''Mousey'' (released as ''Cat and Mouse'' in cinemas and on UK television) is a 1974 Canadian

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

directed by

Daniel Petrie Daniel Mannix Petrie (November 26, 1920 – August 22, 2004) was a Canadian film, television, and stage director who worked in Canada, Hollywood, and the United Kingdom; known for directing grounded human dramas often dealing with taboo subjec ...

, and starring

Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in '' The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. ...

Jean Seberg Jean Dorothy Seberg (; ; November 13, 1938August 30, 1979) was an American actress. She is considered an icon of the French New Wave as a result of her performance in Jean-Luc Godard's 1960 film ''Breathless''. Seberg appeared in 34 films in ...

, and

John Vernon John Keith Vernon (born Adolphus Raymondus Vernon Agopsowicz; February 24, 1932 February 1, 2005) was a Canadian actor. He made a career in Hollywood after achieving initial television stardom in Canada. He was best known for playing Dean Wormer ...

. Although produced for television, the film was released theatrically outside Canada and the United States. In London, it was shown as part of a double feature with '' Craze''.

Plot

In Halifax, Nova Scotia, biology teacher George Anderson (Douglas) is nicknamed "Mousey" by his students after he fails to dissect a frog. When he learns that his pregnant wife (Seberg) is carrying another man's child, he follows her to Montreal, where he intends to kill both her and her lover.

Cast

Production

''Mousey'' was filmed on location in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Canada and at

Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to t ...

in England. Filming commenced in November 1973.

Reception

The film received mixed reviews. Steven H. Scheuer called it "complicated and not very interesting", and the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' wrote that it "seems to have been doomed from the start".

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic, film historian, and author. He is known for his book of film capsule reviews, '' Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide'', published from 1969 to 2014. Maltin was the film criti ...

reviewed the film more favourably, calling it "tightly made" and praising Douglas as "wonderfully sinister". ''Amis du film'' described it as a "good 'suspense' film", though noted a lack of originality in its plot. The ''

Monthly Film Bulletin The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...

'' called it "a thriller with some pretensions to psychological depth".

Legacy

''Mousey'' has been re-aired on television and released on VHS, with several film blogs noting a developing cult following.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography *

External links

* *
''Cat and Mouse''
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

* 1970s English-language films 1970s Canadian films 1974 thriller films Alliance Atlantis films ABC Motion Pictures films Canadian thriller films English-language Canadian films category:EMI Films directed by Daniel Petrie Films produced by Beryl Vertue Films produced by Aida Young Films scored by Ron Grainer Films shot in Montreal Films shot in London Universal Pictures films Warner Bros. films {{thriller-drama-film-stub