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Cat People Overview:

Cat People (1942) was a Horror - Mystery Film directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced by Val Lewton.

SYNOPSIS

A young bride believes she is the victim of a curse that transforms her into a deadly panther. This is the first of several famous horror films produced by Val Lewton.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Cat People was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1993.

Cat People BlogHub Articles:

Irene Dubrovna in "Cat People" (1942)

By The Metzinger Sisters on Nov 10, 2023 From Silver Scenes - A Blog for Classic Film Lovers

The Classic Movie Blog Association is hosting the Blogathon and the Beast blog event this week. This theme gives us bloggers a chance to write about a film character who has a beast within themselves. All of us have a sleeping beast within who, hopefully, never awakens in our lifetime. As the old sa... Read full article

ONE MOVIE, THREE QUOTES: Cat People (1942)

By Carol Martinheira on Oct 9, 2022 From The Old Hollywood Garden

ONE MOVIE, THREE QUOTES: Cat People (1942) On October 9, 2022October 9, 2022 By CarolIn Uncategorized Image from Pinterest Horror Month is here! About three years ago, I wrote a piece about Cat People (1942) and why I think Irena Dubrovna (Simone Simon) is such a gr... Read full article

The Curse of The Cat People (1944): The Oddest of Horror Sequels

By 4 Star Film Fan on Oct 30, 2019 From 4 Star Films

The Curse of the Cat People feels like entering a storybook only to find ourselves in Tarry Town near Sleepy Hollow. Fittingly, we are placed with a group of kindergarteners who have come with their teacher to frolic and enjoy a field trip to the place brought to life in the tall tales of Washington... Read full article

The sad reality of Cat People (1942)

By Carol Martinheira on Oct 22, 2019 From The Old Hollywood Garden

The sad reality of Cat People (1942) On October 22, 2019 By CarolIn Uncategorized Last year’s Horror Month DOUBLE BILL focused on the similarities between The Invisible Man (1933, dir. James Whale) and The Wolfman (1941, dir. George Waggner). If one wanted to str... Read full article

Cat People (1942)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Oct 12, 2017 From 4 Star Films

Cat People has one of those sensationalized B-picture premises and there are moments when its meager aspects let slip that this is a low-budget effort, but within those restrictions, it moves with a certain purpose and chilliness. It’s true that producer Val Lewton had a B-movie renaissance go... Read full article

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Cat People Quotes:

Irena Dubrovna: Oh, it's alright. It's just that cats don't seem to like me.
Irena Dubrovna: Will you have tea with me in my apartment?
Oliver 'Ollie' Reed: You make everything so simple!
Irena Dubrovna: Oh, you can tell Alice anything, she's such a good egg she can understand anything
Oliver 'Ollie' Reed: There are some things a woman doesn't want other women to understand.
Irena Dubrovna: I like the dark. It's friendly.
The Commodore: Look at that woman over there.
Doc Carver: Looks just like a cat.
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Cat People Facts
The film was such a hit at the box office, the releases of the next two Lewton films (I Walked with a Zombie and The Leopard Man) were delayed.
Several actors in studio records and casting call lists did not appear in the movie. These were (with their character names) George Ford (Whistling cop), Leda Nicova (Patient), and Bud Geary (Mounted policeman).
Filmed in 18 days.
Because of the incredibly tight budget, sets from Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons were re-used.
R.K.O. gave Val Lewton only $150,000 to make the film, resulting in "creative" producing. This forced many of the scenes requiring special effects to be done in shadows which many believe increased the suspense of the film. When studio execs insisted that more footage of the panther be included in the movie, Lewton was able to maintain the budget and the suspense of the film by limiting how many scenes the panther could be visibly seen and told the cinematographer to "keep the panther in the shadows." Thus the panther was only visible in the office and zoo cage.
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