Movies - The Leopard Man

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	Movies - The Leopard Man

The Leopard Man is a 1943 horror movie directed by Jacques Tourneur based on book "Black Alibi" by Cornell Woolrich.

Jerry Manning hires a leopard as a publicity stunt for his night-club performing girlfriend, Kiki. Her rival, Clo-Clo at the New Mexican club, not wanting to be upstaged, startles the animal and it escapes the club into the dark night. Now people are beginning to be found mauled to death. Manning and his girlfriend, guilty about the monster they unleashed, try to help hunt down the giant cat. One particular 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.

Trivia

The black leopard was the same one used in Cat People
, another Val Lewton-produced film.

Critical reaction

Most reviews of the film are positive, but also noting it's not as challenging or thematically dense as 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."

Cast

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

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for The Leopard Man ]

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