Cat People is a 1942 American supernatural horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced for RKO by Val Lewton. The film tells the story of Irena Dubrovna, a newly married Serbian fashion illustrator obsessed with the idea that she is descended from an ancient tribe of Cat People who metamorphose into black panthers when aroused. When her husband begins to show interest in one of his coworkers, Irena begins to stalk her. The film stars Simone Simon as Irena, and features Kent Smith, Tom Conway, and Jane Randolph in supporting roles.
Dixie Wanda Hendrix was an American film and television actress.
Phyllis Hannah Murray-Hill, known professionally as Phyllis Calvert, was an English film, stage and television actress. She was one of the leading stars of the Gainsborough melodramas of the 1940s such as The Man in Grey (1943) and was one of the most popular movie stars in Britain in the 1940s. She continued her acting career for another 50 years.
Val Lewton was a Russian-American novelist, film producer and screenwriter best known for a string of low-budget horror films he produced for RKO Pictures in the 1940s. His son, also named Val Lewton, was a painter and exhibition designer.
Mark Robson was a Canadian-American film director, producer, and editor. Robson began his 45-year career in Hollywood as a film editor. He later began working as a director and producer. He directed 34 films during his career, including Champion (1949), Bright Victory (1951), The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954), Peyton Place (1957), The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958), Von Ryan's Express (1965), Valley of the Dolls (1967), and Earthquake (1974).
I Walked with a Zombie is a 1943 American horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced by Val Lewton for RKO Pictures. It stars James Ellison, Frances Dee, and Tom Conway, and follows a Canadian nurse who travels to care for the ailing wife of a sugar plantation owner in the Caribbean, where she witnesses Vodou rituals and possibly encounters the walking dead. The screenplay, written by Curt Siodmak and Ardel Wray, is based on an article of the same title by Inez Wallace, and also partly reinterprets the narrative of the 1847 novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë.
Royden Denslow Webb was an American film music composer. One of the charter members of ASCAP, Webb has hundreds of film music credits to his name, mainly with RKO Pictures. He is best known for film noir and horror film scores, in particular for the films of Val Lewton.
The Man in Grey is a 1943 British film melodrama made by Gainsborough Pictures; it is considered to be the first of a series of period costume dramas now known as the "Gainsborough melodramas". It was directed by Leslie Arliss and produced by Edward Black from a screenplay by Arliss and Margaret Kennedy that was adapted by Doreen Montgomery from the 1941 novel The Man in Grey by Eleanor Smith. The film's sets were designed by Walter Murton.
No Man of Her Own is a 1932 American pre-Code romantic comedy-drama film starring Clark Gable and Carole Lombard as a married couple in their only film together, several years before their own legendary marriage in real life. The film was directed by Wesley Ruggles, and originated as an adaptation of No Bed of Her Own, a 1931 novel by Val Lewton, but ended up based more on a story by Benjamin Glazer and Edmund Goulding, although it retained the title from Lewton's novel. It is not related to the 1950 film of the same name.
The Accused is a 1949 American film noir drama film directed by William Dieterle and written by Ketti Frings, based on Be Still, My Love, a 1947 novel written by June Truesdell. The film stars Loretta Young and Robert Cummings.
The Sign of the Ram is a 1948 American film noir directed by John Sturges and screenplay by Charles Bennett, based on a novel written by Margaret Ferguson. The drama features Susan Peters, Alexander Knox and Phyllis Thaxter. It also featured Ron Randell. The film's title alludes to people born under the astrological sign Aries, who are supposedly strong-willed and desire to be admired, as explained in the dialogue.
Broken Journey is a 1948 British drama film directed by Ken Annakin and featuring Phyllis Calvert, James Donald, Margot Grahame, Raymond Huntley and Guy Rolfe. Passengers and crew strugge to survive after their airliner crashes on top of a mountain; based on a true-life accident in the Swiss Alps.
The Magic Bow is a 1946 British musical film based on the life and loves of the Italian violinist and composer Niccolò Paganini. It was directed by Bernard Knowles. The film was entered into the 1946 Cannes Film Festival.
Theresa Harris was an American television and film actress, singer and dancer.
The Sainted Sisters is a 1948 American comedy film starring Veronica Lake and co-starring Joan Caulfield, Barry Fitzgerald, George Reeves, William Demarest and Beulah Bondi. The film was distributed by Paramount Pictures and is notable for being the last film Veronica Lake made under her contract with the studio.
Apache Drums is a 1951 American Western film directed by Hugo Fregonese and produced by Val Lewton. The drama features Stephen McNally, Coleen Gray, and Willard Parker. The film was based on an original story: Stand at Spanish Boot, by Harry Brown. Apache Drums was the last film Val Lewton produced before his death.
Welcome Stranger is a 1947 film directed by Elliott Nugent and starring Bing Crosby, Barry Fitzgerald, and Joan Caulfield. It was filmed in Hollywood with location shots at Munz Lakes during March to May 1946. Elliott Nugent appeared in one scene as a doctor sent to examine Barry Fitzgerald and that scene was directed by Billy Wilder.
The Highwayman is a 1951 American historical adventure film directed by Lesley Selander and starring Philip Friend, Wanda Hendrix and Cecil Kellaway. The film was shot in Cinecolor and distributed by Allied Artists, the prestige subsidiary of Monogram Pictures. It was based on the poem of the same name by Alfred Noyes.
Time Out of Mind is a 1947 American film noir drama film directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Phyllis Calvert, Robert Hutton and Ella Raines. The film was made by Universal Pictures on a large budget of $1,674,500, but the film was not a commercial success. The British actress Calvert was a major star in Britain and other countries for her roles in the Gainsborough Melodramas.
Ardel Wray was an American screenwriter and story editor, best known for her work on Val Lewton's classic horror films in the 1940s. Her screenplay credits from that era include I Walked with a Zombie, The Leopard Man and Isle of the Dead.
