Cat Girl (1957)

This is How Movies Should Be Made

Am I Missing Something?

A Brilliant Conflict

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

A disturbed young woman (future genre stalwart Barbara Shelley) grudgingly accepts her feline legacy. Imitation CAT PEOPLE (1942) that attempts to have its cake and eat it too: just as the preliminary backdrop of a creaky mansion is traded for an urban milieu during the film's second half, a tangible menace – a pet leopard who feasts on its willing master (Shelley's batty uncle)! – is offset throughout by bouts of cod psychology – courtesy of neglected wife Shelley's long-suffering suitor of a medico. Not too badly done as these things go, but the lack of originality hurts the overall effort. While the running-time on IMDb is given at 76 minutes (and downloading websites seem to offer both 69 and 72-minute versions), the copy I watched – acquired off "You Tube" – ran for only 65 minutes, and even featured inordinately long transitions between scenes!

Out of Insignia Films, Cat Girl is a cheap British variant on Jacques Tourneur's Cat People from 15 years earlier. Plot basically finds Barbara Shelley as Leonora Brandt, a woman seemingly the victim of a family curse that turns her into a killer Leopard when disturbed emotionally. Naturally her psychiatrist Dr. Brian Marlowe (Robert Ayres) is positive that she's suffering mental illness, this in spite of the evidence suggesting otherwise. As the bodies begin to pile up and Dr. Marlowe takes Leonora under his wing, something is going to give come the finale.Directed by Alfred Shaughnessy and photographed by Peter Hennessy, it's a picture that doesn't lack for moody atmosphere. The Brandt family home is a creepy looking place, a sort of rectory type establishment, this forms the backdrop for the first half of the piece as it dallies in old dark house conventions. With barmy uncle and pessimistic housekeeper thrown in for good measure. Then it's a switch to a sanitarium in preparation for the tense finale that takes place out on the dank and dimly lighted streets.Some decision making by the doctor is hard to swallow, as is his approach to mental illness come to think of it, while there's some poor acting away from future Hammer Horror darling Shelley, but it does well with its minimal budget funding. Yes it makes you appreciate even more the brilliance of Tourneur and Musuraca back in 1942, yet there's a fun time to be had with this one if accepting it on its own modest eerie terms. 6/10

This early role for Barbara Shelley (in fact, her first in Britain after working in Italy), was made when she was 24 years old, and it's certainly safe to say that she made a stunning debut in 1957's "Cat Girl." While blondes and brunettes get most of the attention (I'll always cherish Yutte Stensgaard), the lovely auburn-haired actress with the deep voice always exuded intelligence as well as vulnerability (one such example being 1960's "Village of the Damned," in which her screen time was much less than her character's husband, George Sanders). She is the sole reason for viewing this drab update of "Cat People," and is seen to great advantage throughout (it would be difficult to fathom if her beauty ever found a better showcase). Her character apparently sleeps in the nude, and we are exposed to her luscious bare back when she is awakened (also exposed 8 years later in 1965's "Rasputin-The Mad Monk"). The ravishing gown she wears during most of the film is a stunning strapless wonder (I don't see what held that dress up, but I'd sure like to). All in all, proof positive that Barbara Shelley, in a poorly written role that would defeat most actresses, rises above her material and makes the film consistently watchable, a real test of star power, which she would find soon enough at Hammer studios for the duration of the 1960s.

The 1942 Val Lewton film, CAT PEOPLE, is considered by man to be a classic. Without really showing but implying, the film tells a compelling story of a strange lady who swears she is afflicted with a curse that turns her into a killing cat. When she is jealous, in particular, she is becomes this cat and kills. Even though she has a loving and caring husband, when she thinks he's being unfaithful, she strikes.In most ways, THE CAT GIRL is CAT PEOPLE with the plot rearranged just a bit. In THE CAT GIRL, a lady becomes a leopard AND controls a killing leopard--whenever she wills it or becomes jealous. In this film, she really does have LOTS of reason to doubt her husband's faithfulness and he's one of the first to be torn apart by the leopard. Like CAT PEOPLE, the deaths might just be the result of a runaway big cat and the viewer isn't sure if the leading lady really is cursed or just crazy! And, because of this strange conviction, both ladies are treated by well-meaning therapists bent on ridding her of this obsession.As I pointed out, the plots have a lot of similarity. The biggest differences are that THE CAT GIRL is less subtle. Its showing her as she sees her hands turn to silly paws and the fuzzy image of her as a cat is pretty silly and would have been better had these scenes not been used. That is the big strength of CAT PEOPLE--such silly gimmicks and costuming isn't used--the idea is that more is less and that is definitely true. Also, CAT PEOPLE is a better film because its main character, Simon Simone, was likable and hated her curse--whereas in this film, the lady was a selfish and nasty piece of work--making it harder to connect or care about her. On top of all this, THE CAT GIRL certainly lacks the originality and freshness of CAT PEOPLE.Despite its shortcomings, is this film worth seeing? Robert Ayres' character, Dr. Marlow, certainly isn't great. He lacks conviction and believability--being rather controlled and who would believe that a psychiatrist would treat an old flame--particularly after she tells him she loves him and wants him. Only an idiot would continue treating such a person themselves. This is a big problem with the plot. On the other hand, the film generally does a good job of setting the mood and is eerie. So, overall I'd say that this is just a mediocre copy of the original with nothing over the first film. However, if you just couldn't get enough of CAT PEOPLE and insist on seeing this sort of thing again, they by all means it's worth watching.