This lovely and relaxing 22-minute film. “The Private Life of a Cat“, was made in 1947 and is described as “Alexander Hammid’s intimate study of a female cat and the birth and maturation of her five kittens.” The YouTube video adds this (this version has sound, though the original was silent):
This film has four chapters. Chapter one contains footage of a cat giving birth. The original film has no audio. Picture contrast amended, score added. Chapters with music credits in brackets:
00:00 Intro (John Foxx & Harold Budd – ‘Raindust’)
6:57. Five of them! Now the family needs some food and some rest (Robin Guthrie & Harold Budd – ‘Brian’s Nightmare / The Unknown, Part One’)
11:04 After two weeks (Cliff Martinez – ‘Breaking The Waves’)
15:02 A better place for them to learn to walk (Harold Budd & Bill Nelson & Fila Brazillia – ‘Adrift Amidst Les Odalisques’)
One tabby that looks like mom, and four white ones that look like dad!
The Wikipedia entry for the film adds this (references omitted):
Synopsis:
The film is entirely silent and shot from the cat’s eye-level; “He”, an all white short-haired male cat, grooms “She”, a fluffier female. After two months they find a spot “for the family”, and soon after the mother goes into labour. The film shows graphically the kittens being born without the help of human hands, and then getting nursed and washed by their mother. The kittens grow, and the parent cats roam freely around their owners’ apartment (Hammid and Deren). The kittens learn how to walk and begin to get more active, playing with each other and clawing various furniture. The film then ends by showing the same scene from the beginning where “He” courts “She”.
Reputation:
Top Documentary Films rates The Private Life of a Cat 7.70/10 stars, saying that it is “very touching”, and that it is “[b]eautifully photographed and executed. With subtitles, no dialog, and a refreshing absence of human beings on screen.” Dangerous Minds wrote “[t]his beautiful 1944 silent film from husband-and-wife team Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid is quite possibly the only evidence we need that cats are the ultimate well-spring of creativity.”
*********************
Several readers sent me article and tweets about this incident, and I’ll put one article from boing boing here (there’s also a news report).
Click the headline to read. This is one reason that you should always microchip your cat, even if it’s an indoor cat:
A quick summary:
A Utah cat named Galena was playing in a large box, when suddenly things got dark.
Meanwhile, Galena’s human parents didn’t know where she was, and grew frantic as they looked everywhere for their pet. They even put up “missing” flyers and recruited their friends and family to help search the neighborhood for their lost kitty.
But it wasn’t until six days later that they got a text from Amazon in Riverside, California — more than 600 miles away — telling them that Galena had been found (thank goodness for microchips). Apparently, the couple had accidentally shipped their cat, along with five pairs of boots, in a large return package, which happened to be the box Galena had been playing in. (See video below, posted by CBS Miami.)
Miraculously, although the cat had no water or food for nearly a week, she somehow survived the long journey and was doing well.
A news video:
And a tweet. Look at that face!
This poor cat’s expression seems exactly right 🐈⬛ https://t.co/pBIv8YnJZD pic.twitter.com/V0lWQ0zS4A
— Anil Seth (@anilkseth) April 29, 2024
***********************
Here’s a cat jigsaw puzzle from The Colossal Shop:
Thanks to Nervous System, herding cats is no longer guaranteed to be a catastrophic failure. This 224-piece jigsaw puzzle comprises 43 different felines as they lounge, stretch out their paws, and jump in the air, all based on photos of real cats submitted to the team. Try your hand at rounding up the rambunctious creatures by picking up one of the puzzles.
- Technicolor cat artwork by Anne Sullivan
- 224 pieces
- Digitally painted on 4-millimeter maple plywood
- Laser-cut in Palenville, New York
It’s not cheap at $75, but I suspect that the market is limited and it was hard to make. I suppose computers and 3D printing are necessary to make something like this. It’s now available if you want to treat a jigsaw-puzzling-loving ailurophile.
**********************
Lagniappe: A one-minute video of a kitten with paralyzed rear legs. The lovely woman who cares for it finally got it not only walking, but climbing! Everything always ends well in Dodo Land.
The notes from the video:
No one thought Milou would walk again, but Sandra wouldn’t give up on him ❤️ We spoke to her about how Milou changed her life!
h/t: Ginger K., Merilee, Jon
Great stories, a much needed reminder that there is (at least a little bit of) good in the world.
Thank you for keeping Caturday going. I look for it every week. Particularly enjoyed the 1947 video of The Private Life of a Cat. That female and male cat appeared deeply bonded.
+1
I love Caturday
Thanks for Caturday- will look at the silent film tonight when I finish my work-
Saw the headline about the cat shipped to Amazon. Glad they survived.
Always look forward to Caturday
Ah! The dedicated, grueling work of a mama cat. The closest I’ve ever come to believing in god was watching a similar scene play out on the cool, tiled darkness of my bedroom closet. The mother and three of her offspring spent 18 years enriching my life. I miss them so.
A small correction: The cat jigsaw puzzle is made from painted & laser-cut plywood. What’s “grown” is the software to create the amorphous designs between the various cat shapes. (The puzzle isn’t 3D printed.)