The film is based on a 1946 book by humorist writer
H. Allen Smith, his first novel.
The New York Times called the book, which became a bestseller, a "rough and raucous satire".
Roy Del Ruth was interested in the film rights but stepped aside when
Mike Todd expressed interest. Todd bought the film rights for $100,000 but then experienced financial troubles and was unable to pay. Smith was approached by other producers, one of whom wanted to change the cat to a dog and another who wanted the cat to inherit a burlesque house. There was no interest in the project for two years before film rights were bought by
Arthur Lubin, who had recently directed
Francis and was seeking another animal story. In December 1949, it was reported that Lubin had hired Frank Cockrell to write a script based on the novel, intending to film it after finishing
Francis. In January 1950, Lubin hired
Dorothy Reid, with whom he had collaborated numerous times, to work on the script. Lubin later claimed that the second half of the film was written by an uncredited
George Seaton. Lubin pitched the project to Universal Pictures and several other studios, all of which declined the project. In August 1950, Lubin struck a deal with Paramount Pictures. In September, the film was assigned to a production unit at Paramount run by
William Perlberg and
George Seaton. That same month,
Ray Milland signed to star.
Strother Martin and
Leonard Nimoy have uncredited roles in the film. Producers William Perlberg and George Sutton, seeking a "
Jimmy Cagney sort of cat", received more than 3,000 letters and pictures from cat owners and auditioned more than 5,000 cats for the role of Rhubarb. The producers selected
Orangey, an 18-pound orange-and-white cat owned by Agnes Murray of the
Sherman Oaks neighborhood of Los Angeles. Murray found Orangey, hungry and with an injured leg, in her garden in 1948 and nursed the cat back to health. Two days before filming commenced, Orangey contracted a viral infection and nearly died before being saved by veterinarian Charles H. Reid. Approximately 30 other cats appear in the film, and during filming, Reid tended to the cat actors and was given the ability to stop production at any time for the sake of the cats' health. Lubin recalled that on the first day of filming, Orangey "deliberately bit me in the leg. I was quick enough to retaliate with a quick kick that sent me spinning. Fortunately the Humane Association representative was not looking. From then on the cat and I had a good actor-director relationship. He was cruel and nasty to everyone on set but he respected me and kept his distance." ==Reception==