The Cat references

nice catch - and what about that spider? something about animalia anyway. I think I may watch this again just to look out for animal references.

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1. kitty? perhaps

I'd think this one was pretty obvious. A cat is a common metaphor during the Golden Age for an almost supernaturally sexually dangerous woman--a femme fatale. Think Maggie the Cat on Cat on a Hot Tin Roof or Gillian in Bell, Book and Candle, whose sexuality is literally bewitching.

2. the green cat cafe? perhaps

I'd think this one was also obvious. Not only is it the "cat" cafe, but it's the *green* cat cafe. In addition to cats often having green eyes, and Ava Gardner being famous for her green eyes, there is the recurring motif of the cheap green scarf with gold harps that she gives to the Swede and that gives him away at the robbery to the insurance detective later on. Green is, of course, associated with Irishness and Kitty is Irish to her stereotypically criminal, treacherous core.

They even lampshade it when the detective brings out the scarf and shows it to Kitty in that cafe--right before she gets her milk.

3. the cat inside the cafe? no, thats not separate and instead something totally appropriate to its setting

The cat statue is a bit more subtle but still definitely connected to the motif. This painted cat appears to have gilded claws, like the destructive money Kitty and Colfax stole from the rest of the gang and set the Swede up to take the fall for. For the gang, the money was the prize, but the real prize for the Swede was always Kitty. She's the real "take" for him and once she's gone, his life is over.

In light of the same emphasis of surface and substance in statuettes in forebears like The Maltese Falcon (Edmond O'Brien even seems to be channeling Bogart's Sam Spade in some scenes), you could even look at the gilding on the cat as a symbol of how all that glitters is not gold and Kitty's beauty is only skin deep.

One could argue that this analysis is too indepth, but keep in mind that some of this is right there in the script and some in the set design (that cat even gets a closeup toward the end of the scene, when Kitty is about to set Reardon up to get killed by the titular killers). These noir productions generally didn't have a lot of money to play with, but the script and set design were two places where the makers of a film could have a little fun with imagery and subtext without blowing their budget.

4. milk? no, i'd imagine that in her moment of defense she'd choose the most innocent of beverages, a warm glass of milk.

Milk is another obvious one, in light of the fact that they are sitting in the [em]Green Cat Cafe[/i], and milk is traditionally a cat's drink. This is the scene where Kitty's status as a double-crossing femme fatale is truly revealed to the audience. We suspected before that she never loved the Swede and was setting him up. Then the cafe scene shows us her true character and we know. So, the cat motifs are on overdrive in that one.

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