Drama

Western

Track of the Cat

Wayne-Fellows Productions

Warner Bros. Pictures

United States of America

English

Robert Mitchum

Diana Lynn

Tab Hunter

Teresa Wright

Beulah Bondi

Philip Tonge

William Hopper

Carl Switzer

William A. Wellman

John Wayne

Robert Fellows

Alfred Ybarra

William H. Clothier

A.I. Bezzerides

Walter Van Tilburg Clark

Fred MacDowell

Roy Webb

Andrew V. McLaglen

Earl Crain Sr.

Nate H. Edwards

Gordon Bau

Sam Freedle

Ralph S. Hurst

George Bau

Margaret Donovan

Maurice De Packh

Gwen Wakeling

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

Imprint Blu-ray Trailer

Track of the Cat - Trailer

Best Movies

Track of the Cat

Cast & Crew

Videos

Cast

Robert Mitchum

Diana Lynn

Tab Hunter

Teresa Wright

Beulah Bondi

Philip Tonge

William Hopper

Carl Switzer

Box office

More Like This

Open Range

Raiders of Red Gap

The Devil's Rejects

Mouchette

Nothing But The Truth

The Big Country

Dolores Claiborne

The Vourdalak