An American man marries a Serbian immigrant who fears that she will turn into the cat person of her homeland's fables if they are intimate together.An American man marries a Serbian immigrant who fears that she will turn into the cat person of her homeland's fables if they are intimate together.An American man marries a Serbian immigrant who fears that she will turn into the cat person of her homeland's fables if they are intimate together.
- Awards
- 2 wins & 3 nominations
Henrietta Burnside
- Sue Ellen
- (uncredited)
Alec Craig
- Zookeeper
- (uncredited)
Eddie Dew
- Street Policeman
- (uncredited)
Elizabeth Dunne
- Mrs. Plunkett
- (uncredited)
Dynamite
- The Panther
- (uncredited)
Dot Farley
- Mrs. Agnew
- (uncredited)
Mary Halsey
- Blondie
- (uncredited)
Theresa Harris
- Minnie
- (uncredited)
Charles Jordan
- Bus Driver
- (uncredited)
Donald Kerr
- Taxi Driver
- (uncredited)
Connie Leon
- Neighbor Who Called Police
- (uncredited)
Murdock MacQuarrie
- Sheep Caretaker
- (uncredited)
Alan Napier
- Doc Carver
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe horror movie technique of slowly building tension to a jarring shock which turns out to be something completely harmless and benign became known as a "Lewton bus" after a famous scene in this movie created by producer Val Lewton. The technique is also referred to as a "cat scare," as off-screen noises are often revealed to be a startled harmless cat.
- GoofsWhen Irena does not show up at her apartment when Dr. Judd, Oliver, and Alice are waiting for her, they leave. Dr. Judd hides his cane in the apartment to give him an excuse to borrow Oliver's key and go back in for it. Afterward, he leaves the door unlocked so that he can sneak back in, something that is hidden from Oliver and Alice. Yet, after Oliver and Alice are threatened in the office, they call the apartment to warn Dr. Judd that Irena is definitely dangerous and that he should leave.
- Quotes
Irena Dubrovna: I like the dark. It's friendly.
- Crazy credits[From the opening credits] "Even as fog continues to lie in the valleys, so does ancient sin cling to the low places, the depression sin the world consciousness." - "The Anatomy of Atavism" - Dr. Louis Judd
- ConnectionsFeatured in Draculeena Presents: Cat People (1960)
Featured review
Shadow and light.
After several movies made in his native France ,Jacques (Jack) Tourneur makes his first American works in the late thirties."Cat people" is the fifth one;the others are difficult to see and anyway this is this movie that is looked upon as his towering achievement(with the exception of "out of the past") .His female star,Simone Simon,whose English was perfect,enjoyed a career in both countries too:her best part is easily Jean Renoir's "la bête humaine" ,(human beast:it's funny when you know she's playing a woman-animal here).
"Cat people" belongs to the fantasy and horror genre,but it does not really follow its rules.We're close to psychological drama.(Almost) deprived of "special effects" -which is a blessing-Tourneur works with his camera the way a painter does with shadow and light to create strange dreamy atmospheres The pièces de résistance are the scene in the swimming -pool that creates a feeling of terror without using the tricks of the trade,and the scene when Oliver and Alice are in the flat,hearing roaring.
The movie was ahead of its time in several respects:the Freudian allusions would later be developed by Fritz Lang("secret beyond the door",1945) and of course Hitchcock ("Spellbound",same year).You're going to say that these two great directors give their movies a "realistic" treatment and Jack Tourneur does not.Actually,he takes a divergent way:he introduces ambiguity,this ambiguity dear to Roman Polanski .After all,it could be a mere ,so to speak, neurosis.Few of the sequences actually deal with the supernatural :most of the time,it's a couple then a triangle:the "fantastic" elements could be real :the disturbing woman,who calls Irene "my sister",the scenes with the panther at the zoo,and the pool sequence can be explained by Irène's jealousy.
Although,it's only understood ,it's obvious that the marriage Irène/Oliver has not been consummated,because of a not clearly defined reason-how can a man as pragmatist as Oliver believe in such a far-fetched curse?Isn't it the fear of woman,of the original sin?.This topic will be brilliantly taken on by Christian de Challonges "l'alliance" (1970).Note also how Richard Donner aped the pet shops scene for "the omen" (1976).
It seems that Alice's character is an easy way out,and the weak part of the movie because she's essentially here to comfort the audience,to show the way to "straight" life and to secure a happy end.
The remake (1982) destroys all ambiguity,keeps nothing from the original story but the proper nouns ,and fills its quota of nudity and blood.Stick to the Tourneur version.
"Cat people" belongs to the fantasy and horror genre,but it does not really follow its rules.We're close to psychological drama.(Almost) deprived of "special effects" -which is a blessing-Tourneur works with his camera the way a painter does with shadow and light to create strange dreamy atmospheres The pièces de résistance are the scene in the swimming -pool that creates a feeling of terror without using the tricks of the trade,and the scene when Oliver and Alice are in the flat,hearing roaring.
The movie was ahead of its time in several respects:the Freudian allusions would later be developed by Fritz Lang("secret beyond the door",1945) and of course Hitchcock ("Spellbound",same year).You're going to say that these two great directors give their movies a "realistic" treatment and Jack Tourneur does not.Actually,he takes a divergent way:he introduces ambiguity,this ambiguity dear to Roman Polanski .After all,it could be a mere ,so to speak, neurosis.Few of the sequences actually deal with the supernatural :most of the time,it's a couple then a triangle:the "fantastic" elements could be real :the disturbing woman,who calls Irene "my sister",the scenes with the panther at the zoo,and the pool sequence can be explained by Irène's jealousy.
Although,it's only understood ,it's obvious that the marriage Irène/Oliver has not been consummated,because of a not clearly defined reason-how can a man as pragmatist as Oliver believe in such a far-fetched curse?Isn't it the fear of woman,of the original sin?.This topic will be brilliantly taken on by Christian de Challonges "l'alliance" (1970).Note also how Richard Donner aped the pet shops scene for "the omen" (1976).
It seems that Alice's character is an easy way out,and the weak part of the movie because she's essentially here to comfort the audience,to show the way to "straight" life and to secure a happy end.
The remake (1982) destroys all ambiguity,keeps nothing from the original story but the proper nouns ,and fills its quota of nudity and blood.Stick to the Tourneur version.
helpful•3710
- dbdumonteil
- Jun 27, 2002
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- The Cat People
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $134,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 13 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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