Hollywood Cats

Would Marlon Brando's Don Vito Corleone be so imposing without his purring gray tabby in The Godfather? Would Meet the Parents elicit as many laughs without the toilet-trained Himalayan Mr. Jinx? While few films are dedicated entirely to cats, these creatures have pawed their own cinematic history on the silver screen. Film journalist Lloyd cursorily reviews a pantheon of feline actors--their roles, their rapport with human co-stars and their major achievements. Among the 40 performances noted, some cats stick out, like Orangey, the notoriously temperamental feline who played""Cat"" in Breakfast at Tiffany's and won two PATSYs--a.k.a. Picture Animal Top Star of the Year, the animal equivalent of an Oscar--for his work in that film and Rhubarb. Audrey Hepburn remarked that the scene where her character Holly Golightly throws Cat into a rainy alley was""the most distasteful thing she ever had to do on film."" In Anger Management, special fiber-filled fat-cat-suits were designed for Meatball, the cat who modeled Dave Buznuk's (played by Adam Sandler) apparel for overweight felines. Aimed squarely at cat lovers, this is a slight but pleasing book.