The Three Lives of Thomasina

Plot synopsis:
The story takes place in fictional Inveranoch, Scotland in the year 1912. It centres on Andrew MacDhui (Patrick McGoohan) a coldly scientific, atheist veterinarian, his seven-year-old daughter Mary (Karen Dotrice), and her cat Thomasina (voiced by Elspeth March), who narrates the film. (Thomasina was originally called "Thomas" by her adoptive family. She explains that they amended her name "when they, well, got to know me better.")
Mr. MacDhui is a widower. His wife's death destroyed his belief in God, as well as his empathy for others. He has little sympathy for pets, preferring "useful" animals such as hard-working farm beasts and the blind man Tammas' guide dog, Bruce.
One night Thomasina is chased by dogs in the marketplace. She falls from some boxes and sustains an injury. Mary and her friends find Thomasina the following day. Meanwhile, Mr. MacDhui is operating on Bruce (who had been struck by a car). The doctor is interrupted during the surgery by his daughter, begging him to help her cat. Observing that Thomasina's muscles are stiff, he diagnoses her with tetanus. He orders his assistant Willie Bannock (Wilfrid Brambell) to euthanize Thomasina.
Mary is shattered by Thomasina's death, and loses faith in her father, who had promised to save her cat. She withdraws emotionally from Mr. MacDhui and declares her father dead, refusing to speak to or look at him. Meanwhile, Thomasina's soul goes to a feline afterlife where cats who have used all of their nine lives are transformed into Siamese and live with the Egyptian cat goddess Bastet for eternity. But Thomasina has lived only once, and is returned to her body alive but in a coma.
Mary and her playmates Hughie Stirling (Vincent Winter), and Jamie and Geordie McNab (Denis Gilmore and Matthew Garber) and other friends give Thomasina a funeral. They take her out to the glen beyond the town, but are unintentionally frightened away by "Mad Lori" MacGregor (Susan Hampshire), a beautiful kindhearted young woman who lives in the glen and was attracted by the children's singing and bagpipe playing. The children believe she is a witch, in part because of her apparent power to calm and cure animals. Lori brings Thomasina back to her makeshift animal hospital, but although the cat recovers she has no memory of her first life with Mary. Thus begins her second life.
Lori lacks the surgical skill needed to help a wounded badger that she finds in a trap, and asks God for assistance. Soon after, Mr. MacDhui comes to give her a piece of his mind: the children have told the townspeople to boycott his practice and to bring their sick pets to her instead. Discovering the injured animal, he treats the badger's wound as Lori watches in amazement. Lori (and later, Mr. MacDhui) realize that they each have half of what is needed to treat sick animals. He has the science and surgery, and she has the power of love.
During the time, Mary becomes increasingly distraught and distant from her playmates and her father. Not even a new pet brought by Mr. MacDhui will cheer her up.
Meanwhile, Thomasina's memory is slowly returning. She realizes she misses something very important, but she doesn't know what. She remembers the way back home, but doesn't recognize Mary, who chases her into a rainstorm. Thomasina returns to the safety of Lori's cabin in the woods, but Mary contracts pneumonia after Mr. MacDhui finds her lying on the street in the rain.
Mr. MacDhui and Lori start to bond emotionally when their attempt to shut down a travelling circus results in a fight with its gypsy proprietors who had been physically abusing their performing animals. The circus spectators, including Mary's playmates, join in the fight and a fire breaks out. The police ultimately arrest the proprietors for animal cruelty.
Mr. MacDhui prays for the first time in four years that God will somehow cure his daughter. Off in the glen, a lightning bolt (which may be a miracle from God) strikes a tree next to Thomasina and her memory is suddenly restored. Lori comes to the house, as Thomasina does, who is the only one able to save Mary as she has lost the will to live. However the cat sees Mr. MacDhui (who had her killed) and refuses to enter through the window despite Mr. MacDhui's pleading.
