Track of the Cat (1954)

Track of the cat, sting in the tail.

We are up in the snowy mountains near Aspen, we are in the company of the brooding and feuding Bridges family. Their inner fighting is not the only thing blighting their lives, for a panther is on the loose and as it kills all in its way, it becomes evident that it's also symbolising something deep and foreboding.

Track Of The Cat is directed by the highly accomplished William A Wellman and adapted by A.I. Bezzerides from the novel written by Walter Van Tilburg Clark. Hauntingly eerie and dripping with a sense of unease, it's however more triumphant as a technical piece than it is as a crux story driven one. Wellman had long wanted to make a colour film whilst only working from a black and white palette, he does it here and the result is fascinatingly gorgeous, helped no end by ace cinematographer William H. Clothier's CinemaScope cinematography brilliantly bringing the Mount Rainier location to life (the only way to watch this is in widescreen). All the production needed was to get snowy weather, and they got it, and then some! An interesting point of reference to the weather is that lead man Robert Mitchum (Curt Bridges) stated it was the hardest shoot he ever worked on. Some scenes are truly magnificent, atmosphere drips across the sparse snowy ground, with dark trees seemingly waiting to attack the small framed actors, a burial sequence viewed from the POV of the dead is sumptuous - in short the picture looks gorgeous, but what of the core story and acting heart?

Frankly the story is guilty of being over talky, because as we marvel at the surrounds and buy into the sense of dread that hovers throughout, we are subjected to what can only be described as over written waffle, making me actually wish that I had read the novel prior to viewing the film. The extensive chatter would have been easily forgivable if the pay off via the panther itself was dramatically impacting, but sadly we are robbed of a crescendo ending - something Wellman would later say was an error of judgement (he is rumoured to have even disowned the film at one point). Of the cast, Mitchum is good, moody and bully like, watch as he baits Diana Lynn (poor) as Gwen Williams, while William Hopper puts in a fine turn as Arthur Bridges. The rest? well they are solid enough, though Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer as a very aged portentous Indian raises an unintentional laugh. After plodding around like a decrepit old crippled specimen throughout the picture, he suddenly turns into an Olympic 100 meters champion at the films finale! Yes it's safe to say that Track Of The Cat is a very odd picture indeed. 6/10

This starts off quite promisingly as we arrive at the 'Bridges' family ranch high above the Colorado snowline. Elder brother 'Curt' (Robert Mitchum) and sibling 'Arthur' (William Hopper) are being dragged from bed in the early hours to track down a menacing panther that is snacking heartily on their stock. With the permanently sozzled father (Philip Tonge) no use for work nor ornament; their younger brother 'Harold' (Tab Hunter) hardly deemed any more fit and their matriarch (Beulah Bondi) fixing the breakfast, we quickly realise that this is not a family in harmony with each other. They know that there is a storm approaching, so the two set off with meagre supplies on their trek - but a tragedy ensues that sees 'Curt' forced to continue his pursuit on foot whist the family at home find things forced to a tragic and sorrowful crescendo. What I could have done with more here, was a cat. An actual cat. As it is we never see this beast, instead we find a beast of an altogether more melodramatic sort as we spend far too long at a family home where 'Ma' turns out to be quite an imposing figure on her youngest son, who is determined to flee with his gal 'Gwen' (Diana Lynn) before he becomes another casualty of her bible-bashing and his dad's uncanny (and quite entertaining) ability to hide a bottle of Scotch in just about every nook and cranny of their snowbound home. It's that snowy environment that isn't really used much, either. We do spend some time with 'Curt' as he trudges through the snow, shelters in a cave and shows us just how to start a fire with some kindling and a lot of blowing; but there is nowhere near enough of the adventuring element to sustain this for me, and the denouement is simply too rushed and underwhelming. Bondi and Longe do well enough, but there isn't enough of Mitchum and Hunter - well, the term eye-candy springs to mind. Pity, it had potential.