The Cat from Outer Space (G)
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This came out in 1978, and I'm fairly sure I saw it on TV at some point in my youth (probably on The Wonderful World of Disney). But by the time I watched it in 2024 to write a review, nothing about it was really familiar. I'm putting my review under "family films", but it could just as easily go under either "comedy" or "science fiction". (Mostly comedy.) I liked it, but it's certainly not a great movie. I found it reasonably entertaining, and quite silly. I think it was worth watching, but I also think I wouldn't have missed too much if I hadn't watched it.

So, it starts with an alien spaceship making an emergency landing on Earth. The sole occupant of the craft is a cat from another galaxy, who wears a collar that amplifies his brain power, letting him do all sorts of things. When the Army shows up and impounds his spaceship, he hitches a ride back to their base. A meeting of top scientists is called together by General Stilton (Harry Morgan), who shows them a device that had been taken from the ship, and asks them to come up with theories about how it works. One of the scientists, Dr. Liz Bartlett (Sandy Duncan) suggests calling in a physicist, a neighbor of hers named Dr. Frank Wilson, who hadn't been invited because the head scientist didn't think much of him. Frank's theory isn't taken seriously by anyone except the cat, who follows him home and tells him he needs Frank's help to repair his ship, and he's on a strict timetable, because the mothership will be returning home soon. The only major problem is that the repairs will require $120,000 worth of gold. But another of Frank's neighbors, Norman Link (McLean Stevenson), often barges into Frank's apartment to watch sporting events on which he has bet. The cat (whom Frank calls "Jake") gets the idea of betting on various events, and using his collar to control the outcomes.

Meanwhile, there's a guy named Mr. Stallwood (Roddy McDowall), who is a spy for someone named Mr. Olympus, who wants to obtain Jake's collar to use for his own nefarious purposes. And the Army learns that Frank had snuck into the base to do something with the spaceship, so they start surveilling him to find out what he's up to. And Liz gets mixed up with Frank and Link and Jake (plus she has a cat of her own, in whom Jake takes an interest). And... I guess I don't want to reveal any more details of the plot. It's all fairly redonkulous, but fun. And the ending is... happy, I guess, but rather unexpected. Also, I found it interesting that the movie had two actors from M*A*S*H. And Jake's interest in Liz's cat kind of disturbed me, because she's not intelligent like he is, which put me in mind of Planet of the Apes (so it's also an interesting coincidence that an actor from that movie is in this one).