At this point, Thomasina realizes that she could get revenge on Mr. MacDhui by not entering, but Lori's love has changed her, and she no longer desires revenge. Mr. MacDhui places Thomasina in Mary's arms, thereby restoring Thomasina to Mary, Mary's life, and Mary's love for her father. Lori's love has changed Mr. MacDhui, and they are soon married, making the perfect veterinary team. Thomasina now begins her third life with all of them together.

Tags: allegory, romantic

Review:
It's superior to the current family movies in a number of reasons; lovely color, the realism of a vet's life, delightful Scots Highlands locations, a fine dramatic structure bolstered by that underrated actor Patrick Macgoohan and by a pretty, startlingly black-eyed starlet named Susan Hampshire (the two represent science and faith, respectively, and they come together with an ease you wish these two opponents would share today).
A family movie in the day when kids were tougher, it was memorably broadcast on Disney's Wonderful World of Color on TV.
Disney films of that period seemed to add particularly interesting adult themes into their films especially if they contained British kids.
Like Pollyanna or The Moonspinners or Mary Poppins, this film is perfectly realized for children and has enough weight and wry humor for parents to feel the production works for many ages.
Superb, sentimental live-action drama from Walt Disney concerns a young Scottish girl's love and devotion to her sickly pet cat, who gets a new lease on life from a "magical" mountain woman whom the townspeople believe is a witch.
Karen Dotrice (best known as Jane from "Mary Poppins") is quite the little thespian here, and her tears and youthful anger are convincing; she's as good a child actress as I have ever seen (Walt must've had a soft spot for wholesome British lasses, Dotrice and Hayley Mills seem sprung from the same boarding school).
Thanks to the terrific acting of Patrick "The Prisoner" McGoohan and the lovely Susan Hampshire, this film is not like other syrupy Disney films like "Pete's Dragon" or "Mary Poppins."Dr. McDui's character, played by McGoohan, is a tense, conflicted, confused man.
A movie with everything from first class acting to a storyline where fantasy meets reality.In this case the Cat...who is also a voiceover...is really the central part of the story.
Patrick McGoohan plays the vet,whose daughter Mary (played by Karen Dotrice)is owned by the Cat. Its definitely a weepie but everyone lives happily ever after as Thomasina returns from an unusual resurrection performed by Susan Hampshire...supposedly a witch!!!.
It is amazing how Disney made a movie that both children and adults can appreciate.
They all seem like real people and not actors which makes this movie work.
The Cat who Played God. In sparkling 1912 Scotland, an orange tabby named "Thomasina" explains how she came to live with little Karen Dotrice (as Mary), her stern veterinarian father Patrick McGoohan (as Andrew McDhui), and housekeeper Jean Anderson (as Mrs. MacKenzie).
The cat amusingly states the family originally named her "Thomas" until they "got to know me better." At this moment, you know you're going to like this animal.
This extraordinary opening perfectly introduces the cat's personality, and prepares you for its death.The opening theme song, written by folk singer Terry Gilkyson, is purrfectly infectious.The story intensifies when "Thomasina" is crushed under an avalanche of crates, while prowling a fish market.
With her young friends' help, Ms. Dotrice finds the cat, and brings "Thomasina" to her father.
You'd think Mr. McGoohan, a veterinarian, would do everything possible to save his daughter's pet, which he promises to do - but, McGoohan is saving the life of a blind man's seeing eye dog, and orders "Thomasina" put to sleep.
Later, we learn he suffers from guilt regarding his wife's death.McGoohan thinks he can simply replace "Thomasina" with another cat, and cannot understand why Dotrice is taking the death so hard.
Dotrice's friends, Vincent Winter (as Hughie), Denis Gilmore (as Jamie), and "Mary Poppins" co-star Matthew Garber (as Geordie), give "Thomasina" a child-like funeral, which is interrupted by a woman they both admire and fear - spooky Susan Hampshire (as Lori MacGregor), the superstitious town's resident "witch".
