# The Curse of the Cat People
**The Curse of the Cat People** is a 1944 American black-and-white fantasy film produced by Val Lewton at RKO Radio Pictures, nominally a sequel to the 1942 horror film *Cat People* but in substance a ghost story and childhood fantasy about a lonely six-year-old girl and her imaginary friend.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/2449-THE-CURSE-OF-THE-CAT-PEOPLE) It was written by DeWitt Bodeen, directed by Gunther von Fritsch and [Robert Wise](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-wise), and runs 70 minutes.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/2449-THE-CURSE-OF-THE-CAT-PEOPLE)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | New York opening the week of 2 March 1944; RKO Radio Pictures; copyright registered 17 February 1944[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/2449-THE-CURSE-OF-THE-CAT-PEOPLE) |
| Runtime and format | 70 minutes, 6,299 feet, black and white, RCA Sound System[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/2449-THE-CURSE-OF-THE-CAT-PEOPLE) |
| Directors | Gunther von Fritsch (feature directing debut), replaced mid-production by film editor Robert Wise, whose first directorial credit it was[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/2449-THE-CURSE-OF-THE-CAT-PEOPLE) |
| Principal cast | Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Jane Randolph, Ann Carter, Julia Dean, Elizabeth Russell[2](https://www.tcm.com/watchtcm/titles/2544) |
| Budget | Recalculated upward from $147,000 to $212,000; completed nine days behind schedule[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/2449-THE-CURSE-OF-THE-CAT-PEOPLE) |
| Title dispute | Lewton wanted to call it *Amy and Her Friend*; a George Gallup Audience Research Institute poll chose *The Curse of the Cat People*[3](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1014771/making-of-cat-people-and-curse-of-the-cat-people) |
| Critical standing | 88% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (34 reviews); often cited as Lewton's most personal film[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/curse_of_the_cat_people) |
## Spoilers
### Story
The film is set several years after the death of Irena, the Serbian woman at the center of *Cat People* (1942). [Oliver Reed](https://www.edgepedia.org/oliver-reed) ([Kent Smith](https://www.edgepedia.org/kent-smith)), Irena's widower, has married Alice Moore (Jane Randolph), and they have a six-year-old daughter, Amy (Ann Carter).[5](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1014770/cat-people-curse-of-the-cat-people) Amy is a kind child who has trouble telling fantasy from reality, which isolates her from her schoolmates. Like many children she has an imaginary friend, but she tells her parents that her friend is Oliver's dead first wife, Irena, again played by Simone Simon.[5](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1014770/cat-people-curse-of-the-cat-people)
Amy's fancy troubles her father because her behavior reminds him of his first wife, whose madness drove her to death. When Oliver learns that Amy put her birthday party invitations into a "magic tree" mailbox, he makes her promise she will befriend the children who live nearby; they reject her friendly overture, and while she stops by the gate of an old house, she hears an elderly woman call to her, inviting her into the garden.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/2449-THE-CURSE-OF-THE-CAT-PEOPLE) There she befriends Julia Farren (Julia Dean), an aging, reclusive actress, while her friendship with Irena's apparition becomes entangled with the wrath of the woman's daughter Barbara (Elizabeth Russell).[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/curse_of_the_cat_people) The film's setting is [Tarrytown, New York](https://www.edgepedia.org/tarrytown-new-york), and its opening scene shows Amy's kindergarten class visiting Sleepy Hollow, the fictional settlement from [Washington Irving](https://www.edgepedia.org/washington-irving)'s story.[2](https://www.tcm.com/watchtcm/titles/2544)
Despite the title, the film contains no transformation of humans into cats and barely any cats at all; the word "curse" is used only by Oliver, complaining that it feels as if Irena has left his house under one.[6](https://edinburghfilmguild.org.uk/2010-11/AFI-Robert_Wise_-_The_Curse_of-the_Cat_People.pdf) • [7](https://nystagereview.com/2020/11/26/feingold-on-old-movies-for-theater-lovers-val-lewtons-cat-people-1942-the-curse-of-the-cat-people-1944/)
## Production
RKO ordered the film to exploit the popularity of *[Cat People](https://www.edgepedia.org/cat-people-1942-film)*, which had been an unexpected hit for the financially troubled studio, and hired Simone Simon, Kent Smith, and Jane Randolph to reprise their roles.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/2449-THE-CURSE-OF-THE-CAT-PEOPLE) Lewton did not like the idea of a sequel and wrote a story only loosely connected to the original; he wanted to retitle the picture *Amy and Her Friend*, but the studio paid the George Gallup Audience Research Institute to ask audiences which title they preferred, and *The Curse of the Cat People* won.[3](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1014771/making-of-cat-people-and-curse-of-the-cat-people) Promotional materials carried taglines such as "The Beast-Woman Haunts the Night Anew!" that had little to do with the finished film.[8](https://www.tcm.com/articles/451/the-curse-of-the-cat-people)
