This cat's 9 lives are too many

'Fritz' sequel rated R for repulsive

By Donna Chernin

Thank goodness a cat has only nine lives.

First we suffered through "Fritz the Cat," a highly publicized X-rated cartoon. Now we have its sequel, "The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat," with which to contend.

This new movie, however, has somehow squeaked by the rating system with an

R. But here the letter stands for "repulsive," not "restricted."

??

The creators of this film seem to have been misled. They labored under the assumption that an audience would find great pleasure in watching animals belch and vomit and engage in all kinds of other activities that humans prefer to do in private.

Admittedly, for the first

few seconds, it is somewhat perversely novel 50 see a cat or a pig perform human functions. But after repeated exposure, amusement rapidly changes to revulsion.

The film opens and ends with Fritz's wife chewing him out for his laziness and philandering. She accuses

"The Nine Lives

of Fritz the Cať

Directed by Robert Taylor, screenplay by Fred Halliday, Eric Monte and Robert Taylor, produced by Steve Krontz, camera by Ted C. Bemiller

The trouble with this cartoon is that the older generation would probably be repelled by these animated and Gregg Heschong, music by Tom abnormalities, while the younger folk would most likely just be bored.

The only saving graces to the film are its brevity, 75 minutes, and several sequences of trickphotography that superimpose Fritz on old historical newsreels.

Scott and the LA. Express. Restricted. American International Pictures. 75 minutes.

him of being a terrible lover and of forgetting to pick up their welfare check.

To escape from her shrewish nagging, nagging, Fritz daydreams of what it would be like to lead other, more exotic lives. Included among his fantasies are encounters with Santan, who turns out to be a homosexual, and Hitler, who reveals a fancy for sodomy.

We are taken back to the Depression days and forward into a separate black state. All in all, Fritz leads many more than nine lives.

Is it not about time, then, to put Fritz to sleep-for good?