Fletch
I'll Lock Up
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I Can Haz Claws-Up Mr. DeMille?, or Cats in Movieland
Kitteh was not yet the boon companion of our day. Pampered purebred and humble mouser were about all the culture could embrace.
There were also undesirable associations to catty women and alley cattin' men, and of course, to this day the industry considers cats untrainable and hard to work with. For every cat on screen, you might see 20 publicity stills.
Still, a young kitten could portray playful innocence and a silky, fancy cat a certain kind of over-the-top elegance.
Mary Pickford, nd
Carole Lombard, 1934
Lombard's madcap aristocracy was underlined by a double perfecta of cat imagery: the black Persian. They had noses then...
Gable & Lombard, 1940
Again, the Siamese bespeaks refined affluence. Clark's he-man-ness was unassailable as long as he didn't hold kitteh too close - it's clear whose cats these are.
A rare exception to the carefully managed presentation of Felis catus in those years is Veronica Lake, in 1942, with a plain old fat fuzzbutt.
After the 40s, candid shots became more accepted, showing stars - most all female, of course, a rule that still applies today - interacting with cats in a home or homelike setting.
Grace Kelly, ca. 1952
Anthony Perkins, nd
Earrrrrtha Kitt, 1952
Marlon Brando, 1955
The above come from a now out-of-print book collection, Hollywood Cats. Gable, Perkins, and Brando are the only male stars among a hundred or so pictured.
Cats were more often props than pets in the studio days.Foofoogal said:
Kitteh was not yet the boon companion of our day. Pampered purebred and humble mouser were about all the culture could embrace.
There were also undesirable associations to catty women and alley cattin' men, and of course, to this day the industry considers cats untrainable and hard to work with. For every cat on screen, you might see 20 publicity stills.
Still, a young kitten could portray playful innocence and a silky, fancy cat a certain kind of over-the-top elegance.
Lombard's madcap aristocracy was underlined by a double perfecta of cat imagery: the black Persian. They had noses then...
Again, the Siamese bespeaks refined affluence. Clark's he-man-ness was unassailable as long as he didn't hold kitteh too close - it's clear whose cats these are.
A rare exception to the carefully managed presentation of Felis catus in those years is Veronica Lake, in 1942, with a plain old fat fuzzbutt.
After the 40s, candid shots became more accepted, showing stars - most all female, of course, a rule that still applies today - interacting with cats in a home or homelike setting.
The above come from a now out-of-print book collection, Hollywood Cats. Gable, Perkins, and Brando are the only male stars among a hundred or so pictured.
ok, this will be my contribution to "kitty factor" in here! 
