The Cats - Rita Hayworth

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "The Bastard" or "The Cats" )

directed by Duccio Tessari
Italy 1968

In what would be one of her final roles, Rita Hayworth (Gilda) plays the alcoholic mother of two sons who are at war with each other over a case of stolen jewels. When Jason (Giuliano Gemma) steals a caseload of jewels and kills several men along the way, he feels it is his pay for accomplishing the heist that his older brother Adam (Klaus Kinski) arranged. But Adam feels differently and soon brother is pitted against brother in a web of double and triple crosses involving Jason's girlfriend. After Adam has the family doctor sever the tendons in Jason's gun hand, Jason seeks revenge. All of this is set to a groovy '60s soundtrack, fashion and dubbing. Klaus Kinski is pure menace as the older brother and Rita Hayworth chews up the scenery as a mother who cares more about getting her whiskey than the well-being of her sons. Ironically, she took the role after Joan Crawford turned it down.

Poster

Theatrical Release: October 30th, 1968

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

DVD Review: Warner Home Video (Warner Archive Collection) - Region 0 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Warner Home Video Region 0 - NTSC
Runtime	1:33:00
Video	1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.9 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	Dolby Digital 1.0 (English)
Subtitles	None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Warner Home Video Aspect Ratio: Original - 1.85:1 Edition Details: • none DVD Release Date: April 26th, 2012 Keep Case Chapters 23

Comments

Pretty cheesy crime-drama flic with Kinski and Hayworth giving it some credibility. Actually, it's not that bad carrying some Italian-to-English sync-DUB kitsch appeal. The crime aspect is minimized by the family conflict but it still has some intensity. Curious fans may wish to indulge - keeping their expectations reasonable.

It's standard single-layered but progressive and anamorphic in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio but I am suspicious as the Warner logo in the opening was heavily cropped. Composition looks okay though. There is no heavy damage - a few speckles. It's bright - colors may be a bit dull but detail is acceptable. Really, not bad visually.

The audio is decent with the aforementioned DUBs but unremarkable while still supporting the film and there are no subtitles offered. There are no supplements.

That one gal (is it Margaret Lee?) reminds me of Monica Vitti. I did watch The Cats (quite the quasi-censored name change from The Bastard) to completion and that is a positive. I was curious to see Rita and I think some fans may enjoy the drama. It's not that bad although I felt the crime element could have been developed more.

- Gary Tooze