Cat People (1942)
Orson Welles, (1915-1985), was one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. Unfortunately his earliest masterpieces “Citizen Kane,” (1941), and “The Magnificent Ambersons,” (1942), nearly bankrupted RKO Studios. Executive Vice President of Production Charles Koerner, (1896-1946), saw the profits that Universal Studios was making from their series of horror movies and decided that RKO needed a B-movie horror unit. Koerner put Val Lewton, (1904-1951), in charge of this project. Lewton had to work under three restrictions: Each movie would have a budget under $150,000, each picture would have a running length less than 75 minutes, and each film would be built around a title issued by the studio. Lewton brought in people he had worked with before and had learned to trust. This included director Jacques Tourneur, (1904-1977), writer DeWitt Bodeen, (1913-1978), and editor Mark Robson, (1913-1978). The unit was nicknamed “The Snake Pit.”
This week’s movie was “Cat People” from RKO Studios in 1942. The story opens in the Central Park Zoo in New York City. A young fashion artist named “Irena Dubrovna,” (Simone Simon), is sketching a black panther when she is observed by nautical engineer “Oliver Reed,” (Kent Smith). The two strike up a conversation that leads to a romance. But Irena is troubled by the superstitions she learned as a child in her native Serbia. She believes that if she becomes intimate with a man she will transform into a panther and will kill her lover! In spite of her beliefs Irena agrees to marry Oliver. While celebrating at a local Serbian restaurant she encounters a cat-like young woman, (Elizabeth Russell), who declares that Irena is a “sister.” Irena refuses to consummate the marriage. Oliver arranges an appointment with psychiatrist “Dr. Louis Judd,” (Tom Conway), to no avail. Oliver’s coworker “Alice Moore,” (Jane Randolph), confesses her love to Oliver, who begins to reciprocate. Irena discovers Alice’s romantic interest in her husband and begins to stalk the woman. There are suggestions that Irena might be taking on a feline form to threaten Alice, but the evidence is uncertain. A violent encounter with Dr. Judd leaves the man dead and Irena mortally wounded by a sword cane. She dies at the Zoo, where Oliver and Alice find her body underneath her fur coat. Again there are suggestions that she might have taken on the shape of a panther, but it isn’t made clear…
“Cat People” suggests more than it shows, which was exactly what Lewton intended. This would be a recurring element in his features, the uncertainty of the supernatural element.
This is a wonderful film! The performances are excellent, with Simone Simon offering a career-defining turn as Irena. Tourneur’s stylish direction and Robson’s skillful editing create a nightmarish atmosphere, but it is Lewton’s creative hand as producer that would define this series of horror films. “Cat People” was a solid hit for RKO and helped significantly with the studio’s financial troubles.
In 1944 Lewton was instructed to make a sequel called “The Curse of the Cat People,” and did so but with an unexpected and original story line. In 1982 Paul Schrader created a remake. His version of “Cat People” was certainly entertaining, but whereas Lewton’s film suggested everything and revealed nothing Schrader’s movie revealed absolutely everything with spectacular and gory special effects.
Other films demonstrated the influence of “Cat People.” In 1946 “The Catman of Paris” and in 1957 “Cat Girl” served as unofficial and inferior remakes of Lewton’s classic. In 1973 Curtis Harrington directed the made-for-tv movie “The Cat Creature.” Kent Smith appeared in the cast.
The black panther used in this film was named “Dynamite.”