The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (1973)

Western story about a defiant wife who leaves her husband to take up riding with outlaws.

Director:

Richard C. Sarafian

Writers:

Marilyn Durham (novel), Eleanor Perry (screenplay)

Stars:

Burt Reynolds, Sarah Miles, Lee J. Cobb

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Burt Reynolds	...	Jay Grobart
Sarah Miles	...	Catherine Crocker
Lee J. Cobb	...	Harvey Lapchance
Jack Warden	...	Dawes
George Hamilton	...	Willard Crocker
Bo Hopkins	...	Billy Bowen
Robert Donner	...	Dub
Sandy McPeak	...	Ben (as Sandy Kevin)
Larry Littlebird	...	Iron Knife
Nancy Malone	...	Sudie
Jay Silverheels	...	The Chief
Jay Varela	...	Charlie Bent
Owen Bush	...	Conductor
Larry Finley	...	Bartender
Sutero García Jr.	...	Dream Speaker

Storyline

It's the frontier of the American west. Shortly after being released from prison where he was serving a sentence for murder, Jay Grobart leads a band of three other men - Dawes, Billy Bowen and an Indian named Charlie Bent - in robbing a train of its Wells Fargo cargo of $100,000. In their escape from the scene, they are forced out of circumstance to take along a young woman, against her will, she who is traveling by herself on horseback. She is Mrs. Willard Crocker - Catherine - who they can tell is wealthy. Although they do not let her go, she vows that she will not tell the authorities about them as she, like them, is running away. As Jay, the leader, embarks on his next mission - to fulfill the reason he stole the money - he has the problems of managing the three men, Dawes and Billy in particular who are solely out for their own selfish wants which now includes their carnal wants with Catherine, and making sure Catherine does not escape. But as they spend more time together and ...

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Plot Keywords:

female nudity | outlaw | unlikely romance | interracial relationship | train tracks | 

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Taglines:

Two women loved him. One died for him. One killed for him.

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Genres:

Romance | Western

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 October 1973 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

A férfi, aki szerette a táncoló macskát

Filming Locations:

Ajo, Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min 123 min (Turner library print)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The author wrote the book with Lee Van Cleef in mind for the lead, but it was turned into a Burt Reynolds vehicle.

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Goofs

During the opening credits Catherine is riding "side saddle" but her legs are both on the right side of the horse, which is the "wrong" side for an English ladies' saddle. The film is flopped in this shot as later she has her legs on the proper side.

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Quotes

Catherine Crocker: [Discussing an escape plan with Dawes] As soon as it gets dark, I'll get my horse and go.
Dawes: [Skeptical] Yeah? How ya' gonna' manage that?
Catherine Crocker: I'll just say I have to... "tend to myself."
Dawes: Women "tend to themselves," huh?... Men just take a piss.

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Connections

Referenced in The Cinema Snob: At Long Last Love (2014)

User Reviews

One Romantic Burt

The most romantic Burt Reynolds I've ever seen is the Burt that heads the cast of The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing. He's also dangerous and deadly when he has to be.

Reynolds like James Garner is usually comic and cynical in his best remembered films. But in this one he becomes quite the romantic hero, almost like out of a romance novel especially to the object of his affection Sarah Miles.

Burt heads an outlaw gang that consists of Bo Hopkins, Jack Warden, and Jay Varela and one fine day while they're robbing a train Sarah Miles crosses their path. She's running away from her husband George Hamilton, her rich husband who's paying a lot of good wages for a personal posse. Caught in the middle of all this is Wells Fargo man Lee J. Cobb.

Reynolds and Miles make such a great romantic couple rarely seen in westerns. Jimmy Stewart and Debra Paget in Broken Arrow come closest to mind, but Stewart was an unabashed hero, not like Reynolds the outlaw.

The title refers to the name of Reynolds's Shoshone wife Cat Dancing who died years earlier. That story is essential to understanding how Reynolds's character developed as it did. Miles is a woman who finds true love, but also gets a lot of romantic notions knocked out of a silly head.

For fans of westerns and romance.