The Cat's-Paw (1934)

Naive Ezekial Cobb, brought up by his missionary father in China returns to America to seek a wife. Corrupt politicians enlist him to run for mayor as a dummy candidate with no chance of ... See full summary »

Director:

Sam Taylor

Writers:

Clarence Budington Kelland (story), Sam Taylor (screen play),

Stars:

Harold Lloyd, Una Merkel, George Barbier

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Harold Lloyd	...	Ezekiel Cobb
Una Merkel	...	Pat Pratt
George Barbier	...	Jake Mayo
Nat Pendleton	...	Strozzi
Grace Bradley	...	Dolores Doce
Alan Dinehart	...	Mayor Ed Morgan
Grant Mitchell	...	Silk Hat McGee
E. Alyn Warren	...	Tien Wang (as Fred Warren)
Warren Hymer	...	'Spike' Slattery
J. Farrell MacDonald	...	Shigley (as J. Farrell Macdonald)
James Donlan	...	Red - the Reporter
Edwin Maxwell	...	District Attorney Neal
Frank Sheridan	...	Dan Moriarity - Police Commissioner
Fuzzy Knight	...	Stuttering Gangster
Vince Barnett	...	Wilks - a Gangster

Storyline

Naive Ezekial Cobb, brought up by his missionary father in China returns to America to seek a wife. Corrupt politicians enlist him to run for mayor as a dummy candidate with no chance of winning. Their plan backfires as he wins and embarks upon a reform crusade.

---

Plot Keywords:

missionary | mayor | naivety | magician | gangster | 

---

Taglines:

Everything new but these [eyeglasses]

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Cantonese German

Release Date:

7 August 1934 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Strohmann

Filming Locations:

General Service Studios - 1040 N. Las Palmas, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$617,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Harold Lloyd Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The delay that followed Harold Lloyd's last picture Movie Crazy was partly due to the fact that he could find no suitable story. He bought The Cat's Paw when Author Clarence Budington Kelland had finished only the first chapter, offered suggestions to make the part more to his taste. When the story was finished Lloyd was amazed to find that none of the antics which his private staff of "gagmen" usually arrange for him seemed to fit the plot. He finally accepted the advice of his director, Sam Taylor, to make the picture without his customary comedy inventions.

---

Quotes

Ezekiel Cobb: A cordial greeting, my worthy friend!

---

Soundtracks

"I'm Just That Way"
(1934) (uncredited)
Music by Harry Akst
Lyrics by Roy Turk
Performed by Grace Bradley

User Reviews

Harold speaks.... Chinese... sort of...

We hear so much about how the coming of sound ruined careers. This doesn't seem to be the case for Harold Lloyd, who smoothly makes the transition to talkies in 'The Cat's Paw' (1934). The story has Lloyd as missionary's son Ezekiel Cobb raised in rural China. On return to America Cobb becomes a patsy for a political machine, but to everyone's surprise gets elected mayor.

The story is entertaining even though most of the jokes fall flat. It does contain a lot of racial stereotypes and epithets, but is good natured and pretty equal-opportunity in it's treatment of various ethnic groups making it at least honest in it's portrayal of life in Depression era U.S.A.

Modern audiences may find the use of caucasian actors in Chinese roles, and the dubbing of Lloyd when he speaks Chinese in 'The Cat's Paw' as much more blatantly obvious than did audiences of the time. And while it's not as groundbreaking as Lloyd's silent film work, and there are admittedly better films from the mid 30s, as mentioned, it's entertaining and fast moving, and worth checking out if for no other reason than to see Una Merkel as savvy cigarette girl Pet and to see Lloyd transition from sight gags to speaking.