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Cat People
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Cat People (1942) More at IMDbPro »

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Cat People (1942) -- Irena Dubrovna, a beautiful and mysterious Serbian-born fashion artist living in New York City, falls in love with and marries average-Joe American Oliver Reed...
Cat People (1942) -- Irena Dubrovna, a beautiful and mysterious Serbian-born fashion artist living in New York City, falls in love with and marries average-Joe American Oliver Reed...

Overview

User Rating:
7.5/10   4,086 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 11% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Jacques Tourneur
Writer:
DeWitt Bodeen (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for Cat People on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
25 December 1942 (USA) more
Tagline:
She knew strange, fierce pleasures that no other woman could ever feel! more
Plot:
Irena Dubrovna, a beautiful and mysterious Serbian-born fashion artist living in New York City, falls... more | full synopsis
Awards:
1 win & 1 nomination more
NewsDesk:
(8 articles)
Behold the Horror of Scorsese's 'Shutter Island' Trailer
 (From FEARnet. 11 June 2009, 11:15 AM, PDT)

R.I.P. Jane Randolph (1915 - 2009)
 (From pretty-scary. 2 June 2009, 11:42 AM, PDT)

User Comments:
Horror As Art more

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
Simone Simon ... Irena Dubrovna Reed
Kent Smith ... Oliver Reed
Tom Conway ... Dr. Louis Judd
Jane Randolph ... Alice Moore
Jack Holt ... The Commodore
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
George Ford ... Whistling Cop (scenes deleted)
Bud Geary ... Mounted Policeman (scenes deleted)
Leda Nicova ... Patient (scenes deleted)
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Runtime:
73 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English | Czech
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Certification:
Finland:K-16 (1988) | UK:A (original rating) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #8693) | West Germany:12 (video rating)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
When "The Cat Woman" (played, uncredited, by Elizabeth Russell) speaks to Irina in Serbian and calls her "my sister", Russell's dialog is dubbed by Simone Simon, more
Goofs:
Factual errors: There was not a King John of Serbia who defeated the Mamelukes. None of the lists of Kings/Princes of Serbia include a King John. The closest historical personage was the Holy Martyr John Vladimir [St. Jovan Vladimir], killed by Tsar Vladimir in 1015 AD. more
Quotes:
Woman at pet shop: You can fool everybody, but landie dearie me, you can't fool a cat. They seem to know who's not right. more
Movie Connections:
Featured in Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows (2007) more

FAQ

A Note Regarding Spoilers
Did Irena really turn into a panther?
Is "Cat People" based on a book?
more
14 out of 15 people found the following comment useful:-
Horror As Art, 9 August 2002
10/10
Author: telegonus from brighton, ma

Not since the heyday of James Whale in the early and mid-thirties had there been anything like this one, a horror art movie. As persuasively acted by Kent Smith and Simon Simon, it concerns a young American architect, romantic if somewhat dry, and his Serbian-born wife, who has an irrational fear of turning into a cat. Since our introduction to her has her standing in front of the lion cage at the zoo, we are inclined to believe her.

The couple's sexual difficulties (we see him sleeping on the sofa) lead the husband to suggest psychotherapy, which turns out to have tragic consequences, as it gets the poor woman too in touch with her feelings. Very little of the horror in this film is shown. Cat People was revolutionary in this respect, and had a huge impact on many films that followed, not just horrors. The picture also put its producer, Val Lewton, on the map, making him the first and last wunderkind of B movies, as he became somewhat of a celebrity from this point on, turning out high quality fright films for the next four years. Never before or since has a B level producer achieved such status.

Director Jacques Tourneur deserves the lion's share of credit for this movie, bringing his light touch, in itself almost feline, to every scene; and in making the story seem far more intelligent than it is. Like Lewton, Tourneur was a gifted man whose natural refinement was both his making as well as his undoing, since a man of his taste and sensibility could never thrive in Hollywood, and could only expect success in fits and starts, as indeed would prove to be the case.

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Really Bad Acting lcherner
My Great Grandmother Was in this movie! XxLiMELiGHTxX
Feel a little bit silly... adam-402
Box Office enriquee4
... great line ... TheAstroman
I didn't like it. koomy
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