The Three Lives of Thomasina (1964)

Thomasina the cat brings a family together, through her mysterious death and reappearance.

Director:

Don Chaffey

Writers:

Robert Westerby (screenplay), Paul Gallico (book)

Stars:

Patrick McGoohan, Susan Hampshire, Laurence Naismith

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Patrick McGoohan	...	Andrew McDhui
Susan Hampshire	...	Lori MacGregor
Laurence Naismith	...	Reverend Angus Peddie
Jean Anderson	...	Mrs. MacKenzie
Wilfrid Brambell	...	Willie Bannock
Finlay Currie	...	Grandpa Stirling
Alex Mackenzie
Vincent Winter	...	Hughie Stirling
Denis Gilmore	...	Jamie McNab
Charles Carson	...	Doctor
Ruth Dunning
Ewan Roberts	...	Constable McQuarrie
Oliver Johnston	...	Mr. Dobbie
Francis De Wolff	...	Targu (as Francis de Wolff)
Nora Nicholson	...	Old Lady

Storyline

A young Scottish girl's cat, Thomasina, apparently dies at the hands of her widowed veterinarian father. The strained relationship between the girl and her father is eventually repaired with the return of Thomasina and the aid of a beautiful and mysterious "witch" who seems to have powers to revive and heal animals.

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Plot Keywords:

cat | veterinarian | reincarnation | resurrection | love | 

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Taglines:

I Am Thomasina -A Most Unusual Cat...They Say I'm Enchanted, and I Am!

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Genres:

Family | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic elements

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English Scottish Gaelic

Release Date:

4 June 1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die drei Leben des Thomasina

Filming Locations:

Inveraray, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was first broadcast on television in three one-hour installments over three weeks on Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color.

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Goofs

In the beginning of the movie when Thomasina is running down the street, you can see briefly the shadow of the camera in the bottom left corner.

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Quotes

Mrs. MacKenzie: For a clever man, you have a lot to learn.

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Connections

Edited into Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color: The Three Lives of Thomasina: Part 2 (1965)

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Soundtracks

"Gay Weaving Song"
(uncredited)
Traditional

User Reviews

The "Lassie, Come Home" of cat movies.

If you're fond of the little fur-bearing parasites this is a movie you cannot watch without a large hankerchief. It's superior to the current family movies in a number of reasons; lovely color, the realism of a vet's life, delightful Scots Highlands locations, a fine dramatic structure bolstered by that underrated actor Patrick Macgoohan and by a pretty, startlingly black-eyed starlet named Susan Hampshire (the two represent science and faith, respectively, and they come together with an ease you wish these two opponents would share today). But the film is mostly about the tragedy of losing a cat, and the childish, unkillable hope that one day they'll return. The sequence of cat heaven, ruled by the Goddess Bast, is reminiscent of the best of Michael Powell, explicitly referencing Powell's A Matter of Life and Death. The excellent animation is done by the pioneer of the cartoon industry Ub Iweks. A family movie in the day when kids were tougher, it was memorably broadcast on Disney's Wonderful World of Color on TV. I Expect wracking sobs in the scene where a rain- soaked Thomasina comes to the window. Jeez, I'm tearing up right now, just thinking about it.