Intrigue

Fluffy the lion is the subject of scientist Dan Potter's experiment to prove wild animals can be tamed. Wherever he goes, Fluffy incites mayhem. Our heroes go on the run from the law when Fluffy is accused of eating someone.

Fluffy the lion is the main attraction in this comedy. He is the subject of an ambitious experiment done by Daniel Potter (TONY RANDALL), a scientist trying to prove that even a wild animal like a lion can be made into a pet with proper training. Wherever he goes, Potter's ponderous pet incites mayhem among the region's fearful residents. To escape his panicky neighbors, Potter and Fluffy hide out in a hotel, where, the owner's daughter (SHIRLEY JONES) falls for the unlikely duo while everyone else freezes or collapses in a panic. Our heroes find themselves on the run from the law when Fluffy is accused of eating someone. Can Potter stop the police before they shoot an innocent lion?—Ian McKendell <imckendell@mac.com>

Biochemist Dan Potter (Tony Randall) hurriedly leaves his post at the university when his neighbors begin to believe exaggerated reports about his mild-mannered lion, Fluffy (Zamba). After he is threatened by the police, he and Fluffy turn up at the Claridge Arms Hotel just as a suite is being vacated by the owner's daughter, Janice (Shirley Jones). Returning for the remainder of her belongings, Janice is horrified to find Fluffy; and after she hears a newscast giving an overstated account of the lion's antics, she calls Dan a psychopath and runs for the police. Later, Claridge meets Dan and invites him over for some venison, left over from a curtailed hunting trip. Dan shows up with Fluffy, who gnaws on the food, leaving only scraps. When the police, alerted by the neighbors' fright at the sound of Fluffy's roars, find the scraps, they assume that Fluffy has eaten Claridge. Claridge, meanwhile, has hidden in his apartment, and he takes advantage of his "death" to resume his hunting trip. At the police station, where Dan has been arrested, Fluffy's brief appearance causes havoc; and Dan, inadvertently handcuffed to Janice, escapes. They find Claridge's trailer and persuade him to tell the truth to the police and to the angered townspeople.

This mid-60s comedy from Universal pictures, co-produced by Tony Randall's production company, Scarus, Inc., was directed by stalwart Hollywood veteran Earl Bellamy from an original screenplay by Samuel Roeca.