Cat People is a 1942 horror film produced by Val Lewton and directed by Jacques Tourneur. DeWitt Bodeen wrote the original screenplay which was based on Val Lewton's short story The Bagheeta published in 1930.[1] The film stars Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Jane Randolph and Tom Conway.
Cat People was followed by a sequel, The Curse of the Cat People, in 1944. A remake of the same name directed by Paul Schrader and starring Nastassja Kinski, Malcolm McDowell, and John Heard was released in 1982.
Plot
At an American city zoo, Serbian-born fashion designer Irena Dubrovna (Simone Simon) makes sketches of a black panther. She catches the attention of marine engineer Oliver Reed (Kent Smith), who strikes up a conversation. Irena invites him to her apartment for tea. As they walk away, one of Irena's discarded sketches is revealed as a panther impaled by a sword.
At her apartment, Oliver is intrigued by a statue of a medieval warrior on horseback impaling a large cat with his sword. Irena informs Oliver that the figure is the [partly fictional] King John of Serbia and that the cat represents evil. According to legend, long ago the Christian residents of her home village gradually turned to witchcraft and devil worship after being enslaved by the Mameluks. When King John drove the Mameluks out and saw what the villagers had become, he had them killed. However, "the wisest and the most wicked" escaped into the mountains. Oliver buys her a kitten, but upon meeting her it hisses. They go to the pet shop to exchange it as they enter the animals go wild in her presence. The shopkeeper say that animals can sense things about people.
It gradually becomes clear that Irena believes she is descended from them, and that she fears that she will transform into a panther if aroused to passion. While she was growing up, the other children had called her mother a cat person and her father had died mysteriously.
Despite her odd beliefs, Oliver persuades her to marry him. However, during the dinner after their wedding at a Serbian restaurant, a woman walks over and asks Irena if she is "мојa сестрa" (moya sestra, "my sister"). Fearing something evil within her and dreading what could happen, Irena avoids sleeping with her husband. He persuades her to see a psychiatrist, Dr. Louis Judd (Tom Conway), who tries to convince her that her fears are of a more mundane nature. When she discovers that Oliver has confided their marital problems to his attractive assistant, Alice Moore (Jane Randolph), she feels betrayed. At work, Alice confesses to Oliver that she loves him.
One night, Irena sees Oliver and Alice seated together at a restaurant. She follows Alice as she walks home alone. Alice becomes increasingly uneasy, sensing an unseen someone or something behind her. Just as she hears a menacing sound, a bus pulls up; she hastily boards it. Soon after, several sheep are killed. The bloodied pawprints leading away turn into imprints of a woman's shoes.
Later, when Alice decides to take a dip in the basement swimming pool of her apartment building, she is stalked by an animal shown only by its shadow. She jumps into the pool, using the water to keep the creature at bay. When Alice screams for help, Irena turns on the lights and claims to be looking for Oliver. Alice emerges, wondering if she had imagined the whole thing, until she finds her robe torn to shreds.
After a talk with Dr. Judd, Irena tells Oliver she is no longer afraid, but it is too late; Oliver has realized that he loves Alice and is getting a divorce. Later, at work, he and Alice are cornered by a ferocious animal. Thinking quickly, he grabs his T-square (which is in the shape of a cross) and tells Irena to go away.
After it leaves, Alice calls Dr. Judd to warn him to stay away from Irena, but he hangs up when the woman shows up. Attracted to her, he makes the fatal mistake of kissing her. She transforms into a panther and kills him, though he manages to wound her in the shoulder with the sword concealed in his cane. Oliver and Alice arrive a few minutes too late. Irena slips away, back in her human shape, and goes to the zoo. There, she opens the panther's cage and allows herself to be killed.
Cast
Simone Simon as Irena Dubrovna Reed
Kent Smith as Oliver Reed
Tom Conway as Dr. Louis Judd
Jane Randolph as Alice Moore
Jack Holt as The Commodore
Elizabeth Russell as Serbian woman at restaurant (uncredited)
Alan Napier as Doc Carver (uncredited)
Theresa Harris as Minnie, waitress at Sally Lunds café (uncredited)
Elizabeth Dunn as Miss Plunkett, pet shop owner (uncredited)
Mary Halsey as Blondie, apartment house desk clerk (uncredited)
Directed by Jacques Tourneur
Produced by Val Lewton
Written by DeWitt Bodeen
Music by Roy Webb
Cinematography Nicholas Musuraca
Editing by Mark Robson
Distributed by RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
Release date(s) 6 December 1942 (NYC)
25 December 1942 (US)
Running time 73 minutes
Country United States
Language English
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