A drama with Jean Brooks, O'Keefe, Isabel Jewell as the fortuneteller, James Bell as Galbraith, Abner Biberman as the owner of the leopard, Ben Bard as the police officer, Brandon Hurst, to mention only what have been the acting highlights for me. Tourneur knew, with the surest sense of subtleness, nuance, degree, how to elicit their performances, even for bit parts, in a movie as graceful, as it is refreshing in its eeriness and lightness, in its exciting sharpness. It intrigued and delighted me.Margo's evening with William Halligan represents exquisitely this masterful sense of the graceful semitone. O'Keefe was, as I wrote elsewhere, a mediocre player, the director doesn't change this, but uses to good effect his handsomeness, J. Tourneur takes and enhances what was needed for the movie; O' Keefe doesn't reveal a hidden depth (like Heston in an Welles masterpiece), but gets the occasion to do his best. All the players are advantaged by the graceful direction.I answered to people being obliged, needing to work in an insignificant, smothering town, and longing for Chicago, for distant urban life, though in J. Tourneur's movie the town is carefully shown as a stylish place, and even has a museum, with a curator like Galbraith played by James Bell.Tourneur's movie is a disclosure of what the cinema may be meant to be.

When RKO Pictures hired Val Lewton to produce a series of horror flicks, they'd throw him some spare change and expect a good story. For this one, the studio came up with a hundred fifty thousand dollars and a title which Lewton managed to turn into a combination horror/mystery/murder thriller. He had to be creative since the budget didn't allow him to actually create any monsters. Through the use of shadows and imagery, Lewton was able to play on the viewers' fear of the unknown and create horror in what one imagines in place of what is actually seen.Perhaps the best example of this is the tortured walk young Teresa Delgado is forced to make to buy cornmeal by her demanding mother. On the way back from the grocery store, Teresa struggles with her thoughts on how to proceed home, while the play of light and shadow on the railroad trestle as the locomotive screams overhead provides a fascinating example of the cinematographer's skill. Then, as the face of the black leopard appears to her, Teresa is overcome with a fear that creates panic, ultimately ending in a scene in which blood is seen oozing underneath the door sill of her home, as she is unable to make her way inside.What bothered me about the story as it unfolded was the lack of concern the authorities might have shown for those who I felt most complicit in the first victim's death. The Mexican dancer Clo-Clo (Margo) incited the rather docile looking animal to break free in the night club, while the mother of Teresa had some culpability by being obstinate about the cornmeal. That Clo-Clo herself became a victim later in the story did little to negate my feeling that it was her initial action that put an entire village at risk.The story takes a decidedly different turn once promoter Jerry Manning (Dennis O'Keefe) begins to doubt the missing leopard is the cause of subsequent victims. There again, a better fleshed out story might have given more prominence to the psychological angle at play with the character of museum curator Galbraith (James Bell). Yet when you consider the limited budget and time constraints producer Lewton and director Jacques Tourneur worked under, the finished product turned out to be a fairly decent and compelling thriller.

"The Leopard Man" tells the story of Jerry Manning (Dennis O'Keefe), a press agent in a small New Mexico town who convinces entertainer Kiki Walker (Jean Brooks) to use a supposedly tame black leopard in a publicity stunt. It gets scared, gets loose, and some time later kills local girl Teresa Delgado (Margaret Landry). That's not the end of things, however, as more unfortunate young women fall victim to what COULD be the leopard, but could also easily be a deranged human.As far as producer Val Lewtons' suggestive, low budget genre films go, this isn't one of the best ones but it definitely has its moments. Ultimately, it's a little too obvious and predictable, and the resolution is kind of weak, but focusing on mystery aspects may have never been a priority for Lewton, director Jacques Tourneur, and screenwriter Ardel Wray (who adapts Cornell Woolrichs' story "Black Alibi"). What we get in their place are some engaging character vignettes and philosophical musing on the way that people are manipulated by fate; how little they may be in control of their actions. As with the rest of the Lewton filmography, the atmosphere is the absolute best component, especially in the beginning quarter which is incredibly frightening. When Teresa is killed by the leopard, we don't see it but hear it on the other side of a door, and see a small pool of blood seep under the door, mute testimony as to what happened.The actors are all earnest and likable, with fine work by O'Keefe, Brooks, and the saucy and sexy Margo in the lead roles. Isabel Jewell (playing the fortune teller), James Bell (as the zoologist and leopard expert Dr. Galbraith), Abner Biberman (as Charlie How-Come, the leopards' owner), and Ben Bard (in the role of the police chief) comprise a solid supporting cast. Brandon Hurst has a nice role as a cemetery gatekeeper.Overall, a good if not great black & white chiller, certainly worth a look for fans of the other Lewton productions.Seven out of 10.

Jerry Manning (Dennis O'Keefe) hires a leopard as a publicity stunt for his girlfriend (Jean Brooks), a singer at a New Mexico night club. When the stunt goes awry, the leopard escapes into the night. Soon women are being mauled to death and it is assumed to be the work of the leopard. But Jerry suspects the killings are the work of a man who wants them to appear like leopard attacks. Is the real killer man or beast? The Leopard Man is the third in producer Val Lewton's series of psychological horror films made at RKO in the 1940s. It's an intelligently written and fascinating film. Often said to be one of the first films to deal with the psychology of serial killers. It's one of the more underrated Lewton thrillers. It's beautifully filmed with gorgeous cinematography from Robert de Grasse and excellent direction from Jacques Tourneur. The sequence where the first girl is stalked by an unseen predator is among the best of any of the Lewton films. The acting is solid, with weak performances from no one. Of course the real star of the film is the atmosphere. One of the trademarks of Val Lewton's films is the moody evocative atmosphere and this film has it in spades. Definitely a smart, handsomely-produced effort that I recommend you check out.