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The Leopard Man main poster

The Leopard Man

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6.5/10 • 117

1943-05-191h 6m

HorrorMysteryCrime

Woman alone the victims of strange, savage killer!

When a leopard escapes during a publicity stunt, it triggers a series of murders.

Directors
Jacques Tourneur
Editors
Mark Robson

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Dennis O'Keefe

    Dennis O'Keefe

    Jerry Manning

  2. Jean Brooks

    Jean Brooks

    Kiki Walker

  3. James Bell

    James Bell

    Dr. Galbraith

  4. Abner Biberman

    Abner Biberman

    Charlie How-Come

  5. Ariel Heath

    Ariel Heath

    Eloise, cigarette girl

  6. Ben Bard

    Ben Bard

    Police Chief Robles

  7. Margo

    Margo

    Gabriella, aka Clo-Clo

  8. Isabel Jewell

    Isabel Jewell

    Maria the Fortune Teller

  9. Margaret Landry

    Margaret Landry

    Teresa Delgado

Reviews1

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John Chard Avatar

John Chard

Sep 15, 2019

7/10

Someday you'll try on my coffin and I hope it fits you just perfect. Horror producer supreme Val Lewton teams up for the third and last time with director Jacques Tourneur to bring us The Leopard Man. Set in New Mexico, the story sees Jerry Manning (Dennis O'Keefe) hire a black leopard as a publicity stunt for his night-club performing partner, Kiki (Jean Brooks). Her rival, Clo Clo (Margo), is not impressed and promptly scares the animal into running away into the night. Pretty soon there is a panic looking as the cat appears to be mauling people to death. However, Manning & Kiki, driven by guilt, join the hunt for the rogue animal - but Manning is starting to believe the killings are not of the animal's doing... Based on the book "Black Alibi" written by Cornell Woolrich, The Leopard Man's only crime is that it's not as great as its two predecessors, Cat People & I Walked With A Zombie. Rest assured, though, this is still a quality Lewton/Tourneur production. As a story it's simple and straight, with a running time of just over one hour keeping it lean and devoid of pointless waffle, but the piece positively thrives on its atmosphere - dealing as it does in murky shadows and unease inducing periods of silence. It also boasts a number of sequences that linger long in the memory, be it blood seeping under a door, the bend of a tree branch, or the dark under belly of a railway bridge, for such a short sharp shock of a movie there's so much to enjoy. The work of cinematographer Robert De Grasse (Vivacious Lady/The Body Snatcher) is top class and worthy of indulgence from the film noir loving crowd. What you don't see is more effective on account of the eerie sense of dread that Messrs Lewton/Tourneur/De Grasse have built up. A fine film and proof positive that classic spookers could be made from relatively small budgets. 7/10

Media

  • The Leopard Man poster
  • The Leopard Man poster
  • The Leopard Man poster
  • The Leopard Man poster
  • The Leopard Man poster
  • The Leopard Man poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
fortune tellercultleopardpsychopublicity stuntproto-slasher