The Cats Bah (1954)

Wow! Such a good movie.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

" . . . and make love right away," misogynistic skunk Henry-the-serial-rapist (a.k.a., "Pepe Le Pew") remarks to the kitty Penelope, his latest inter-species molestation victim, in his hyper-sexualized Looney Tunes outing (which at least could have served as a wrong-headed PSA if it had thrown in some product placement for a KY lubricant to off-set Pepe's having dispensed with foreplay). Many people thought that they'd seen everything possible along these lines after Marlon Brando commanded the wayward bride to clip her fingernail during LAST TANGO IN PAR!S. Obviously, these folks had missed THE CAT'S BAH. The anti-woman debauchery of Brando's live-action feature film (not even targeted at very young kids) pales in comparison to the living hell Henry imposes upon victim after victim in his masochistic cartoon series. Take the final scene of THE CAT'S BAH, for instance. Surely it inspired the writers of the initial SAW film (a movie definitely NOT intended for the Looney Tunes crowd). The arrogant Henry has been chain-smoking throughout THE CAT'S BAH (as he continually talks to the camera). For his grand finale, in a touch reminiscent of Hitchcock, the camera pulls back from the Bloviating skunk to reveal that he's used ankle shackles to affix Penelope to himself as a semi-permanent Sex Slave. This abused Kitty grabs a saw, and is about to sacrifice a foot in her desperation to flee Henry's second-hand smoke (if an STD doesn't kill her, cancer surely will!). Mercifully, Warner flings up an "That's all, folks" on the screen as this juncture.

Sometimes when I watch movies or cartoons, I feel a little bit like I'm spying on the characters. In "The Cats Bah", they put sort of a spin on that idea, as Pepe Le Pew starts out by speaking to the camera. While the Looney Tunes do that fairly often, Pepe hands the viewer champagne and a cigarette and an unidentified person - we don't even see the person's hand, though the person smokes and drinks - accepts them. After this, he goes into the story of how he chased American cat Penelope (whom he believed to be a belle femme skunk) through the casbah in what was probably Morocco. There were plenty of gags along the way.So, it's a pretty entertaining cartoon. And that cigarette really made Pepe seem more French than ever. I mean, isn't it our stereotype of French men as foul-smelling lovers who smoke a lot? Worth seeing.Yeah, camels do need to be ready for just about anything.

To skunkfanatic, I can easily say, truer words were never spoken. I was/am a closet Pepe Le Pew fan ever since I was 14 and I sometimes question why I like the character, and you (basically) answered my question. This is one of my favorite PLP (Pepe Le Pew) cartoons and most likely, the most (and only) stylish one ever done.BTW: It may be uncomforting to know that when this cartoon was on ABC as part of the "Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show" (which is now cancelled), the entire beginning, where Pepe greets the viewer with a cigarette and champagne was cut out because of its references to alcohol and tobacco. Another cut was on Nickelodeon a couple of years ago (this is the spoiler I mentioned above), in the end scene where Pepe explains that Penelope was shy and the camera shows them shackled together and Penelope tries to escape with a hacksaw (or was it a nail file?). Anyway Nick's edit to it was because the censors saw it as sexually perverted (who wouldn't?) because of the bondage. Thank God Cartoon Network airs this uncut.

Okay, I'll admit it. I've really got a soft spot for Pepe Le Pew. He's practically the reason I started to love cartoons. He also taught me to set my mind on a goal and work up to it, not to mention take my French ancestry and love it.This cartoon I find intriguing because the way it starts, with Pepe offering the viewer champenge gives this cartoon some depth. It helps enforce Pepe to really be one of the Warner Brothers' better characters. After so much Wile E. Coyote and RoadRunner, and so much Sylvester and Tweety, etc., they begin to lack much difference in their cartoons. So much anvils, dynamite, ACME products backfiring, and the like, it wears a little thin. But Pepe is a Looney Tune who is fairly dynamic, he's always kept fresh and funny in his cartoons (that, and he's just so cute). To me, he deserves to be appreciated a little more. "Just theenk, radiant flower, you do not need to come wiz me to zee Casbah...we are already there!" -Pepe Le Pew. It's a classic line.BTW, this cartoon is also known for revealing the name of Pepe's primary object d'affection: Penelope. (she likes him, she is just a little shy.)