The Curse of the Cat People

Producer Val Lewton, (1904-1951), was asked to establish “The Snake Pit,” a unit for making B horror movies for RKO Studios. “Cat People,” (1942), was his first effort and it was a surprise box office hit. In 1943 Lewton created four more motion pictures in the series and they were all profitable. RKO next asked the producer to make a sequel to “Cat People.” Lewton brought back four of the stars of the original, but took the story in a very unexpected direction. The tale focused on a little girl and on her troubled inner life. Lewton incorporated autobiographical elements into the plot making this his most personal motion picture. He assigned Gunther von Fritsch, (1906-1988), to direct the film as his debut feature. Although Lewton was very pleased with the material that the director was filming, von Fritsch was falling rapidly behind schedule. The picture only had an 18 day shooting schedule, and when those days were exhausted only half the screenplay had been filmed. Lewton fired the director and gave his job to editor Robert Wise, making his debut as a director. Wise got the picture back on track but the movie was behind schedule and over budget, and this created tension between the producer and the studio.

This week’s movie was “The Curse of the Cat People” from 1944, directed by Gunther von Fritsch and Robert Wise from a script by DeWitt Bodeen. “Oliver Reed,” (Kent Smith), and “Alice Moore,” (Jane Randolph), have gotten married following the death of Oliver’s troubled first wife “Irena Dubrovna Reed,” (Simone Simon). They have moved to Tarrytown just north of New York City. Their introverted daughter “Amy Reed,” (Ann Carter), seems to have difficulty telling fantasy from reality, and the other school children won’t play with her. Oliver is afraid that Amy’s troubles might lead her into insanity like his first wife Irena, in spite of the reassurances of her teacher “Miss Callahan,” (Eve March). Amy befriends an elderly former actress named “Julia Farren,” (Julia Dean). This woman shows kindness to Amy and gifts her with a ring. This angers Julia’s daughter “Barbara,” (Elizabeth Russell), who is jealous of the girl. (After a serious accident many years earlier Julia became convinced that her daughter was dead, and that Barbara is an imposter!) The Reed’s butler “Edward,” (Calypso singer “Sir Lancelot”), suggests that Amy might use the ring to make a wish. Amy wishes for a friend, and Irena magically appears! When Oliver learns that his daughter has taken on his first wife as an “imaginary friend” it is more than he can tolerate. He gives her a spanking! Then she runs away from home during a snowstorm. This leads her to an encounter with the vengeful and jealous Barbara…

This is a strikingly effective and haunting little film. Child actress Ann Carter turns in an incredible performance as the troubled little girl. Simone Simon is also wonderful as Irena who might be a ghost, an angel, or a figment of the imagination. The rest of the cast is uniformly excellent, and the combined direction of von Fritsch and Wise is flawless. This may be the best of Val Lewton’s films, and is certainly the most emotionally touching.

The movie was profitable, but not as successful as Lewton’s other films. RKO was disappointed by the picture and felt that Lewton had failed to deliver what they had asked for: a genuine sequel to “Cat People.” There was also the feeling that Lewton had begun to stray from his original mission to deliver horror films for the studio. So the decision was made to get the producer back on course by assigning an established horror actor to star in Lewton’s movies. RKO hired Boris Karloff, who had appeared in many of the horror films from Universal Studios!

Val Lewton was horrified by this decision on the part of the studio, and considered this to be an unworkable situation. Then he actually met Boris Karloff, and the two became fast friends! Karloff and Lewton understood and respected each other, and made three motion pictures together in a row!

On the original poster for “The Curse of the Cat People” it appears that Simone Simon has three hands!