ago

I believe Napoleon escaped the bunker when the door blew open. I'm disappointed the film doesn't follow up on his apparent demise. His/her relationship with Toby is one of my favourite elements of the movie.

[–] gailandzoo 12 years ago

Mrs Miniver tells Toby not to worry about the cat. That he went under the bunks.
But I think that with the house so bombed out that the cat probably was able to come and go ...

[–] hobnob53 12 years ago

If Horace had been killed we would have heard about it. Remember in their shelter Clem says, "I wonder what Toby would do without that cat." If anything had happened to him I'm sure it would have been shown or mentioned, to make the auidence madder at the Germans for killing an innocent little animal. I think the cat just got lost in the shuffle as the plot went on, but was okay.

There's an almost identical thread on this same subject on page 2 of this board (as of this date). It even has the exact same post by the person who provided the "biography" of the cat (real name: Beth) on this thread. Obviously the fate of this cat is more important to most viewers than what happened to the people in this movie!

[–] hilaryjrp 11 years ago

I believe Napoleon escaped the bunker when the door blew open. I'm disappointed the film doesn't follow up on his apparent demise. His/her relationship with Toby is one of my favourite elements of the movie.

Yes, I agree with you.

[–] grantss 11 years ago

The second biggest travesty of Mrs Miniver (after Walter Pidgeon getting an Oscar nomination) was that the cat did not get an acting credit...

Like a bird on the wire, like a drunk in a midnight choir, I have tried in my way to be free