When his daughter falls deathly ill, "man of science" McGoohan tries to reconnect with his Christian faith, lamenting, "I've forgotten how to pray." He also begins to connect with Hampshire, which leads to the most unimaginative part of the story.
Still, this is an excellent, underrated film.******** The Three Lives of Thomasina (12/11/63) Don Chaffey ~ Patrick McGoohan, Karen Dotrice, Susan Hampshire, Elspeth March.
Susan Hampshire is beautiful in this movie, in both character and attractiveness.
This movie is available in both VHS and DVD, but definitely buy the DVD for the extra features, plus it will keep it from wearing out when your children or grandchildren want to watch it again.
Mary McDuie (Karen Dotrice) is a young, motherless girl living in Scotland at the turn of the 20th century.
Therefore, her only real solace is her cat Thomasina, a beautiful orange tabby with personality.
On the outskirts of the village lives a lady, Lori (Susan Hampshire) who the children think is a WITCH.
But, when the children take the box with Thomasina to the town's edge, planning to bury her and hold a funeral, the "witch" appears and scares them away.
Dotrice is winning as the young girl who dresses her cat in clothes and takes him on buggy adventures.
McGoohan is also fine as the stern father and Hampshire is sweet and lovely as Lori.
However, cat lovers, Disney fans, and family film friends will welcome this title as an oldie but goodie..
A few days ago I remembered this Disney film and the "witch".
I think Lorie was my role model in all that I have done with animals since I saw this movie when I was a young child..
'The Three Lives of Thomasina' is one of the best live-action Disney works and an excellent drama.
But while the majority of animal movies are mostly about dogs, this one is dedicated mostly to a cat, Thomasina.
To cool down the tense atmosphere of such a depressing story, there are a few characters who are a comic relief: Mary's friends Geordie, Jamie and Hughie.The actors are great and even their Scottish accent is very believable, including those who aren't or weren't Scottish.
Matthew Garber's role is something like a slightly wilder, more carefree and more comical version of "his own" Michael Banks.Lori is a good and beautiful witch.
"The Three Lives of Thomasina" is a very good movie.
No questioning, this is one of Disney's best live-action movies.
Curiously, the movie's title doesn't refer to the traditional nine lives of a cat, it refers only to three of them.
Curiously, the opening scene is made in one of the strangest ways too, but I like the way that's made for being quite unusual.The movie can be considered a family drama above all things, but it also has numerous moments of fun.
There is very little soundtrack (unlike in many - if not most - Disney movies), but the song "Thomasina" is nice.The story is set in Scotland, particularly in the town of Inveranoch.
The pleasant sound of the bagpipes accent the Scottish atmosphere.Our story centers mostly around Andrew MacDhui (a cold and distant veterinarian who doesn't show much feelings for pets), his daughter Mary and Mary's beloved cat Thomasina.
Not only on these characters, but also on Mary's friends Hughie, Jamie and Geordie.Mary's 3 friends make the movie's funniest moments, especially whenever they peek at Lori (the beautiful and kind young woman who cures all injured and sick beings) and runaway from her.
It's hilarious when one of the boys says «She's crazy», a line which sounds even funnier because of the way he says it and especially because of his English with a Scottish or Scottish gaelic accent.This is the first of 3 films which Matthew Garber and Karen Dotrice star together.
In any of the 3 movies with Matthew and Karen, the funniest of the two is always Matthew.Thomasina is a beautiful orange tabby cat.
Elspeth March does a great narration job for Thomasina.Susan Hampshire is great in her role as Lori.
The film was directed by Don Chaffey, the same man who directed "Pete's Dragon".The movie is generally simple, but there is a scene with spectacular special effects for its time: the sequence which Thomasina is going on a fantasy trip to "Cat Heaven" and encounters Bast (the ancient Egyptian Cat Goddess).
Another very well made scene among others is Thomasina's "almost" funeral.The puppy that Mr. MacDhui tries to offer his daughter is really cute and adorable.
The presence of Patrick McGoohan, one of my favorite actors of the modern era, was my motivation for renting out the 1964 Disney picture "The Three Lives of Thomasina," but as it turns out, this charming film has much to offer besides his usual sturdy support.