**A change of director.** Production began on August 26, 1943, with a $147,000 budget and eighteen days allowed for shooting, including exteriors at Malibu Lake, California. By mid-September, first-time feature director Gunther von Fritsch had shot only half the film. Editor Robert Wise was called on a Saturday and told to take over on Monday morning; to spare Fritsch embarrassment, the studio circulated a false story that he had been drafted. Wise started work on September 20, 1943, and wrapped on October 4, nine days behind schedule and over budget; the studio recalculated the total from $147,000 to $212,000.[3](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1014771/making-of-cat-people-and-curse-of-the-cat-people) • [1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/2449-THE-CURSE-OF-THE-CAT-PEOPLE) Additional scenes were shot the week of November 21, 1943.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/2449-THE-CURSE-OF-THE-CAT-PEOPLE) The film was Wise's first directorial credit, and he completed his portion in ten days, bringing what the Directors Guild account calls a light, naturalistic touch to the supernatural.[9](https://www.dga.org/craft/dgaq/issues/1101-spring-2011/dvd-classics-robert-wise)
**Studio reaction.** RKO executives had expected a supernatural thriller in the style of *Cat People* and were extremely disappointed when Lewton screened the film; they demanded retakes and additional scenes, including one in which two boys chase a black cat up a tree.[8](https://www.tcm.com/articles/451/the-curse-of-the-cat-people) Nicholas Musuraca, who had photographed *Cat People*, was the cinematographer, and the film's fantasy sequences use darkened skies, falling leaves, and expressive tree shadows.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/2449-THE-CURSE-OF-THE-CAT-PEOPLE) • [10](https://www.deepfocusreview.com/definitives/the-curse-of-the-cat-people/)
## Reception and afterlife
The film was a box-office flop, apparently because audiences expected psychological horror rather than delicate fantasy.[11](https://videolibrarian.com/reviews/classic-film/the-curse-of-the-cat-people/) Among its champions, the critic [James Agee](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-agee) wrote a loving review in *The Nation*, noting that viewers who had come for a story about curses and were-cats "clearly did not feel sold out; for an hour they have been captivated by the poetry and danger of childhood."[10](https://www.deepfocusreview.com/definitives/the-curse-of-the-cat-people/) Later critics have often cited it as Lewton's most personal film, and some call it his best; Lewton incorporated autobiographical details from his own childhood, including the lost party invitations, a numerals lesson, and his fondness for ghost stories like "The Headless Horseman."[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/curse_of_the_cat_people) • [8](https://www.tcm.com/articles/451/the-curse-of-the-cat-people)
The film found an unexpected professional audience: child psychology researchers at UCLA and the Los Angeles Council of Social Agencies used it in lectures to discuss the unease that accompanies a child's developmental stage.[10](https://www.deepfocusreview.com/definitives/the-curse-of-the-cat-people/) For Wise, the fix-it job began a long directing career that later included *The Day the Earth Stood Still* (1951) and *The Sound of Music* (1965).[3](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1014771/making-of-cat-people-and-curse-of-the-cat-people) • [10](https://www.deepfocusreview.com/definitives/the-curse-of-the-cat-people/) The film is available on home video in the Val Lewton collections and currently streams on [YouTube TV](https://www.edgepedia.org/youtube-tv), with digital purchase on Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, and Fandango at Home.[12](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-curse-of-the-cat-people)
## References
1. [The Curse of the Cat People (1944), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/2449-THE-CURSE-OF-THE-CAT-PEOPLE)
2. [Watch The Curse of the Cat People, Turner Classic Movies](https://www.tcm.com/watchtcm/titles/2544)
3. [Making of Cat People and Curse of the Cat People, Turner Classic Movies](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1014771/making-of-cat-people-and-curse-of-the-cat-people)
4. [The Curse of the Cat People, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/curse_of_the_cat_people)
5. [Cat People/Curse of the Cat People, Turner Classic Movies](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1014770/cat-people-curse-of-the-cat-people)
6. [AFI: Robert Wise – The Curse of the Cat People, Edinburgh Film Guild](https://edinburghfilmguild.org.uk/2010-11/AFI-Robert_Wise_-_The_Curse_of-the_Cat_People.pdf)
7. [Feingold on Old Movies: Val Lewton's 'Cat People' (1942) & 'The Curse of the Cat People' (1944), New York Stage Review](https://nystagereview.com/2020/11/26/feingold-on-old-movies-for-theater-lovers-val-lewtons-cat-people-1942-the-curse-of-the-cat-people-1944/)
8. [The Curse of the Cat People, by Jeff Stafford, Turner Classic Movies](https://www.tcm.com/articles/451/the-curse-of-the-cat-people)
9. [Revising Wise, Directors Guild of America Quarterly, Spring 2011](https://www.dga.org/craft/dgaq/issues/1101-spring-2011/dvd-classics-robert-wise)
10. [The Curse of the Cat People (1944), The Definitives, Deep Focus Review](https://www.deepfocusreview.com/definitives/the-curse-of-the-cat-people/)
11. [The Curse of the Cat People (1944) Review, Videolibrarian](https://videolibrarian.com/reviews/classic-film/the-curse-of-the-cat-people/)
12. [The Curse of the Cat People streaming online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-curse-of-the-cat-people)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Franchise and series entries as standalone works › Horror and slasher series film entries › 1970s and 1980s releases*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license