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Val Lewton’s The Leopard Man (1943)
Dennis O’Keefe and company are stalked by a killer in the 1943 horror film The Leopard Man. Margo, Jean Brooks and Isabel Jewell also appear.
Window card image courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries
Director Jacques Tourneur and RKO Radio Pictures delivered the offbeat horror film The Leopard Man to movie theaters in 1943. Dennis O’Keefe and Jean Brooks play the nightclub-crossed lovers, with Margo and Isabel Jewell also along for the New Mexico safari.
Cornell Woolrich’s Black Alibi Novel
The Leopard Man is based on the 1942 novel Black Alibi by Cornell Woolrich (1903-1968). Woolrich, who also wrote under the pseudonyms William Irish and George Hopley, was the author of the 1942 short story “It Had to Be Murder,” which Alfred Hitchcock later filmed as Rear Window (1954).
Val Lewton Produces The Leopard Man
Val Lewton produced the Leopard Man for RKO Radio Pictures Inc. Ardel Wray and Edward Dein wrote the screenplay and Jacques Tourneur (Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie, Out of the Past) directed. Roy Webb created the eerie music score, with Robert de Grasse as cinematographer and Mark Robson as film editor.
The Leopard Man Cast
Dennis O’Keefe (Jerry Manning) and Margo (Clo-Clo) head the cast. Other players include Jean Brooks (Kiki Walker), Isabel Jewell (Maria), James Bell (Dr. Galbraith), Margaret Landry (Teresa Delgado), Abner Biberman (Charlie How-Come), Tula Parma (Consuelo Contreras), Ben Bard (Police Chief Roblos), Russell Wade (Man in Car), Jacqueline deWit (Helene), John Dilson (Coroner) and Marguerita Sylva (Marta).
Playing the black leopard in the film is Dynamite, who had earned his claws a year earlier via his film debut in Cat People (1942).
The Leopard Man Filmed in California
Budgeted at $150,000, The Leopard Man was filmed in four weeks at RKO Studios in Culver City, California, from February to March 1943. Scenarist Ardel Wray, who had been involved in RKO’s Young Writers’ Project, was dispatched to New Mexico prior to filming. Here she took a number of photographs which were later incorporated into set designs by RKO’s talented art department.
The Leopard Man: Bizarre Horror Movie
Press agent Jerry Manning attempts to liven up girlfriend Kiki Walker’s nightclub act at El Pueblo. In order to neutralize the competition, Manning rents a leopard from Indian Charlie How-Come, with the leashed animal later accompanying Kiki on stage. Frightened by fellow performer Clo-Clo’s castanets, the leopard bolts and escapes into the dark night.
When young Teresa Delgado is murdered outside her door, the residents of her small New Mexico town assume the escaped leopard was the killer. Police Chief Roblos organizes a posse, hoping to hunt down the elusive predator.
The next victim is Consuelo Contreras, who journeys to the cemetery to meet her lover. The young aristocratic Consuelo is found mauled to death, heightening the town’s fear.
Jerry Manning develops a theory that the killer may be human, pointing an accusatory finger at Charlie. Meanwhile, the Latin performer Clo-Clo becomes the latest victim. A desperate Chief Roblos sends for the state’s hunter, who he hopes will finally track down the leopard and kill it.
Release, Reviews
The Leopard Man was released on May 8, 1943.
“…It’s a series of chases and murders, with a tame leopard blamed for the latter until strange happenings are pinned on one of the players. It’s all confusion, in fact too much for an audience to follow,” observed Variety.
Film Analysis: The Leopard Man Final Lewton-Tourneur Movie
The Leopard Man, the third and final Val Lewton-Jacques Tourneur collaboration (preceded by Cat People and I Walked with a Zombie), is one of the more bizarre movies to come out of the war years. But for anyone who finds the film version a tad wild, take a peek at Cornell Woolrich’s Black Alibi, the novel on which the movie is based. Woolrich’s killer, it turns out, is indeed human, a South American police inspector who masquerades in animal parts as he terrorizes a large city.
Despite its low budget, The Leopard Man boasts strong production values. Jacques Tourneur proves himself to be a skilled director, ably using shadow and light to convey the terror of a stalking predator.
One of the movie’s more gruesome scenes takes place when young Judy Garland lookalike Margaret Landry is sent by her mother to fetch some cornmeal. The girl is attacked just outside her house, screaming in terror as her mother and brother struggle to unlock the heavy wooden door. Blood is then seen oozing through the crack, signifying the girl’s demise.
The Leopard Man Movie Notes, Memorabilia, DVD
- Deceased cast members include Dennis O’Keefe (1908-1968), Margo (1917-1985), Jean Brooks (1915-1963), Isabel Jewell (1907-1972), James Bell (1891-1973), Margaret Landry (1922-2005) and Abner Biberman (1909-1977).
- Auction results for The Leopard Man movie memorabilia, courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries, Dallas, Texas: one sheet poster ($5,676.25), insert poster ($836.50), window card ($431.25), lot of seven 8×10 publicity stills ($65.73), title lobby card ($836.50), 1952 reissue one sheet poster ($49).
- On DVD: The Val Lewton Horror Collection (Turner, 2005).
“SHEER TERROR Strikes The Victims Of….The MANIAC Who Kills Like A Cat!,” the movie’s trailer screams.
And friends, they ain’t kidding…
