Rhubarb (1951)

Rich, eccentric T.J. Banner adopts a feral cat who becomes an affectionate pet. Then T.J. dies, leaving to Rhubarb most of his money and a pro baseball team, the Brooklyn Loons. When the ... See full summary »

Director:

Arthur Lubin

Writers:

Dorothy Davenport (screenplay) (as Dorothy Reid), Francis M. Cockrell (screenplay) (as Francis Cockrell)

Stars:

Ray Milland, Jan Sterling, Gene Lockhart

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Ray Milland	...	Eric Yeager
Jan Sterling	...	Polly Sickles
Gene Lockhart	...	Thaddeus J. Banner
William Frawley	...	Len Sickles
Elsie Holmes	...	Myra Banner
Taylor Holmes	...	P. Duncan Munk
Willard Waterman	...	Orlando Dill
Henry Slate	...	Dud Logan
James Griffith	...	Ogelthorpe 'Oggie' Meadows (as James W. Griffith)
Jim Hayward	...	Doom
Donald MacBride	...	Pheeny
Hal K. Dawson	...	Mr. Fisher
Orangey	...	Rhubarb (as Rhubarb)

Storyline

Rich, eccentric T.J. Banner adopts a feral cat who becomes an affectionate pet. Then T.J. dies, leaving to Rhubarb most of his money and a pro baseball team, the Brooklyn Loons. When the team protests, publicist Eric Yeager convinces them Rhubarb is good luck. But Eric's fiancée Polly seems to be allergic to cats, and the team's success may mean new hazards for Rhubarb.

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Plot Keywords:

animal character name as title | one word title | cat | baseball | feral cat | 

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Taglines:

Rhubarb Can't Say a Word - But ... He'll Make You Howl!

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Genres:

Comedy | Family | Sport

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 February 1952 (France)

Also Known As:

Aj, som katten

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Perlberg-Seaton Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the end of the movie Paul Douglas has a cameo appearance with the line: "A litter from three wives...", a reference to his film A Letter to Three Wives (1949).

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Goofs

Near the beginning of the movie when rhubarb is being chased by dogs across the golf course, rhubarb runs into the bushes a golf ball lying on the ground shifts positions (without being touched) one second before the dogs enter the bushes.

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Quotes

Judge: [to Polly Sickles] You're sneezing under oath. An untrue sneeze could find you guilty of perjury.

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Crazy Credits

The opening cast list ends: "and introducing the newest addition to Hollywood's great galaxy of stars -- that dynamic, exciting, scintillating personality RHUBARB (by special arrangement with the S.P.C.A.) ...A.H.A. Y.M.C.A. U.C.L.A. B.P.O.E. R.F.C.)"

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Connections

Referenced in The Comedy of Terrors (1963)

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Soundtracks

IT'S A PRIV'LEGE TO LIVE IN BROOKLYN
Written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans
Sung by cast

User Reviews

Great and forgotten screwball comedy

If you've never seen this 1951 screwball comedy, you have missed a real gem. A cat that can fight and beat dogs, an eccentric baseball team owner who dies and leaves the team to the cat (Rhubarb), the cat's guardian (Ray Milland) whose fiancée is allergic to cats, a group of gangsters who believe Rhubarb is hurting their earnings in the field of betting (the team begins to win after they believe Rhubarb is good luck), and the dead owner's relations who have been left penniless by Rhubarb usurping them in their inheritance all mix together to make great fun for cat lovers and baseball lovers alike. Nobody remembers this one very much because it is rarely televised and also because it was made by Paramount, a studio that tends to neglect its many classic films. In fact, the expression that the Joker utters in the 1989 Batman film : "Never rub another man's Rhubarb" refers to this film, although almost everyone assumed a more unsavory meaning for the expression. The baseball team in this film starts to turn their luck around when one batter pets (rubs) Rhubarb before a game. It really is a great family movie, but not many people at all have seen this one and thus few understand what the Joker was talking about.