The Cat's Paw (1934)
Directed By: Sam Taylor
Written By: Sam Taylor
Starring: Harold Lloyd, Una Merkel, George Barbier
Length: 102 min.
Genre: Comedy
Based on: 1933 novel "The Cat's Paw" by Clarence Budington Kelland
Ezekial Cobb (Harold Lloyd) grows up the child of missionaries in China, and when he comes of age, he heads back to the United States to find a bride. Immediately after arriving in America, he gets roped into a scheme to run for office by a few unscrupulous politician types. He's supposed to lose.
Surprise, he wins, and surprise, he takes his job seriously, completely ruining the scheme from the bad guys. As for finding a bride, Lloyd's character falls in love with the first woman he comes across.
Much like the last Lloyd comedy, this just felt like it was missing something. I didn't find it all that funny, though I did find the story a bit more interesting than Movie Crazy. Just an alright movie, nothing stood out. The politics were a bit weird, though. Lloyd's character is exceptionally authoritarian, and his solution to the conflict in the final climax turns that authoritarianism to 11. But his opponents are truly corrupt and bad people, so I guess it's okay. I mean, I get it, it's a comedy, who cares. It was just a bit weird is all.
On a plus side, I found Una Merkel great in her role. The few laughs this film got from me came from her.
Lloyd only has a few more films left. Judging by the IMDB ratings, it's not looking like he goes out on any high notes.
My Rating: 5/10
IMDB User Rating: 6.7/10 (1k votes)
Rotten Tomatoes: N/A Critics (3-0), 50% of Audience (3.2 / 5 ; 120 votes)