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The Curse of the Cat People 1944 |
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Wise was working successfully at RKO as an editor when he was called in by producers Val Lewton and Sid Rogell to finish CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE, a film that had fallen terribly behind schedule. Previously, Wise had directed scenes for films which he had edited, but this was the first time he would officially be at the helm of a movie.
"Val had been a story editor for David Selznick and an author before that. RKO brought him in to produce horror films with a whole new concept: the psychological horror film, where you hear noises and see shadows rather than the actual thing—no monsters, no ghosts. Val's great thesis in those days was that the greatest fear is the fear of the unknown."* No monsters no ghouls, but viewers of the film might wonder where the cats are in a film titled CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE. Lewton's 1942 movie CAT PEOPLE proved to RKO that a psychological thriller could be well-received. Exploiting that film's popularity, the studio titled the 1944 film CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE and hired the film's stars to reprise their roles. Although the characters were the same in both pictures, CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE was more of a fantasy than horror film and did not include the transformation of humans into cats; in fact, there were barely any cats in the movie at all. |
Six-year old Amy Reed inhabits
a fantasy world in which
butterflies are her friends. Amy's fancy troubles her
father, Oliver Reed, because
her behavior reminds him of his first wife Irena, whose madness
drove her to
death. After Oliver discovers that Amy has placed the invitations
to her
birthday party in a "magic tree" mailbox, he asks her to promise
to make
friends with the neighborhood children. Amy's attempt at friendliness
is
spurned by the children, who run away from her. Amy follows
them, and as she
pauses at the gate of an old house, an old woman's voice beckons
her into the
 garden. From the window, the woman drops a ring wrapped
in a handkerchief.
Amy takes the ring, but the handkerchief is snatched from her
by Barbara
Farren, the old woman's sinister daughter. When Amy returns
home and tells
her father about the voice from the window, he refuses to believe
her. Alice
Reed, Amy's mother, disagrees with his assessment of their daughter,
and the
two argue. While playing in the garden one afternoon,
Amy wishes for a
friend. Suddenly, leaves begin to fall from the trees,
the light glistens
and Amy begins to run and play with her imaginary friend.
That night, Alice
tells Amy that she must return the ring, and the next day, the
little girl
goes to the Farren house. There she meets Julia Farren, Barbara's
demented
mother, who insists that her daughter is dead and that Barbara
is a spy. As
the theatrical Julia terrifies Amy with the story of the headless
horseman,
Edward, the Reeds' servant, arrives to take the little girl
home. That
night, Amy has a nightmare about the headless horseman and calls
to her
friend to comfort her. Summoned by Amy's call, a gentle
wind followed by a
shadow enters the room. The next morning, Amy finds an old photo
of Irena in
a desk drawer, and when she goes into the garden and calls to
her friend,
Irena appears. Fall passes into winter, and on Christmas
Eve, Amy slips out
of the house to present Irena with her gift. Amy also
has a gift for Julia,
who delights in the little girl's visit, while denouncing her
own daughter.
Later, Amy finds a photo of Oliver and Irena and announces that
the woman in
the picture is her friend. Alarmed, Oliver accompanies
Amy to the garden and
tells her to summon her friend. When Amy insists that
Irena is standing
under a tree, Oliver punishes the little girl. As Amy,
chastened, sobs in
her room, Irena appears and tells her that she must leave forever.
After
bidding Amy farewell, Irena disappears into the shadows.
Looking for Irena,
Amy sneaks out of the house and wanders into the woods just
as snow begins to
fall. Amy's teacher, Miss Callahan, has been visiting
the family and
disagrees with Oliver's punishment of his daughter, urging him
instead to
become the little girl's friend. When Oliver goes to Amy's
room to
apologize, he discovers that she is missing, and after he calls
the police,
they begin to search the woods. Meanwhile, Amy, who is
caught in a raging
blizzard, remembers the story of the headless horseman and hears
hoofbeats in
the distance. Amy cringes in fear as the sound of hoofbeats
turns into the
rattling of an old car, sending the little girl scurrying to
the Farren house
for refuge. Barbara has vowed to kill Amy if she returns
to the house, and
consequently, when Amy knocks at the door, Julia tries to hide
her upstairs,
but collapses and dies on the staircase. Suddenly appearing
at the foot of
the stairs, Barbara menacingly advances toward Amy until the
little girl
calls for her friend. In Amy's eyes, the image of Barbara
is replaced with
that of Irena, and the child embraces her antagonist.
Amy's embrace disarms
Barbara, who hugs the child. At that moment, Oliver and
the police arrive at
the house, and Oliver promises to be Amy's friend and accept
her imaginary
companions. No longer needed, Irena disappears.
From the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
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 70 min. RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.;
Distributed by: RKO Radio Pictures;
Directed by: Robert Wise;
Produced by: Val Lewton;
Screenplay by: DeWitt Bodeen;
Edited by: J. R. Whittredge;
Director of Photography: Nicholas Musuraca;
Music by: Roy Webb;
Production Design by: Albert S. D'Agostino & Walter E. Keller;
Sound by: RCA Sound System;
Gowns by: Edward Stevenson;
Make-up by: Mel Berns; .
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Simone Simon (Irena), Kent Smith (Oliver
Reed), Jane
Randolph (Alice Reed), Ann Carter (Amy Reed),
Eve March (Miss Callahan), Julia Dean (Julia Farren), Elizabeth
Russell (Barbara
Farren), Erford Gage (Captain of the state troopers),
Sir Lancelot
(Edward), Joel Davis (Donald), Juanita Alvarez
(Lois),
Charley Bates (Jack), Gloria Donovan (Child),
Ginny Wren
(Child), Linda Ann Bieber (Child), Sarah Selby
(Miss
Plunkett), and Mel Sternlight (State trooper).
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