In his review of The Curse of the Cat People, the late critic James Agee wrote that the film captured “the poetry and danger of childhood,” and, indeed, considering that it was billed as a sequel to Cat People, the two films could not have been more different.
Foregoing the horror touchstones of its predecessor, Curse of the Cat People is far from a genre film, instead offering a disturbing fairy tale, a sensitive childhood fantasy couched in a ghost story.
Produced by Val Lewton, and co-directed (also a rarity) by Gunther von Fritsch and Robert Wise, it tells a story about a young girl who befriends the ghost of her father’s deceased wife, a Serbian fashion designer who had transformed from a human being into a cat.
While it includes the 1942 film’s same characters, again played Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Jane Randolph, and Ann Carter. the plot is only tangentially related to its predecessor.
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Theatrical release poster
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After the death of his wife, Irena Dubrovna, engineer Oliver Reed remarries to his former co-worker, Alice Moore. The couple now have a daughter, age 6, Amy, and reside in Tarrytown, New York.
Oliver worries about Amy’s introversion and predilection to fantasy–her behavior reminds him of Irena, whose madness drove her to death. Urged by her parents, Amy attempts to make friends with the neighborhood children, but they spurn her.
Amy pauses in front of a large house, which the other children claim is inhabited by a witch. An elderly woman’s voice beckons Amy from a second-floor window, and she follows. From the window, the woman drops a handkerchief and a ring. Amy takes it, though the hankie is promptly snatched from her by Barbara Farren, the elderly woman’s rejected daughter.
The Reeds’ butler, Edward, tells Amy the ring appears to be a “wishing ring” and suggests she make a wish to it. Amy wishes simply for a friend. Moments later, a wind encircles her, and she begins frolicking with what Oliver and Edward observe as an imaginary friend.
Amy finds a photo of Irena, whom she identifies as her mysterious friend. She wanders outside, where she is met by Irena’s ghost, and the two play together in the garden.
Caught in a blizzard, she seeks shelter at the Farren home. Frightened, Amy invokes Irena, who superimposes herself. Moments later, Oliver and police arrive at the house and take Amy back home.
In the end, Oliver accepts his daughter’s imaginary companions, and Irena disappears.
As was typical with Lewton’s films, the tight budget demanded that sets be re-purposed from other RKO productions, in this case those of Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), which had also provided sets for Cat People.
The film was marketed as a sequel to Cat People (1942) and had four of the same actors (three of whom played the same characters), but Curse of the Cat People has little in common with the earlier film.
RKO studio executives wanted to cash in on the success of the first film and insisted on the title, despite producer Val Lewton’s desire to change it to “Amy and Her Friend.”
Lewton incorporated details from his own childhood. He also grew up not far from Tarrytown, where the story is set, and was fond of ghost stories such as “The Headless Horseman”; Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is cited in the movie.
Premiering in February 1944, it was often screened as a double bill with Cat People (1942).
The reputation of the film has grown since its initial release.
Cast
Simone Simon as the ghost of Irena Dubrovna
Kent Smith as Oliver Reed
Jane Randolph as Alice Reed
Ann Carter as Amy Reed
Eve March as Miss Callahan
Julia Dean as Julia Farren
Elizabeth Russell as Barbara Farren
Erford Gage as Police Captain
Sir Lancelot as Edward
Credits
Directed by Robert Wise and Gunther von Fritsch
Written by DeWitt Bodeen; Val Lewton (uncredited)
Produced by Val Lewton
Cinematography Nicholas Musuraca
Edited by J.R. Whittredge
Music by Roy Webb
Distributed by RKO Radio Pictures
Release date: March 2, 1944
Running time: 70 minutes
Budget $212,000
