After having the cat out of the carrier for almost the entire movie, when he is put to sleep THEN he is in a kennel? Did this confuse anyone? Is it supposed to mean something? I thought it was kind of cold. I thought that at least Art Carney would have been stroking him or something. It struck me as odd that Tonto's last moments were not those of the human contact to which he was so accustomed.
Jesus loves me, this I know...
Gosh you know i never thought of that till you mentioned it....i guess he had seen so much loss his wife deceased, his kids all over the country...I think he knew the time was at hand.......Guess we will have to read the book? I do think the final scene when he is running says it all.......
"Ya makin' fun of me Riz?"- Sandy
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Oh- that would make sense then! I was born in the 80s and have always had the choice of whether or not to be present when pets are put to sleep. Thanks.
Jesus loves me, this I know...
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I hope you guys don't mean you wanted to see a scene where Art Carney is stroking his cat Tonto while he's being put to sleep. I believe that would be a little too much for many in the audience to handle. I would not have wanted to watch that.
I agree that the kind action to take is to be comforting your pet while he is being put to sleep. We have done this with our pets. It's kind of tough to do though.
I just rewatched this movie (for the first time in over 20 years) a couple of days ago. I'd forgotten about the ending. I wasn't really put off by the fact that Harry exited, leaving Tonto in a kennel. I did, however, feel like a transition was needed that wasn't present -- such as a scene with the vet explaining what was wrong with Tonto. It just all came about rather suddenly. Granted, that does happen in real life, but I felt Tonto's exit seemed rather abrupt, and since he was the co-star in the film, I felt he deserved more of an explanation regarding his demise.
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Yeah, if they did that in the movie, I would have jumped through my friggin window. I knew from the second I started watching this movie the cat was going to eat it in the end, but I kept watching. Good movie.
shareI think it's true that in 1974 the vets generally didn't have pet owners in the room when they put a pet down. I recently had to have my cat killed (11 years old, just like Tonto) and was holding him the whole time; I think that's better for the pet, but tough on the owner.
Also, remember Harry talking about the death of his wife, and how he's afraid of pain. He said something like "We can't really feel the suffering, but we feel the death."
Great movie. Today it would never be made by a major studio; it'd have to be an indie production.
"The truth 24 times a second."
Remember when he's about to go in the airport, from NYC to Chicago. He tells his son, "I don't like long goodbyes"
That's why the scene with Tonto was the way it was. Our protagonist didn't want a long goodbye; just not his personality. It's similar to the scene where he sees his friend at the morgue. The doctor had to tell him to "take your time," as Harry was rushing to leave