The Curse of the Cat People

Director: Robert Wise, Gunther V. Fritsch, Gunther Von Fritsch Robert Wise

Overview

Officially a sequel to Val Lewton's psychological-horror classic Cat People (1942), Curse of the Cat People is in fact an engrossing and oftimes charming fantasy, told from a child's point of view. Six-year-old Ann Carter plays Amy Reed, the lonely daughter of eternally preoccupied Oliver Reed (Kent Smith). Amy's vivid imagination and inability to get along with her schoolmates leads Oliver to worry that the girl will start exhibiting the psychopathic tendencies of his long-deceased first wife Irena (Simone Simon), the obsessive "Cat Woman" in the earlier film. Oliver's second wife Alice (Jane Randolph) and Amy's sympathetic schoolteacher (Eve March) try to help, but Amy prefers the company of elderly Julia Farren (Julia Dean), a harmlessly crazy ex-actress who lives in a forbidding mansion with her neurotic daughter Barbara (Elizabeth Russell). Insanely jealous of Amy, Barbara ultimately tries to do the girl harm, but she is thwarted in this effort by the ghost of Irena, Amy's self-appointed guardian angel. Advertised as a horror picture, Curse of the Cat People has only one genuine "shock" scene; otherwise, the most frightening moment in the film is Julia Farren's spirited rendition of "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere." Saddled with a lurid title, producer Lewton and screenwriter DeWitt Bodeen chose to offer a fascinating glimpse into the wonderfully boundless realm of a child's imagination, and in this respect the film is an unqualified success.

Product Details

Release Date:	06/26/2018
UPC:	0826663187809
Original Release:	1944
Rating:	NR
Source:	Shout Factory
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[B&W]
Language:	English
Time:	1:10:00
Sales rank:	17,594

Special Features

New Audio Commentary with Author/Historian Steve Haberman ; Audio Commentary with Historian Greg Mank, with Audio Interview excerpts with actress Simone Simon; Still Gallery

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Simone Simon	Ghost of Irena
Jane Randolph	Alice Reed
Ann Carter	Amy Reed
Eve March	Miss Callahan
Julia Dean	Julia Farren
Elizabeth Russell	Barbara Farren
Erford Gage	Police Captain
Sir Lancelot	Edward
Nita Hunter	Caroler Lois Huggins
Sarah Selby	Caroler Miss Plumett
Kent Smith	Oliver Reed
Charley Bates	Jack
Roy Webb	Composer

Technical Credits

DeWitt Bodeen

Robert Wise	Director
Gunther V. Fritsch	Director
DeWitt Bodeen	Screenwriter
Val Lewton	Producer
Gunther Von Fritsch	Director