"The Catman of Paris" might as well have been called "The Copycat-Man of Paris", because what we have here is a cheap and inconspicuous - but not uninteresting - attempt to imitate the style and success of RKO's genius 1942 classic "Cat People" and its equally genius 1944 sequel "Curse of the Cat People". Those titles happen to be two of my all-time favorite movies, so I - for one - certainly don't mind watching another umpteenth rip-offs.
The film is more than decent, with a plot revolving around a distinguished but controversial young author who just returned to Paris after a long period in a tropical part of the world and finds several difficulties on his path. He loves a different woman than the one he's engaged to, the French government accuses him to exposing secret information via his "fictional" novel, and during his nightly walks around Paris he suffers from blackouts while people are getting ripped to pieces. Might it be that Charles Regnier returned home with a curse and turns into a lethal feline creature at night?
What I love about these ancient black and white movies is that they are short and don't waste any time! "The Catman of Paris" has a running time of barely 65 minutes, but it nevertheless features a talkative plot and a handful of exciting and action-packed moments. The highlights a feisty bar fight sequence and a wild horse carriage chase, which both could have come straight out of a western movie. The denouement isn't too complex to figure out early on already, and the cat-creature transformation sequence is rather weak, but those defaults don't bother me too much in a low-key 40s B-movie. The male cast is unremarkable, but "The Catman of Paris" does feature two strong female characters, with the protagonist's new love-interest Lenore Aubert and particularly his wicked fiance Adele Mara.
The film is more than decent, with a plot revolving around a distinguished but controversial young author who just returned to Paris after a long period in a tropical part of the world and finds several difficulties on his path. He loves a different woman than the one he's engaged to, the French government accuses him to exposing secret information via his "fictional" novel, and during his nightly walks around Paris he suffers from blackouts while people are getting ripped to pieces. Might it be that Charles Regnier returned home with a curse and turns into a lethal feline creature at night?
What I love about these ancient black and white movies is that they are short and don't waste any time! "The Catman of Paris" has a running time of barely 65 minutes, but it nevertheless features a talkative plot and a handful of exciting and action-packed moments. The highlights a feisty bar fight sequence and a wild horse carriage chase, which both could have come straight out of a western movie. The denouement isn't too complex to figure out early on already, and the cat-creature transformation sequence is rather weak, but those defaults don't bother me too much in a low-key 40s B-movie. The male cast is unremarkable, but "The Catman of Paris" does feature two strong female characters, with the protagonist's new love-interest Lenore Aubert and particularly his wicked fiance Adele Mara.