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The online film magazine Combustible Celluloid offers new movie reviews, DVD reviews, film reviews, actor interviews, actress interviews, director interviews, film books and all things cinema related for the thoughtful and passionate. Online for ten years! Over 3000 reviews!

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The Leopard Man (1943)

Rating: 4 Stars (out of 4)

Big Cat Trouble

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy The Leopard Man on DVD.

Based on Cornell Woolrich's novel Black Alibi, The Leopard Man comes with one of the cinema's most shocking murder scenes, with barely anything actually shown. Dennis O'Keefe as Jerry Manning, who rents a leopard to be used as a publicity stunt for his New Mexico nightclub singer girlfriend Kiki (Jean Brooks). Unfortunately, the leopard escapes, and several people are subsequently mauled to death. But the leopard's owner insists that his animal is not responsible. Jacques Tourneur directed this, his third of three films for producer Val Lewton, and it's generally considered the least, even though it's quite masterful in its own right, with a very vivid sense of place. The Leopard Man is currently only available on DVD in the Val Lewton Box set.

Starring: Dennis O'Keefe, Jean Brooks, Margo, Isabel Jewell, James Bell, Margaret Landry, Abner Biberman, Tula Parma, Ben Bard
Written by: Ardel Wray, Edward Dein, based on a novel by Cornell Woolrich
Directed by: Jacques Tourneur
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 66 minutes
Date: April 16, 2009