...producer's influential thrillers be viewed together as an oeuvre. While a few of the films have stood the test of time, recognized as classics for decades, others have been paid little notice, and a few entirely forgotten. What follows is a close look one of the latter, 1943's The Leopard Man, adapted from the great pulp novelist Cornell Woolrich's Black Alibi. (1)

This story of the hunt for a disturbed serial killer who uses a cat's claw as his weapon of choice was the third film produced by the unit, following their masterpieces Cat People (1942) and I Walked with a Zombie (1942). Jacques Tourneur, who directed all three, would go on to make the film noir classic Out of the Past (1947). Auteur studies of the unit's films, whether focused on Lewton or Tourneur, normally mention The Leopard Man only in passing; Cat People and Zombie are the great works and Leopard was a misfire. Three books published on Val Lewton share a dismissive attitude toward the film. The only sustained analysis in English is in Chris Fujiwara's book, Jacques Tourneur: The Cinema of Nightfall. (2) While it makes for an excellent starting point, there is much more to say about this flawed yet fascinating work.

I agree with the consensus that Leopard lacks the transcendent poetic quality of its two predecessors. Yet, there are a number of reasons why it deserves a closer look. A proper examination does not exist of the film's source material and the team's work of adaptation. Woolrich remains to this day an underappreciated figure in America literature, arguably contributing more material to film, radio and television than did any other pulp writer of his generation. His best novels of the 1940s, of which Black Alibi is one, can easily stand alongside those of his more celebrated contemporaries. Leopard also marks a number of firsts. The fusion of Woolrich, Lewton and Tourneur make the film arguably the first noir-horror hybrid, entangling generic, stylistic and thematic elements that remain in place in cinema to this day. Additionally, the rise of the serial killer as a significant figure in American popular culture lends importance to what is perhaps the first realistic representation of this modern monster in American movies.

It is the unique relays between authorship, genre and 1940s gender issues that animate this modest thriller, priming it for close study. My analysis of The Leopard Man will concentrate on three areas: affect, theme, and character. In all of these, the film has clear intentions, but its success with each is limited. At the level of affect, Lewton and his team have set out to create an atmosphere of terror and suspense, much as they had so successfully done with their first two attempts at the horror genre. In its best moments, the film equals its predecessors for nail-biting tension and frights. Yet, its unique approach in this area limits its ability to develop a narrative as thematically rich as those earlier works. The film's central theme of doomed fortune is both a legitimate poetic approach to sadness and loss, and a disturbing evasion of the real social issues of gender and violence tied to its representations. The tension between allegory and history plays out in the development of the story's central characters: Jerry Manning, the protagonist/investigator; Clo-Clo, the doomed dancer; and, Dr. Galbraith, the serial killer.

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By comparing the film to its source novel by Woolrich, considering its relationship to horror and film noir, and reflecting on its representation of men and women, I hope to arrive at a better understanding of its ideological tensions as well as an appreciation for the film's strengths in spite of its weaknesses.

"An entrance they'll never forget"

The Leopard Man is set in an unnamed city in the American Southwest in the present day. Jerry Manning/Dennis O'Keefe is a publicity agent for his girlfriend Kiki Walker/Jean Brooks, a performer who is looking for an edge over her competition on the nightclub circuit. Manning arrives in the opening scene with his latest scheme: he has rented a tame black leopard from a local and he wants Kiki to walk it on a leash in public as a publicity stunt. With some persuasion, she agrees. Kiki and her new "pet" waltz into the club in the middle of her rival performer Clo-Clo's act. In retaliation, Clo-Clo intentionally startles the edgy cat and it gets off its leash and flees into the night. As the hunt for the escaped animal carries on, young Theresa Delgado, is shooed out the door by her mother to fetch cornmeal for her father's dinner, despite the girl's fears that the leopard might attack. Her worst nightmare comes true.

With Kiki and Manning absolved of responsibility by the police chief, a posse is formed to continue the hunt for the cat. Manning joins the search and meets Galbraith/James Ball, a former professor of zoology who is now curator of the local museum. Meanwhile, Consuelo Contreras, a beautiful young upper-class girl, heads out ostensibly to pay a visit to her father's grave. In fact, she has a clandestine meeting with her boyfriend planned. She arrives at the cemetery gates near closing time and promises not to stay too long. Inside, she cannot find her boyfriend Raoul at their usual rendezvous location and decides to sit and wait a bit. When she realizes it is getting dark, it is too late. The gates have closed and she is trapped inside alone. Soon, she meets the same fate as Theresa Delgado.

The next morning at the crime scene, Manning does not like what he sees and begins to wonder if a man, not a cat, is behind this second death. The killer seems to be using a cat's claw to mask his crimes and misdirect police. Manning talks his theory over with the chief of police and his new friend Galbraith but nobody finds it compelling. Clo-Clo, Kiki's rival performer is the next victim. At the club that evening, she meets a rich gentleman who gives her $100 but she loses it on the way home and goes back into the dark streets to retrace her steps. The next day, examining Clo-Clo's body, Manning is convinced his theory is correct. A series of clues leads him to suspect Galbraith. He and Kiki concoct a plan to flush out the murderer. She risks her life to lure Galbraith into attacking her while Manning lies in wait with Raoul. When caught, Galbraith admits his crimes but claims that he does not know how to control his strange impulse to kill. Raoul shoots him before he can say anymore.

"In the darkness, the eyes full of fear"

LEWTON'S AESTHETICS OF TERROR

Val Lewton told a story of how he went from his position as assistant to David Selznick to producer of horror films at RKO. "Someone told them I had written horrible novels, they mistook the word 'horrible' for 'horror' and I got the job", he said. The anecdote, true or not, stands...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



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