In this one, McGoohan doesn't play a secret-agent man or gay-smashing king, but rather a widower veterinarian named Andrew MacDhui living in the small town of Inveranoch, Scotland, in 1912, with his young daughter, Mary, and their 4-year-old ginger cat, Thomasina.
Their peaceful domestic life is shattered when MacDhui is forced to put Thomasina to sleep, after the cat contracts tetanus, and Mary becomes walled off and unforgiving.
Fortunately, Thomasina, after a surprisingly FX-laden dream sequence, during which she encounters the Egyptian cat god Bast, does return, and sets off on life #2....
It is almost impossible to speak of this film, even as a middle-aged adult, without using the words "cute" and "charming." If Paul Gallico's 1957 source novel, "Thomasina," which I have not read, is half as appealing as this adaptation, it must be very likable indeed.
Besides a sweet and compelling story, the film offers sterling support by a raft of fine British, Irish and Scottish character actors, such as Laurence Naismith, Wilfrid Brambell (who will always be Paul's very clean grandfather to me!) and Finlay Currie.
Beautiful Susan Hampshire stands out as Lori MacGregor, the nature girl "witch" with a superempathic way with animals, and the child actors are all wonderful, especially newcomer Karen Dotrice as Mary.
It isn't my absolute favourite of the live-action Disney movies, but it is one of the more poignant ones and one of the most undervalued too.
Patrick McGoohan is superb, and Finlay Currie and Jean Anderson give fine supporting performances but it is delightful Karen Dotrice and her adorable feline companion who steal the show.
A Scottish tale by Paul Gallico features an orange tabby who is the beloved cat of a little girl (KAREN DOTRICE from "Mary Poppins").
The feline is mistakenly believed by the girl and her friends (including MATTHEW GARBER, who played her brother in the "Poppins" film), to be dead.
When a nearby "witch" recovers the cat (who has been given a funeral by the children), she discovers that it still has a pulse and gives it shelter.So begins the tale, which eventually reunites the "witch," the children, and the young village doctor (PATRICK McGOOHAN) who has been unjustly accused by his little daughter to have caused the cat's death.
SUSAN HAMPSHIRE is lovely and appealing as the good "witch" who has a way with animals.
Very heartwarming movie about a family that's brought together through their cat's mysterious death and reappearance.
THE THREE LIVES OF THOMASINA, in my opinion, is a very heartwarming movie about a family that's brought together through their cat's mysterious death and reappearance.
I thought that Andrew (Patrick McGoohan) was a little cold-hearted, but Lori (Susan Hampshire) was a very sweet kid.
In conclusion, I highly recommend this movie to all you cat lovers or Disney fans who have not seen it..
A film with a lovely story that appeals to both adults and children.
There are few cat films of note and Disney's "Thomasina" can take its place as one of the best in content and performance.
Juvenile actress Karen Dotrice as Mary McDhui is superb with her co-worker Matthew Garber turning in an excellent performance as her playmate.
(Dotrice and Garber would one day appear as the Banks siblings in Disney's masterpiece "Mary Poppins.") A word of warning!
Many film viewers today are sensitive to the treatment animals receive during production and sadly "Thomasina" is marred with the evident abuse its performing feline star receives: the poor cat is soaked with water for several rainy scenes and in the dream sequence she appears to have been dropped from a height, twisting and turning to regain her balance.
Additionally, the cat was likely anesthetized for the funeral scene (anesthetization during film production is forbidden by today's ASPCA) and there are other scenes in which the viewer may wonder not only about the cat's treatment during production but the treatment of other animals as well.
A fine film in content and performance but some viewers will have issues with the treatment of the cat during production..
While "The Three Lives of Thomasina" wasn't an outright flop at the box office, at the same time it was not the moneymaker that Walt Disney obviously hoped it would be, and it's largely been forgotten over the years.
