The Leopard Man (1943)

To me, this movie is perfection.

Just perfect...

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Very atmospheric horror/mystery drama. The elegant cinematography captures the old colonial feel of a small New Mexico town. The plot uncoils with quick pacing. In the best horror tradition, the monster (the leopard, that is) shows up right away.Then we get three well-connected murder scenes, each with an eerie set-up and denouement. I can't decide whether the graveyard is scarier than the tunnel under the railway bridge. The nocturnal street scene where the last victim gets it isn't bad either. Maybe the graveyard is the best because Consuelo is stuck there longer than Theresa or Clo Clo are when they're cornered.Also the graveyard has a magical quality. It seems to get bigger and more forlorn the more Consuelo explores it. The fact that she's almost rescued adds to the horror. After her death, Galbraith seems to hear her voice as he finds himself there, brooding. Poor Theresa is similarly walled-in by the confined, tomb-like passageway under the bridge. First the tumbleweed, then eyes appearing out of nothingness... The sense of a lurking menace is skillfully built out of shadow and darkness, the tell-tale castanets, even the sleek blackness of the leopard. The shift from an animal to a human threat is gradual and logical. It changes the form of the danger, but not the substance of it. At first it seems that Jerry wants to believe that the leopard isn't the killer--after the second killing anyway--only because it lessens his sense of guilt and responsibility. It's interesting that Galbraith's attempt to incriminate How-Come is nearly successful. Galbraith knows that How-Come bears some guilt for bringing the leopard to town in the first place. Strangely, Galbraith analyzes himself as he discusses with Jerry the leopard's/psychopath's likely behavior. What seemed ambiguous was Galbraith's confession. He says he "had to do something" after Theresa was killed, because "her body was broken and mangled." His response to her death is to kill two women; did he begin by killing Theresa, and then he couldn't stop killing? Or, what's more likely, he saw her just after she was killed by the leopard, and it excited him to the extent that he 'became' the leopard. The procession adds a macabre element that fittingly helps to trap Galbraith. The only thing that didn't work for me was that most of the characters were forgettable. It's too bad that Theresa was the first victim, she's more interesting than Clo-Clo, Kiki, and Maria put together. Jerry, How-Come, and even Galbraith don't add up to much either. Kiki's and Jerry's mutual "turning soft" at the end wasn't convincing. It seemed that no one cared much about Theresa until the other two victims were killed.An unusual movie, hard to categorize, but easy to enjoy. I wish that more of Cornell Wollrich's stories had been turned into films.

In Val Lewton films, there's always at least one scene that sticks in the mind. 'The Isle of the Dead' features the awakening of a body buried in a casket, in the 'Body Snatchers', we have the unforgettable finale. Here we have several , including the increasingly distraught teenage girl returning home, pounding at the door of her home with her mother heartlessly refusing to let her in – followed by silence, and the spreading of a pool of blood beneath the closed door.Charlie (Abner Biberman) is nice, he likes his big cat. It earns him a good living and he clearly adores it. Alongside the animal itself, he is 'The Leopard Man's most likable character. Dennis O'Keefe is a good leading man. Sad-eyed Jean Brooks plays Kiki Walker. Only the maracas-playing Clo-Clo (Margo) annoys – her jealousy that the cat would steal her thunder and her teasing of the animal causes killings and other unfortunate events to spiral, yet she shows no sign of giving a darn – until she gets her comeuppance, that is.The implication of a man/leopard hybrid is completely absent in the story – in fact the revelation the feline has been dead before some of the killings take place, and that the murderer is a mere human, is a little disappointing (only the trailer implied a lycanthropic plot line). It's true to say this is not Lewton's most effective production: the modern day setting is less suggestive of Gothic flavour than other, period pieces. Having said that, he and Director Jacques Tourneur ensure there are some chilling set-pieces, my favourite being the sombre funeral procession, with murmuring, candle-holding mourners making their way across a barren, windswept studio set, led by black robed lamenters.

"The Leopard Man" tells the story of Jerry Manning (Dennis O'Keefe), a press agent in a small New Mexico town who convinces entertainer Kiki Walker (Jean Brooks) to use a supposedly tame black leopard in a publicity stunt. It gets scared, gets loose, and some time later kills local girl Teresa Delgado (Margaret Landry). That's not the end of things, however, as more unfortunate young women fall victim to what COULD be the leopard, but could also easily be a deranged human.As far as producer Val Lewtons' suggestive, low budget genre films go, this isn't one of the best ones but it definitely has its moments. Ultimately, it's a little too obvious and predictable, and the resolution is kind of weak, but focusing on mystery aspects may have never been a priority for Lewton, director Jacques Tourneur, and screenwriter Ardel Wray (who adapts Cornell Woolrichs' story "Black Alibi"). What we get in their place are some engaging character vignettes and philosophical musing on the way that people are manipulated by fate; how little they may be in control of their actions. As with the rest of the Lewton filmography, the atmosphere is the absolute best component, especially in the beginning quarter which is incredibly frightening. When Teresa is killed by the leopard, we don't see it but hear it on the other side of a door, and see a small pool of blood seep under the door, mute testimony as to what happened.The actors are all earnest and likable, with fine work by O'Keefe, Brooks, and the saucy and sexy Margo in the lead roles. Isabel Jewell (playing the fortune teller), James Bell (as the zoologist and leopard expert Dr. Galbraith), Abner Biberman (as Charlie How-Come, the leopards' owner), and Ben Bard (in the role of the police chief) comprise a solid supporting cast. Brandon Hurst has a nice role as a cemetery gatekeeper.Overall, a good if not great black & white chiller, certainly worth a look for fans of the other Lewton productions.Seven out of 10.

Jerry Manning (Dennis O'Keefe) hires a leopard as a publicity stunt for his girlfriend (Jean Brooks), a singer at a New Mexico night club. When the stunt goes awry, the leopard escapes into the night. Soon women are being mauled to death and it is assumed to be the work of the leopard. But Jerry suspects the killings are the work of a man who wants them to appear like leopard attacks. Is the real killer man or beast? The Leopard Man is the third in producer Val Lewton's series of psychological horror films made at RKO in the 1940s. It's an intelligently written and fascinating film. Often said to be one of the first films to deal with the psychology of serial killers. It's one of the more underrated Lewton thrillers. It's beautifully filmed with gorgeous cinematography from Robert de Grasse and excellent direction from Jacques Tourneur. The sequence where the first girl is stalked by an unseen predator is among the best of any of the Lewton films. The acting is solid, with weak performances from no one. Of course the real star of the film is the atmosphere. One of the trademarks of Val Lewton's films is the moody evocative atmosphere and this film has it in spades. Definitely a smart, handsomely-produced effort that I recommend you check out.