Watching a double feature of two films that are related, even loosely related can be fun and interesting, especially if the films are good. This double feature was somewhat surprising as the second film of the pair takes place before the events of the first film. These films are The Seventh Victim (1943) and Cat People (1942). The connection between the films was brought about because the producer, Val Lewton, of both films, and one of the screenwriters, DeWitt Bodeen, were the same guys, and wanted to make use of Tom Conway, who portrayed the psychiatrist Dr. Louis Judd in Cat People to play the psychiatrist in The Seventh Victim.
The Seventh Victim poster - IMDB
The Seventh Victim follows the story of a young woman, Mary Gibson (Kim Hunter) in a private boarding school who is informed that her older, and very successful, elder sister, Jacqueline Gibson (Jean Brooks) has gone missing. Mary heads to New York to find her sister. This leads to quite a bit of intrigue that is at times a combination of weird and disjointed – weird because it is a bit disjointed. The film falls into film noir, and has a lot of suspenseful scenes, including some scenes that are unsettling for the central character, Mary, as she pursues her quest.
Although my Bonnie Bride and I both enjoyed the film, it has a very unexpected ending, parts of which did not work well for me, and may be a bit unsettling in the closing scene. I am trying not to provide spoilers here, so I am being deliberately vague on that point.
Cat People poster - IMDB
Cat People is a much better film as it follows the central characters more closely and is substantially less convoluted. Irena Dubrovna (Simone Simon) meets Oliver Reed (Kent Smith) in a zoo while she is sketching a black panther. They start dating, fall in love, and marry. However, the marriage is not all that Oliver hoped it would be as Irena seems to think she is living under a curse where she will turn into a panther and kill anyone whom she gets emotionally entangled with. The psychiatrist Louis Judd steps in to help Irena overcome this belief, asserting it is all in her head, built up from the legends of her people in Serbia.
Irena Dubrovna (Simone Simon) - IMDB
This film is a classic in that it hits all the right notes to be a great, classic film. The filming, and just as importantly, the lighting goes a long way to convey the unnatural threats that arise to Oliver and his co-worker Alice Moore (Jane Randolph).
Alice and Oliver at work - IMDB
Being a black and white film adds a lot of opportunity for the lighting to be used in a way to create deep shadows that conveys a sense of foreboding and evil intent.
Interestingly enough, back in the ‘80s there was a remake of Cat People. The remake is a hardcore horror film, being more graphically bloody and involving more background on the Cat People, fleshing out the story of who they are a bit more, otherwise Cat People (1982) has very few similarities to the original film from 1942, but it is worth watching.
Of the two films, my Bonnie Bride and I agreed that Cat People was the better film, however both are worth watching if you have the time and inclination. If you have to choose only one of these films, though, go with Cat People.
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