The Leopard Man

Val Lewton, (1904-1951), was put in charge of the B horror unit for RKO studios. Executives would give Lewton a title for the film, and the producer would have to come up with a plot to fit the title. This had worked well for Lewton’s first two productions: “Cat People,” (1942), and “I Walked with a Zombie,” (1943). For his third project Lewton was handed the title “The Leopard Man.” The studio expected another supernatural thriller like “Cat People.” Lewton decided to do an adaptation inspired by the 1942 novel “Black Alibi” by popular mystery author Cornell Woolrich, (1903-1968). Woolrich is largely forgotten today, but he was extremely popular at this time. (Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 masterpiece “Rear Window” was based on a Cornell Woolrich story.) Lewton worked with writers Ardel Wray and Edward Dein to create a screenplay. An escaped black panther plays a role in the plot, but the real danger comes from a different kind of threat: a serial killer!

This week’s movie was “The Leopard Man” from RKO in 1943, directed by Jacques Tourneur from a script by Ardel Wray and Edward Dein. The story opens in a small New Mexico town at a nightclub. Two performers are competing for popularity. The first is a castanet dancer named “Clo-Clo,” (Margo). The second is a steamy lounge singer named “Kiki Walker,” (Jean Brooks). Kiki’s agent “Jerry Manning,” (Dennis O’Keefe), gets an idea for a publicity stunt. He goes to a traveling Native American animal trainer named “Charlie How-Come,” (Abner Biberman), known as “The Leopard Man.” Jerry rents a tame black panther. Kiki walks into the nightclub with the panther on a leash, disrupting Clo-Clo’s dance routine. She frightens the cat with her castanets and it escapes! Soon young women begin to suffer violent deaths, and these are attributed to the panther.

(Two of these deaths are genuinely suspenseful and horrifying. A young girl named “Teresa Delgado,” (Margaret Landry), is stalked and killed outside the door of her family home. Young “Marta,” (Marguerite Sylva), is trapped inside the walls of the local graveyard and killed by an unseen agency. These are the best scenes in this movie.)

Jerry and Kiki feel guilty for their role in the escape of the panther and for the deaths that follow. As they investigate they become increasingly convinced that the panther is not the killer. A human madman is responsible. They begin to suspect the soft-spoken keeper of the local museum “Dr. Galbraith,” (James Bell). After Clo-Clo is murdered they set a trap for Galbraith, with Kiki as the bait!

Although this picture has some genuinely effective and frightening scenes, the overall plot is somewhat rambling and the climax is rather flat. James Bell is a talented actor, but he does not present a convincing menace in this story. His capture is far too easy and the conclusion is unsatisfying. This film is a misstep in the Lewton horror series in my opinion.

This movie marked the end of the collaboration between Val Lewton and Jacques Tourneur. The producer would turn to editor Mark Robson to direct his next picture.

The black panther is played by “Dynamite,” who had appeared the previous year in “Cat People.”