Irena Dubrovna, (Simone Simone) and Oliver Reed, (Kent Smith), seem to be perfect for each other. The trouble is Irena has a problem. She believes the folklore of her Serbian heritage, involving witchcraft and big cats. She believes she can become a large cat, when angered or becoming jealous.This strange obsession, doesn’t deter Oliver. He loves her deeply, and marries her. Things seem well, until Oliver, starts getting close to Alice Moore, (Jane Randolph). This pushes Irena to the brink of madness.
A doctor, Louis Judd, (Tom Conway), is called in by Oliver. He can’t seem to reach her. Not only is there no breakthrough, but there are mysterious attacks. One on Alice Moore, in a pool, is particularly terrifying. Irena is threatened with being sent to an institution, by Dr. Judd. He is attacked by a cat, defending himself, with a knife in his walking stick. While Irena is tortured by her big cat obsession, her loving husband, becomes closer to Alice Moore. This development, only causes Irena, to descend into madness.
A comparison of Cat People to The Wolf Man, (1941), can’t be helped. There is a werewolf in that film: a were-cat, in this. The chief difference is Cat People, is more closely associated with legends, involving witch craft, and transformation into animals. There is also a love triangle in Cat People. The one similarity in both films is the loved one- The father in The Wolf Man, and the husband, in Cat People. Both of them are trying drastic measures to cure what they believe is mental illness. The chief difference is The Wolf Man is shown in the film. The menacing big cat, in Cat People, is not.
Jacques Tourner has with Cat People, come up with a different horror film. He concentrates on mental illness, and borrows heavily from silent German horror cinema. He effectively uses light and shadow. It is well done, especially with the cat’s shadow shown when attacking it’s victims. Tourner has also defied the official morality code of movies. He has not so subtly associated sex with were-cat legend. Jacques Torneur has foreshadowing in the initial meeting between Irena and Oliver. Irena when leaving with Oliver, drops a sketch. It is of a leopard, with a spear going through it.
Simone Simon, is very good as Irena Dubrova Reed. Her portrayal of a tortured soul is as good as it gets. She, unlike normal people isn’t disturbed by the roars of big cats, in a nearby zoo. She embraces them. She has an unnatural fear of relationships. This is because she believes the Serbian folktales connecting eroticism and cats. She cannot resist the charms of Oliver Reed. This defies her beliefs, and she then is convinced, that she becomes a big cat.
The interesting thing about Cat People, is it’s creative film making. RKO studios was strapped financially, because of money losing productions. They were Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons. Cat People made use of restrictions. Special effects were limited. The menacing black leopard couldn’t be shown. This forced the decision to use subtle effects, like shadows. It gives the type of suspense that Hitchcock films do. Val Lewton produced this film, and continued a working relationship with Jacques Tourneur, on two more films, The Leopard Man and I Walked With a Zombie. This partnership, allowed for subtle horror films, with a unique style. Lewton himself, created a style of horror film. His films featured stars of the genre, like Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi.Cat People remains an example of creative film making in the horror genre.