The Leopard Man

Infobox_Film
name = The Leopard Man


image_size = 215px
caption = theatrical poster
producer = Val Lewton
director = Jacques Tourneur
writer = Cornell Woolrich "(novel)"
Ardel Wray
Edward Dein
starring = Dennis O'Keefe
Margo
Jean Brooks
music = Roy Webb
cinematography = Robert De Grasse
editing = Mark Robson
distributor = RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
released = May 8, fy|1943 "(US)"
runtime = 66 minutes
country = FilmUS
language = English
budget =
gross =
imdb_id = 0036104

"The Leopard Man" (fy|1943) is a horror movie directed by Jacques Tourneur based on the book "Black Alibi" by Cornell Woolrich. The film is one of the first American movies to attempt even a remotely realistic portrayal of a serial killer (although that term wasn't in use at the time). [Preston, Scott. "The Strange Pleasure of The Leopard Man: Gender, Genre, and Authorship in a Val Lewton Thriller", "CineAction" #71, May 2007]

Plot summary

The story, set in New Mexico, begins as Jerry Manning hires a leopard as a publicity stunt for his night-club performing girlfriend, Kiki. Her rival at the club, Clo-Clo, not wanting to be upstaged, startles the animal and it escapes the club into the dark night. Soon people are being found mauled to death. Manning and his girlfriend, guilty about the monster they unleashed, try to help hunt down the giant cat. A particularly haunting scene involves a young girl who, on returning from an errand to a local store for corn meal, is mauled by the cat after her mother won't let her in the house. Upon hearing the screams, the mother clamors to open the door as dark blood seeps under the door.

Production details

The film was made on a budget of $150,000.

The same black leopard (named "Dynamite"), used in "Cat People", another Val Lewton-produced film, was brought back for this film.

Cast

*Dennis O'Keefe as Jerry Manning
*Margo as Clo-Clo
*Jean Brooks as Kiki Walker
*Isabel Jewell as Maria
*Marguerite Sylva as Marta

Critical reaction

Most reviews of the film are positive, while noting that it is less challenging or thematically dense than the other Lewton/Tourneur films such as "Cat People".

TV Guide's review of the film praises the low budget effort: "this film, along with Lewton and Tourneur's other collaborations, proves once again that money is not the most essential element in good filmmaking. Robert de Grasse's gorgeously fluid camerawork creates the absolutely chilling mood of this film."

Turner Classic Movies review of the film also notes the $150,000-budgeted film looked more expensive on screen: "Much credit for the Lewton/Tourneur successes is owed to the talented craftsmen of RKO -- under the guidance of cinematographer Robert de Grasse and art directors Albert D'Agostino and Walter Keller -- who were adept at transforming cheap underlit sets into the stuff of nightmares, where every darkened nook housed a potential menace."

References

Notes

ources

*Val Lewton Horror Collection DVD documentary 2005

External links

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* [http://web.archive.org/http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze4b4rc/content/leopard.htm Excerpted from Jacques Tourneur: The Cinema of Nightfall]
* [http://www.turnerclassicmovies.com/ThisMonth/Article/0,,444%7C1222%7C448,00.html Turner Classic Movies review]
* [http://sfy.ru/sfy.html?script=leopard_man Screenplay for film by Ardel Wray and Edward Dein]