Shot on a shoestring budget, Jacques Tourneur's CAT PEOPLE is an early specimen epitomizes the "less is more" suspense in the horror genre. Irene Dubrovna (Simon), a Serbian immigrant now working as a sketch designer in NYC, meets cute with a marine engineer Oliver Reed (Smith). But Irene is bedeviled by the urban legend of her provenance that she is a descendant of cat people, will turn into ferocious feline critter when she is sexually aroused, or as the story goes, gets overcome by jealousy or anger. Oliver isn't deterred by the obstacle, although he barely believes it, they tie the knot and Oliver promises he will give all the time she wants before they consummate their marriage, also introduces her to the psychiatrist Dr. Judd (Conway) when she voluntarily seeks resource to professional help. But, Oliver is not as perfect as he believes, an exemplar of America's good old boy, he literally admits he has never been "unhappy" before until this marriage is becalmed without any (sexual) progress and his promise turns paper-thin, when his colleague-and-best-friend Alice Moore (Randolph) blows the lid of her affection, why on earth she has been curbing her feelings for so long? A clunky plot device to instigate the downturn of Oliver and Irene's platonic marriage. Tourneur and screenwriter DeWitt Bodeen cunningly scheme suspenseful set pieces thence, ostensibly, Alice becomes the third wheel and must be disposed of, the subsequent two occurrences are the film's money shots, one would eventually coin the term "Lewton Bus", which signifies the situation where heightened tension is evaporated by a rather unexpected happenstance; another occurs in a natatorium, which seems Alice is doomed in the flurry of frenzied editing and striking images, in neither case, there is no clear sight of the human-turned- creature, but we are on the edge of our seats. So after Alice survives both murderous attempts, it dawns to audience that her character is not going to be a supposed casualty because now she represents the right woman for a honest-to- goodness Oliver, it is Irene, a continent immigrant who is wide-eyed enough to be inveigled into a false promise of American dream, must take her bow now, all because she is not willing to put out, her exotic charm fades, her mythic belief becomes threats, and after finally she prances on an imbecile who has too much self-regard to contain, the film ends in a slipshod scramble, the film's running time clocks in a mere 73 minutes, and finally, we are allowed with several glimpses of the assailing panther (along with some animation and great play of shades), money well spent! French actress Simone Simon leavens her iconic role with wondrous glamour and fondness in addition to her very feline features, while the rest of the movie's meager cast is borderline on autopilot. By today's yardstick, CAT PEOPLE is a far cry from a horror on its scale of scariness, but as a forebear of the genre, at the very least, it inculcates how to make good use of the ilk's often limited resource to set up the atmospheric ballast, that's a merit cannot be gainsaid.

Nice guy marine engineer Oliver Reed (handsome Kent Smith) meets a very intriguing woman one day in the zoo. She's Irena Dubrovna (absolutely gorgeous Simone Simon), a Serbian émigré who's come to NYC and works as a sketch artist. In no time, they're married, although she does trouble him. She's afraid to get intimate, because she suspects that it will unleash the feline within her. Also, she places a lot of stock in the legends of her homeland. Jealousy rears its ugly head when Irena realizes that Olivers' co-worker Alice Moore (Jane Randolph) is in love with him."Cat People" was the first in a line of low budget black & white horror films produced by Val Lewton for RKO Studios. They gave him the pre-selected titles, and from there he and his regular collaborators came up with some generally interesting stories. They wouldn't appeal to some of the genre fans of today, because they mainly dealt with horrors of the mind, and were never very explicit. But they hold up quite nicely over 70 years later, because Lewton and his stable of directors - Jacques Tourneur guided this film - crafted some intoxicating atmosphere.There are two "stalking" sequences that are now legendary, and for good reason. Lewton and Tourneur do impressive things with sound, completely putting you on edge. Another individual who plays an important part is the cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca, whose use of light and shadow is excellent.The acting is sincere and believable. Rounding out the quintet of main players are Tom Conway as the skeptical psychiatrist Dr. Louis Judd, and Jack Holt as The Commodore. Appearing uncredited are Theresa Harris as Minnie, Alan Napier as Doc Carver, and Elizabeth Russell as "the cat woman".Written by DeWitt Bodeen, this is a good tale about the power of belief. And like all of these Lewton productions, it wraps up in a reasonable amount of time, running a scant 73 minutes.Eight out of 10.

While at the Central Park Zoo, mysterious Serbian fashionista Irena Dubrovna (Simone Simon) catches the eye of Oliver Reed. She tells them of the legend of King John who freed the people from the Mameluks. John found some had been corrupted to worship Satan. He killed them all except for the ones who escaped into the mountains. Later, Irena and Oliver get married but her belief comes between them. She believes that an ancient family curse turns her into a panther when she gets aroused. Oliver sends her to psychiatrist Dr. Louis Judd.This movie burns a little too slowly. The acting is pretty stiff. The movie uses shadows and sounds to do most of the horror. There are some very effective scenes. The swimming pool is the highlight of the movie. The movie has a great idea of sexual animalism but it's an idea that really can't be filmed at that time. It's about the denial of the sexual instincts. This movie probably pushed the boundaries a little bit. It's a movie of its time.

*Spoiler/plot- The Cat People, 1942. A young woman tries to hide her unique life and her family heritage from her boyfriend.*Special Stars- Simone Simon, Kent Smith.*Theme- Nature will find a way to foil human nature.*Trivia/location/goofs- French. Made during WW2. An American courts and marries a Serbian girl and finds her very superstitious.*Emotion- Although a horror classic in many people's minds and list, this film is a re-tread of the old story of people possessed by animal spirits.*Based On- Werewolf and gypsy legends of the times.