Rhubarb

Director: Arthur Lubin

1951 / 94min / 16mm

Orangey nimbly leapt to the top rank of cat actors playing the title role in Lubin’s loopy comedy, adapted from a novel by humorist H. Allen Smith, concerning the eccentric owner of a baseball team who adopts a stray cat (guess who?) and, upon his death, is discovered to have made “Rhubarb” his sole heir and therefore the new owner of the Loons. After initial misgivings, the ball club begins to experience unprecedented success under their new management. Ray Milland, as the team’s promoter and Rhubarb’s appointed guardian, leads a dead-game cast, but it was Orangey—in fact one of 14 different cats featured in the film, but who’s counting?—who reaped the plaudits, taking home his first Picture Animal Top Star of the Year (PATSY) award.

Distributor: Paramount

16mm print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive

Part of Orangey Hollywood's Favorite Feline