To Carcass Me Is To Tempt Death!
Cat Girl (1957) is a B&W pastiche of every ‘Old Dark House’ story ever filmed and Val Lewton’s, The Cat People (1942), with the poster’s tag line referring directly back to that film. Directed by Alfred Shaughnessy, it has a suitably dark and spooky atmosphere, but it is most notable for the sharp performance by Barbara Shelley who realistically expresses both the fear and carnal bloodlust that results when her family curse consumes her.
Barbara Shelley, John Lee, Patricia Webster, and Jack May
Leonora Johnson (Barbara Shelley) returns to her family’s ancestral home at the request of her uncle Edmund Brant (noted Shakespearean actor, Ernest Milton) to discuss her future inheritance, not knowing that it is actually the 700 year-old Brant curse. In tow, Leonora has brought along her calculating husband, Richard (Jack May) and their friends, perpetually drunk Allen (John Lee) and his wife, Cathy (Patricia Webster), who is in an on-going affair with Richard.
But, even before we arrive at the house, there are signs the Leonora may not be completely stable. Stopping at a pub, she is almost catatonic with the fear of seeing her uncle again. When she meets up with an old flame, hang dog psychiatrist, Brian Marlowe (Robert Ayres), it’s clear that’s she’s still carrying an overly obsessive torch for him. And, once at the house, she orders the elderly and infirmed servant, Anna (Lilly Kann), to carry their bags up to their rooms and fetch them coffee. Leonora! Anna she needs a cane to get around! Don’t be such a jerk! Well, we can chalk that up to nerves, I guess….
Ernest Milton and Barbara Shelley
Later that night, the sleeping-in-the-nude Leonora (the camera lingers lovingly on her bare back and shoulders) is woken up and summoned to her uncle’s sanctum sanctorum to learn the family secret; that the head of the family has been cursed with werewolfism, albeit of an odd sort where their spirit takes over a leopard that carries out proxy killings at its master’s command. When Leonora’s spirit possesses the cat, she undergoes a subtle, but effective transformation –her eyebrows become pointed and she acquires a more glamorous make-up designed to make her eyes look more cat-like. But, the best effect is how Shelley can convey a feral blood-thirst by simply contorting her face and hands.
Initially appalled by her uncle’s claims, Leonora shows an instant affinity for the leopard. Taking up the ancient curse allows Leonora to shed her prim, uptight skin and give in to her raging hatred for her controlling uncle and unfaithful husband, and her lust for Brian. Uncle and husband are soon found clawed to pieces by some large beast, and when the police bring in Brian The Shrink to deal with Leonora’s seemingly irrational claim that she killed them both, we know that she will stop at nothing to reclaim her old lover. His pretty blonde wife, the canary-like, Dorothy (Kay Kallard), had better not perch too close to Leonora!
Barbara Shelley as Cat Girl!
Like the best Femme Fatale’s, Leonora is a provocative, empowered protagonist who is both hero and villain in her own narrative. Hammer Films would exploit this motif in many of their future horror films while never failing to showcase an array of Technicolor bosoms. Leonora’s ‘curse’ can been seen as a liberation from her repressed 1950’s lifestyle as she finally gives herself permission to take control of her life and eliminate all of the obstacles standing in her way. “I am Woman. Hear my leopard roar!” Unfortunately, she takes the ‘eliminate’ part literally!
Robert Ayres and Barbara Shelley look for a cigarette
Brian tries to cleanse Leonora of her crazy belief by burning her uncle’s old books (was I the only one to wince at the thought of 700 year-old manuscripts being so callously destroyed?). This leads to a heated physical confrontation between the two of them, followed by a chest-heaving, mussed up hair, post-coitus-like reconciliation in front of a burning fireplace that was apparently too subtle for the British censors, but not the astute viewer.
After Brian commits Leonora to a sanitarium the film shifts into high(er) gear. The first night sees Leonora’s hands seemingly turn into maybe real claws (a nice touch!) and for a split second, a fuzzy, possible transformation into a were-cat, after which she proceeds (off camera) to tear up the room. Although he finally admits that Leonora is mentally disturbed, Brian still has her discharged (!) and proceeds to make his wife (!!) spend time with Leonora to in an attempt to help ‘normalize her’ (!!!). Hands up anyone who thinks this is a bad idea and that we should check where Brian got his medical degree?
Barbara Shelley and Kay Kallard
The climax of Cat Girl is a mostly effective variation on the famous bus stop scene from The Cat People. Threateningly dressed in a full-length black raincoat, our Polythene Pam-like Leonora plays cat and mouse with Dorothy through the dark alleys of the dockyards while the police search for an escaped leopard. Will Leonora channel her leopard avatar one more time? Will Brian arrive in time to save his wife? Cat Girl is worth watching to learn how the Brant family curse finally plays out.
The statuesque Barbara Shelley started her career as a model before moving into films in Italy in 1953 under her real name of Barbara Kowin. By 1957 she was appearing in English language films in Britain as Barbara Shelly where she had a long career dividing her time between TV and movies. Cat Girl was her first English language movie and she can claim ‘Scream Queen’ status for having starred in a number of genre films including Blood of the Vampire (1958), Village of the Damned (1960), The Shadow of the Cat (1961), The Gorgon (1964), and Dracula – Prince of Darkness (1967), as well as appearing in many episodes of The Avengers, Danger Man, The Saint, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E during the 1960’s.
Her best role arguably came as Barbara Judd in the film version of Quatermass and The Pit (aka 5 Million Years to Earth, 1967). As the assistant to Dr. Michael Roney (James Donald), she channels the hallucinatory vision of the Martian ‘wild Hunt’ (above) after the discovery of the ancient spaceship in Hobbs End, London. This one scene shows just how good her acting chops were and how underutilized she was in most of her film appearances.
Is Cat Girl Worth My Time? Yes. It’s an underrated, minor British classic well worth watching for Shelley’s almost hypnotic performance. The rest of the workman-like cast moves through their clichéd roles with a minimum of fuss, although prone to overacting. Barbara Shelley is the whole show here, but she’ll hold your attention for the entire film. It’s the sign of a well told story that it never lags and you never notice its 69 minute running time.
Availability: It does not appear to be currently available on DVD, but OOP copies are available on the secondary market. It’s ripe for a full BluRay restoration.
