"you would save the cat before the Rembrandt" help with movie(?) id?

so all I’ve got is this vaguely remembered scene in my mind of a woman describing a scenario where there is a fire and you can save a cat or a Rembrandt. Beginning to cry she moans something like “you would save the cat!”

In my sketchy memory she is talking about this as a metaphor for some actual situation in her life where she didn’t “save the cat” and knows she made the wrong choice.

I think she is with a group of people, though not all of them are listening to her, and for some reason I seem to remember she is a lesbian.

Oh weird, just as I am typing this I am remembering hearing Mike Birbiglia talk about a screenwriting trick named “save the cat” to make a character more likable. Coincidence???

Here it is attributed to Alberto Giacometti (under the first photo of the article).

His Wiki page says nothing of him being a lesbian in a movie.

Seems that:

comes from an episode of the 90s T.V. show Northern Exposure.

Oh my god, that’s it! bienville, you are my new favorite Doper! Thank you thank you!

Well, so many of the other possible favorite Dopers are taken already. I’ll try my best to live up to the honor, but you did take 13 years to choose a favorite Doper- I can’t be blamed if I don’t always come through for you.
:wink: