Cat People (1942)
84%RT Audience Score: 73%
Awards & Nominations: 3 nominations
Influential noir director Jacques Tourneau infused this sexy, moody horror film with some sly commentary about the psychology and the taboos of desire
Cat People is a movie that will make you think twice before adopting a cat. The film is a spooky and absorbing tale that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The photography and settings are effective, and the naturalness of the dialog is impressive. However, if you’re looking for a breeze or a shiver, this movie might not be for you. But if you’re looking for a story that will hold you through to the end and make you afraid of flapping blinds, then Cat People is the movie for you. Just don’t blame us if you start seeing cats everywhere after watching it.
Production Company(ies)
Block 2 Pictures, Jet Tone Production Orly Films,
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Audubon Zoo – 6500 Magazine Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
1942
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Dec 6, 1942 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 15, 2013
Genre(s)
Horror
Keyword(s)
Cat People, 1942, Horror, Jacques Tourneur, Val Lewton, Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Tom Conway, Jane Randolph, Jack Holt, Alan Napier, RKO, ancient sin, psychology, taboos, desire, cursed, cat transformation, tragic results, fashion designer, marine engineer, assistant, director, producer, writer, critic, MPAA rating, box office performance, budget, noir, commentary, influence, photography, settings, dialog, supernatural, spooky, absorbing, eerie, credibility, melodrama, originality, suspense, sexual themes, production code, suggestion, violence, passion, bare bones, short, minimalistic
Worldwide gross: $7,000,000
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $22,131,985
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,679
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 2,413,521
US/Canada gross: $7,000,000
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $22,131,985
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,381
US/Canada opening weekend: $1,617,636
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $5,114,499
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,099
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $18,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $56,910,818
Production budget ranking: 711
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $30,646,476
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$65,425,309
ROI to date (est.): -75%
ROI ranking: 1,840
Kent Smith – Oliver Reed
Tom Conway – Dr. Louis Judd
Jane Randolph – Alice Moore
Jack Holt – The Commodore
Alan Napier – Doc Carver
Director(s)
Jacques Tourneur
Writer(s)
NA
Producer(s)
Val Lewton
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
3 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (67) | Top Critics (13) | Fresh (61) | Rotten (6)
A weird little chiller called Cat People… is calculated to frighten you out of your wits and make you think twice before trusting anyone who arouses a feline’s instinctive dislike.
December 30, 2020
Mildred Martin
Philadelphia Inquirer
TOP CRITIC
Simone makes her way through his combination of phantasy and reality, and comes off creditably in a part that calls for emotional repression.
December 30, 2020
Len G. Shaw
Detroit Free Press
TOP CRITIC
Photography and settings are effective, and the naturalness of the dialog issuing from such a murk of the fantastic is very impressive.
December 30, 2020
Mae Tinee
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
This RKO production is a great example of Hollywood’s waste of precious lime and valuable material.
December 30, 2020 | Rating: 1/4
Wanda Hale
New York Daily News
TOP CRITIC
Cat People, per all advance heraldings, is supposed to be some punkins as a thriller. But for my money, whatever that may amount to, it isn’t a breeze let alone a shiver.
December 30, 2020
Edwin Schallert
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
I do like a film that opens with a mission statement, and… Cat People starts thus: “Even as fog continues to lie in the valleys, so does ancient sin cling to the low places, the depressions in the world consciousness.”
October 3, 2016 | Rating: 4/5
Kate Muir
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Cat People leaves us with much to consider about its heroine, use of darkness and the unconscious, and the inward feelings that have haunted audiences since its release.
February 14, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
Perhaps this fantastic tale could have been arranged to achieve the eerie credibility of Dracula, but Simone Simon seems by nature to be more kitten than were wolf.
December 30, 2020
Moira Wallace
San Francisco Examiner
The film, which has been admirably mounted and tightly directed and acted, should find an appreciative audience among those who prefer melodrama with originality, but can scarcely be termed pleasant entertainment.
December 30, 2020
E. A. Cunningham
Motion Picture Herald (Exhibitors Herald)
The legend has been staged effectively for the most part, by virtue of Nicholas Musuraca’s photography, exercised amid first-rate settings, and Jacques Tourneur’s direction. When the film is dealing with the supernatural, it is quite spooky and absorbing.
December 30, 2020
Donald Kirkley
Baltimore Sun
Cat People is a story that will hold you through to the picture’s end. A flapping blind may be your undoing for several days to come, however.
December 30, 2020
KC Star Staff
Kansas City Star
Cat People benefits rather substantially from its justifiably iconic visuals and a smattering of admittedly captivating sequences…
December 23, 2020 | Rating: 2.5/4
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews…
Plot
The Cat People originated way back in time, when humans sacrificed their women to leopards, who mated with them. Cat People look similar to humans, but must mate with other Cat People before they transform into panthers. Irene Gallier was raised by adoptive parents and meets her older brother Paul for the first time since childhood. We follow brother and sister – who seem to be the only ones of their kind left.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
No goofy or funny or odd comments were found in the Fresh Kernels database for Cat People.
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