The Golden Fish

Year Published: 1959

Creator: Universal Pictures

Complete Record: We follow a young Asian boy wearing glasses home from school through the streets of a town in France. He enters his family’s apartment and feeds a bird in a cage first thing. He then grabs a bottle off the table and leaves the apartment again. He heads to the carnival where he watches the bumper cars and looks at a tank full of goldfish. Cool shot of him looking through the glass at the swimming fish. A bearded man tries his luck at a colorful spinning wheel game to win a fish and loses. He tries for a second time and succeeds. The boy is inspired and tries his luck at winning a fish. He wins and picks out a golden beauty. We cut to a black cat sitting on a rooftop. It picks through garbage cans hoping for some food. The boy returns home with his new pet. He walks to school the next morning and his mother clocks in at work. In their apartment, the bird and fish go about their business in their respective dwellings. Through clever editing and cinematography, it looks as if the fish and bird are dancing. The little black cat is looking for its next meal outside. The goldfish jumps for joy while the bird twirls on it’s perch. But the fish jumps too high and escapes the water bowl. The black cat has found an open window into the apartment. It stares through the bars of the bird cage but is unable to get inside. Then it spots the fish flopping on the counter out of its bowl. The little boy is on his way home from school. The cat paws at the fish and returns to looking at the bird. Then the cat gently picks up the fish and drops it back into its bowl. The little boy opens up the door to the apartment and the cat jumps back out of the window. The boy feeds his fish and places some fake flowers in the fish bowl.