I have unintentionally been flipping back and forth between drama and comedy for the past few updates, so let’s keep that ball rolling. It’s swinging ‘60s time again, a decade that is not the best for my preferred type of fur fashion but is not without its charms. Charm #1 is Natalie Wood, who returns from The Great Race around the world with a bit of compulsive kleptomania as Penelope.
Penelope – The Film
This is a strange one, and it is yet another in our ever-lengthening list of box office disappointments. Feel free to make your own lengthening joke. The titular Penelope (Natalie Wood) is a woman with a bit of a problem; she likes to steal things. She starts the film by robbing her husband’s bank, then swings by her psychiatrist to discuss. While working through her issues, she’s pursued by Lt. Columbo Horatio Bixbee (Peter Falk).
Penelope – The Furs
We get a lot of flashbacks thanks to Penelope’s visit to her shrink, one of which is her wedding day. She wears this lighter, perhaps pearl mink coat while tossing the bouquet and putting some pepper on it.

Returning to the pawn shop later, we finally get to, in my opinion, the marquee fur. This lynx-trimmed jacket receives a lovely stretch of screen time.

Natalie is not the only fur wearer in the film. A subplot involves a couple of con artists trying to extort Penelope. They are very successful con artists, as Sabada (Lila Kedrova) already has a fur-trimmed wrap. Is it a fox? Is it sable? You can decide, dear reader.

Norma Crane plays one of the rich people Penelope also robbed. She wears a chinchilla jacket to the party Penelope throws to confess.
Penelope was not a box office smash and led to a bit of a Hollywood time-out for Natalie, who did not return to the screen until 1969’s Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice. But we’re not here for box office receipts, just fur fashion. You get twenty minutes of furs on that front, and that’s not too shabby. In fact, this places Penelope in the rare 20% club.
Fur Runtime: approx 20.5 minutes
Film Runtime: 98 minutes
On-Screen Fur Ratio: 20.8%
Find-a-Fur: Penelope, 1966
(all times are approximate)
- 08:30 mahogany / brown mink coat
- 20:00 pearl mink coat
- 23:00 mahogany / brown mink coat
- 28:00 spotted
- 48:00 lynx trim
- 54:00 lynx trim
- 59:15 lamb hooded parka
- 1:02:30 spotted
- 1:11:40 pearl mink
- 1:18:00 brown fox/sable? trim
- 1:24:30 chinchilla jacket
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