Review by Doug Gibson
In 1942 RKO released Cat People, directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced by Val Lewton. Universal's horror dominance was fading and RKO began to produce the best B horrors. Cat People, while a PG movie, has many adult themes, Cat People's plot went right over the heads of the Hays Commission pseudo moralistic "horny teenagers." It involves a young immigrant, Irena (below) (Simone Simon), a fashion designer, who meets, falls in love with and marries engineer Oliver Reed (Kent Smith). There's a problem unknown to Oliver though. Irena, from Serbia, is descended from a tribe of Cat People. When aroused or angered, she turns into a large homicidal cat. Irena, aware of this, asks Oliver to give her time to initiate lovemaking.
This leads to tension, and Oliver becomes attracted to a co-worker, Alice (Jane Randolph). Irena, angered, becomes withdrawn and stalks Alice. Irena's psychiatrist plans to commit her, but first tries to seduce her. He's killed. Irena eventually commits suicide by allowing a zoo panther to attack her. This is a genuinly frightening film and scored well at the box office.
RKO, eager to have a sequel, released The Curse of the Cat People in 1944. Executives were expecting another frightening film. But Lewton had other ideas. He produced a gentle drama of a young child -- Oliver and Alice's daughter Amy (Ann Carter) -- looking for someone to relieve her loneliness and become her friend. The family lives in Tarrytown, N.Y., away from the city. They're a happy family, but there is that undercurrent of tension. Oliver is very worried about Amy, and frustrated she is introverted and cannot easily make friends.
This is also a Christmas movie, although it was released in March. Turner Classic Movies usually airs it a few times a year, including in December.
One day, Amy sees an old woman at a second-story window of a nearby house. Other children say a witch lives there. The woman throws Amy a "wishing ring." Later, Amy visits the old woman and she acts out the story of The Headless Horseman to Amy. The old woman, Julia, is a former actress. She is played by Julia Dean. She is kind to Amy but appears to have slight dementia. She lives with her sullen, unloved daughter, Barbara (played by Elizabeth Russell). Barbara begs Julia to acknowledge her but Julia calls her an imposter, claiming her daughter died in childbirth. Eventually, a bitter Barbara, after a visit from Amy, says she will kill the child the next time she sees her.
One night, Amy frightened in her bed remembering The Headless Horseman story, begs the wishing ring to bring her a friend. The spirit of Irena (from Cat People, Oliver's deceased first wife) comes to her. Irena offers her friendship and comforts the child. Simone Simon, as you see above, is pure beauty in the role. She is ethereal. One assumes her spirit has achieved peace and she is now capable of good works.
Tension soon develops, Amy finds pictures of Irena in the house, including one when she is with her dad. She tells Oliver that the woman in the pictures is her friend. No one can see Irena but Amy. Oliver, perhaps not over grief/guilt feelings over Irena's sad fate and worried about Amy's "fantasies," overreacts and lashes out at the child, bringing Amy to tears.
Irena appears to Amy and tells her she'll need to leave her. She doesn't want to hurt Amy's relationship with her parents. On Christmas Eve, Amy runs out of the house, heartsick Irena has left. She seeks help from Julia. When she gets there, tragedy ensues and Amy faces a threatening Barbara. This occurs as her parents, the family's house servant (Sir Lancelot) and others are searching for her.
This is an extemely good movie. It has wonderful settings, strong slice-of-life scenes that involve school, kids playing, a teacher discussing Amy with her parents, then-popular singer/actor Sir Lancelot singing, home life, Christmas carolers and a Christmas party. There is excellent rapport between leads Smith and Randolph as they maneuver their way through a happy marriage that still has bumps due to Oliver's first marriage and their trauma from Irena's despair and wrath. They are loving parents, concerned for Amy. Ann Carter is an excellent child actor who conveys innocence, loneliness and longing for companionship. Both Dean and Russell provide strong supporting roles.
The film was less successful than Cat People. As mentioned, RKO wanted something more menacing. The suits tinkered some with producer Lewton's script but it still retains its gentle fable-like atmosphere. Lewton wanted to call the film, Amy and Her Friend, but RKO execs said no, wanting Cat People in the title. The film was mostly directed by Robert Wise. Gunter von Fritsch was the original director, but took the film over its planned budget, running more than a week over schedule.
Contemporary reviews were mixed but The Curse of the Cat People has gained in esteem from critics the past 50 years. It's not uncommon to see it described as a classic. This reviewer agrees.
