Um Grande Amor Nunca Morre

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. He grabs Susan Hampshire roughly to shake her in a few scenes. No sentimental courting here!

The plot hole mentioned in another comment is not correct - the fire takes place at the gypsy circus and we take it for granted that the abused animals escape.

I am a holistic veterinarian and for years I have been trying to figure out where I got my inspiration for my work. A few days ago I remembered this Disney film and the "witch". My love of animals and the love that can heal is all contained in this movie. It was such a joy to watch it again and see my inspiration come to life.

I am also a singer and love to sing Celtic folksongs. I live in the country and am surrounded by animals though no wild ones necessarily. I did rescue a baby rabbit with a broken leg a few years ago. I made a splint out of a paper clip and kept him until the leg healed. Then my daughter and I turned him loose in a local park. 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.

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. We also learn the cat, speaking marvelously through Elspeth March, has been murdered. 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. Before this, we've seen him make this decision about other animals, and wonder if his decisions are being made in haste. 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". Ms. Hampshire takes the animal, which, we learn, is NOT dead. But, before this, it has what could be described as a "near-death experience." Or, is it "Cat Heaven?"

It's all cleverly plotted, from Paul Gallico's original novel, with enough room to support differing interpretations.

Dotrice's depression worsens. She will have nothing more do with McGoohan, telling others, "My father's dead," and, "My daddy's dead. I killed him." Her young friends successfully plot to end McGoohan's veterinary practice. "Thomasina" recovers, but with amnesia; she stays with the witch, aware something is wrong with her life. 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

This movie was on NBC's Walt Disney, while the Beatles were on CBS's Ed Sulivan show (or at least that was the line-up in Portland, Oregon). I remember my friend Tom was the only kid in the neighborhood who had his own TV. So we were at his house, when his parents came in to bring us all out to the main TV, where the Beatles were on. We watched it, wasn't much impressed, and went back to Disney in our own room. I mention this from time to time when we have trivia quizzes, and everyone always looks at me like I'm 100 years old. I agree with other reviews, that this is a very fine movie, that is well produced, and the acting is top-notch.

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. The screenplay, from Paul Gallico's book, tries packing too much plot into its 100 minutes and, as a result, the midsection of the movie doesn't feel fully played-out. Still, the majority of the film is captivating, beautifully shot, and the characters are engaging and believable. 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). The production is plush and Thomasina is one gorgeous feline. *** from ****