Days before his large collection of indigenous art goes public the wealthy antique dealer Tony Webb fears that he is marked for death - as the ultimate price for his legendary, nearly unnatural luck. Or is the danger more wordly? Tony Webb is not a likeable person and his outcast half-brother Paul also has no warm feeling for him. The C. A. T., a former circus performer, master jewel thieves and now a professional bodyguard, will try to find out...
In the sixties, T. H. E. Cat (set in New York) was among the first series, that featured a darker hero, "a cool intelligent fearless man of action, and a jazz soundtrack to highlight the noir-like visual look of such a man's world." (Michael Shonk). It stars the great Robert Loggia and lasted only one season, but it seems to have had some influence upon future series and films. Unfortunately the negatives of "T. H. E. Cat" were apparently accidentally destroyed in an accident in the Paramount storage in the '70's, therefor only a few prints of poor quality are momentarily available. The episode "Ring of Anasis" (December 30, 1966 - available online) is also worthy, because it was the last directing job for legendry filmmaker Jacques Tourneur (Cat People, Out of the past). It was an interesting, stylish exit for him. Tourneur, who was according to his own words not a great fan of television, had apparently a great time creating an atmosphere of doom and mystic in Webb's nightly, labyrinthine exhibition rooms, where suddenly blowpips and javelins becomes weapons of choice.
