#694) Cat People (1942)

The Plot: While admiring a panther at the Central Park Zoo, Irena Dubrovna (Simone Simon) has a chance encounter with Oliver Reed (Kent Smith), and the two begin a courtship. Irena tells Oliver of her belief that she is descended from a group of Serbian cat-worshipping witches who were all but eradicated by King John in the 1500s. She also believes that if she ever becomes sexually aroused, she will turn into a black panther herself. Oliver encourages Irena to see psychologist Dr. Louis Judd (Tom Conway), who dismisses these beliefs as childhood trauma. Oliver and Irena marry, but the marriage is never consummated, which leads to Oliver spending more time with his young assistant Alice (Jane Randolph). At the same time, Alice starts getting stalked by a black panther that has appeared seemingly out of nowhere. But I’m sure that’s totally unrelated to Irena’s ancestral claims in this classic from RKO’s horror movie unit.

Why It Matters: The NFR calls the film “a spine-tingling horror movie”, though admits that “[t]he film’s tension outweighs its thin story”. An essay by film critic Chuck Bowen looks at the film’s subtext and symbolism.

But Does It Really?: I really wanted to like “Cat People”, but it just didn’t work for me. I will admit, however, that this is partially my own fault: I went into “Cat People” thinking it was going to be a cheaper, schlockier B picture. Turns out these filmmakers were going for clever and subtle, which is great if you know that going in, but I found “Cat People” to be too subtle to the point of being uninteresting. Still, it has its supporters, and is one of the more influential and iconic movies in the horror genre. “Cat People” might have made the NFR a little too early (it got in before “Dracula“!), but I won’t argue with its inclusion as a significant American film.

Everybody Gets One: Born Volodymyr Leventon in Yalta (now Ukraine), Val Lewton emigrated to America when he was a child, and started his writing career as an author and journalist before getting hired at MGM’s publicity department. A script treatment written for David Selznick never materialized but did get Lewton hired as Selznick’s editorial assistant (during his tenure, Lewton declared the novel “Gone with the Wind” unfilmable). In 1942, Lewton left Selznick to head RKO’s new B movie horror unit, with the stipulation that the final films be cheap, short, and based on a title selected by his supervisors. Lewton used his Selznick connections to hire his team, including Jacques Tourneur and DeWitt Bodeen, to work on the first of RKO’s proposed titles: “Cat People”.

Wow, That’s Dated: A lot of fun ’40s movie staples like Oliver wearing a full suit while lounging around his own apartment! Significantly less fun: Oliver surprises Irena with a kitten placed in a very small box with air-holes. That may be the scariest thing in this movie.

Seriously, Oscars?: No Oscar nominations for “Cat People”. RKO fared better at the 1942 Oscars with “The Magnificent Ambersons“, and two films they distributed but did not produce: “Bambi” and “The Pride of the Yankees“.

• I’ve already forgotten about Kent Smith’s performance in this movie, which isn’t necessarily his fault. Honestly the most memorable thing about his character is that his name is Oliver Reed, like the British actor from the ’70s. I’m sure Kent was better with alcohol consumption and respect towards women than the other Oliver Reed, though admittedly that’s a low bar.
• Tom Conway has a Basil Rathbone vibe to him, which served him well playing a wide variety of British gentlemen throughout his career. Fun Fact: Tom’s younger brother was fellow actor George Sanders (Tom’s birth name was Tom Sanders).
• I don’t know why, but I love any scene in a movie set in a psychologist’s office where the main character is lying down on a couch while their doctor is putting them under some kind of hypnosis. We’re a long way from cognitive behavioral therapy.
• I’m enjoying Jane Randolph as your standard issue wise-cracking Girl Friday. Randolph only made about 20 movies, but she’s got two on the NFR: this and “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein“.
• Oh my god, why is this so slowly paced?. By the time something happens in this movie, it’ll be over.
• No offense to Simone Simon, but as far as cat women go, she’s no Julie Newmar/Eartha Kitt. Heck she’s not even Halle Berry.
• Despite my issues with this movie, it does have one very good scene going for it. When walking down the street in the dark, Alice becomes increasingly aware that someone or something is following her. There’s a delightful build of suspense as she quickens her pace, culminating in the sudden sound of a nearby city bus applying its air brake, which sounds suspiciously like a cat hissing. This abrupt end to the sequence was later dubbed “The Lewton Bus” and was one of the first modern jump scares in a horror movie.

• So Irena turns into a cat when she wants to torment Alice? I’m beginning to think these filmmakers may have had issues with women. And while we’re on the subject, I thought Irena only turns into a cat when she’s aroused. Does the thought of her husband’s possible adultery get her hot and bothered? No kink-shaming, I just want to make sure I understand cat people rules.
• The second “Irena stalks Alice” scene takes place at a community pool, which is suspenseful, but compared to the previous bus scene it treads a lot of the same water (Please forgive the pun…Wait, come back!). Also, why is Irena trying to freak out Alice in a pool? I thought cats hated water.

• Today I learned that there is such a thing as too much restraint. I get that not showing Irena as a panther is intentional, not only to build suspense but also to keep production costs down, but if you hold out for too long it deflates the tension (not unlike my feelings about “The Shining“). This kind of restraint would be later perfected in “The Birds” and “Jaws“, but here it just feels like a missed opportunity.
• [Spoilers] Based on the film’s Criterion DVD cover, I was ready to see Simone Simon in some cat-human hybrid makeup for her big reveal. Nothing incredible, but something fun. Turns out Irena’s cat form is just an actual black panther shown fleetingly during the climax. Kind of a letdown after an hour plus of waiting to see her in cat form.

Legacy

• “Cat People” was released in December 1942, and while critical reception was mixed, the film was a box office hit. The film’s final gross total is disputed, but it made at least 10 times its production cost. Val Lewton produced 10 more films for RKO, including such pre-approved titles as “I Walked with a Zombie” and “The Leopard Man”.

• Another film from the RKO Lewton unit was 1944’s “The Curse of the Cat People”. While advertised as a sequel to “Cat People” and starring all three original leads, “Curse” has a very tenuous connection to the first film (there’s not even a cat!). On a positive note: “Curse” marked the directorial debut for one of its co-directors: Robert Wise.

• Speaking of before-they-were-famous directors: the editor of “Cat People” was Mark Robson, who Lewton promoted to director on another of his unit’s films: 1943’s “The Seventh Victim”. Robson’s subsequent filmography includes “Champion”, “Peyton Place”, “Von Ryan’s Express”, and “Valley of the Dolls”.

• Lewton’s time at RKO abruptly came to an end in 1946 following the death of RKO vice president and Lewton supporter Charles Koerner, with Koerner’s less supportive successors shutting down Lewton’s unit. Although Lewton eventually landed at Columbia, his ill health (exasperated by two heart attacks) led to his premature death in 1951 at age 46.
• While Val Lewton has gone on to be reappraised and celebrated by film critics and scholars, his reputation among his peers wasn’t the best. Case in point: Lewton is one of several Hollywood figures (including his old boss David Selznick) who served as the basis for Jonathan Shields, Kirk Douglas’ despicable movie producer character in “The Bad and the Beautiful“. Look no further than one of Jonathan’s first movies within the film: “Doom of the Cat Men”.

• Like many a classic, “Cat People” has gotten the remake treatment. Directed by Paul Schrader, the 1982 version ramps up the violence and sexuality, but follows some of the scarier scenes more faithfully to its 1942 counterpart. While not as well-regarded as the original “Cat People”, any movie where David Bowie sings the theme song can’t be terrible.