While the movie at first glance seems aimed at women and young girls, there's a lot that men and young boys will find appealing as well, such as the movie's lessons on being kind to animals and showing love to your fellow man.The movie is not perfect.
Had this excess fat been trimmed off and the movie more focused on the young girl, her father, and the cat, we might have had a minor classic here.
The Three Lives of ThomasinaAnother classic Disney story of a smart stray cat named Thomasina who dies and comes back to life, living with a so-called "witch" on her farm in the middle of a desolate wooded area--until the little girl Thomasina used to belong to finds out the cat is still alive and tries to get her back.I have a fuzzy old tape of this movie buried somewhere in my stash of recorded videos.
Treacly in the tradition of Walt's live-character movies.
There's a glaring 3rd-act plot-hole when the witch's house catches fire by lightening (Thomasina gets out alright but what about the other animals?
"The Three Lives of Thomasina" is a Disney movie, so you know what that means.
How do ya like that: in one movie, he lived in Scotland; in the other, he invaded it!
The only other cast member whom I recognized was Wilfrid Brambell, better known as Paul's grandfather in "A Hard Day's Night".I know that it's a little weird that in a review of a movie about a magical cat, I mentioned "Braveheart", "Three Days of the Condor", "Dr. Strangelove", "A Fistful of Dollars", "Zorba the Greek", the Beatles and Stephen King, but that's just the kind of person that I am..
It's not cheery as with Karen Dotrice's next film Mary Poppins.
There are far too many soppy moments in this film for kids, and even some adults, to handle.Things bound to get people too emotional is the death of a cute cat (although she comes back to life) and after that death, the rejection of so many cute, adorable puppies and kittens looking for a home only to be rejected by a miserable girl.That aside, it's also a very boring film.
(Spoiler) I remember seeing this as a little girl and how it made me cry when Thomasina runs back through the rain and jumps back through the window to Mary.
I have had cats all of my life and this movie truly captures the love one has for their pet and the anguish one feels over the loss of it.It's a little distracting to watch this film and Mary Poppins too close together since the main two children are the same in both films, but they are also wonderfully cast ...
Into the mix, we get a "witch" who ends up enchanting the father and making him see that love is still possible -- not only with her, but also between him and his daughter.
Looking at the publicity you might think this was a film about a cat.
This error is a bit of a worry given that the father of the family is a veterinarian, Andrew MacDhui (pronounced Macdooee), played by Patrick McGoohan.MacDhui is a young man of science.
They break open the isolation of an eccentric young woman, Lori MacGregor (Susan Hampshire) by taking their various injured animal friends for her to look after, she having an instinctive way of healing that has led to her being labelled a witch.Gradually the forces of Rationality and Empathy are brought together as MacDhui and MacGregor seek help, one from the other.
He eventually calls on her assistance to reach out to his daughter who becomes so emotionally withdrawn that she then physically sickens, nearing death.The cat, who has been a peripheral character makes a symbolic choice at the climax of the film.
In the final scene MacDhui has to persuade the cat to enter the window of the dying daughters bedroom.
His love for his daughter is enough to convince the cat he has learned his lesson and she trusts him enough to jump into his arms.
I'm not much of a sucker for a happy ending, because they often feel so contrived, but this is a wonderful movie for kids and adults, especially all those who love animals.
As a 7-year-old I was excited to see a movie where the girl was the hero who had adventures.
The movie was The Three Lives of Thomasina.
It turned out that Thomasina was a cat belonging to a little girl.
Some of the scenes are beautifully shot, as far as a children's/cat movie goes, this one is pretty interesting with a fun plot and great supporting child actors.
Then there's the Witch, who has shut herself from civilization, probably after her parents' tragic death, and lives on faith and only makes friends with animals.
The cat Thomasina, who when science failed to rescue her was brought back to life on a strictly homeopathic/spiritual term.
In this particular movie, none of the humans were "waken up", in the end they still sit around the table living what seems to be a wonderful life unconsciously, they are perhaps less conscious than the cat, less human even.