Review of Cat People (1942) by Dalia D — 26 Sep 2007

Cat People is as odd as as The Phantom Lady is typical, though not necessarily in a good way. This time, our young (anti-?) heroine is a pretty, petite Serbian, with a heavy kittenish accent, a beautiful brownstone apartment, and a strange obsession with the panther cage at the zoo. She's standing there, making sketches of the panther, when she meets a young man, a Joe America type, who is instantly fascinated by her. They have a few dates and then marry, without so much as exchanging a kiss. After the wedding, she locks herself in her room and refuses to spend the night with him, saying that she needs a bit of time. There seems to be some mystery relating to her home village involving evil "cat people," who, when embracing their lovers, turn into panthers and shred the unsuspecting limb from limb. Her husband sends her to a psychiatrist, who believes that he can treat her, but she doesn't show up for her second appointment.

Meanwhile, she becomes more and more obsessed with the panther cage, going there in the middle of the night, and one day stealing the key when the zookeeper isn't looking. All this time, too, her husband (probably because he isn't getting what he needs at home) begins spending more and more time at work, particularly with his female coworker, who knows all the details behind the sexless marriage. One night, she is followed home, and, when she gets there, is attacked in her swimming pool in the dark by what appears to be the shadow of a growling panther. When the lights are turned on, the only person there is the young Serbian, but after she leaves, we see that gal Friday's bathrobe has been "torn to ribbons," the way only a powerful set of paws n' claws could do. From here, the tension mounts, because we know that her psychiatrist is in the Serbian's apartment, waiting for her. She comes home and finds him, and he tries to seduce her. Taking her into his arms, we see their shadows on the wall and hear a good bit of growling and hissing. The shadow of a cat attacks the shadow of a man, and though he tries to defend himself with his cane, he is killed. Hubby and his new lover go to find the catty culprit at the zoo's panther cageâ??where else?â??and find her there: a dead body, killed, it seems, by the escaped panther. It's a happy unhappy ending, though, because Joe America is now free to marry Jane America, and they can live their prosperous, hardworking, American lives together. As far as I'm concerned, it was a happy ending because it ended. Believe it or not, the movie then sprung not only a sequel two years later, but also a remake forty years later. That is the power of a good title.