In the end, Oliver tells Irena he loves Alice and wants a divorce. Dr. Judd manipulates all the others so he can get Irena alone, and kisses her. Irena seems to welcome it, for she wants to assail him, and seemingly turns into a panther — again, which is shown, instead of just shadows. She mauls him in Oliver's and her apartment. Many of the scenes in this film were also obvious templates for the transformation scenes in Ken Russell's 1980 film Altered States. She then flees to the Central Park Zoo, and opens the panther cage — after having earlier stolen an absentminded zookeeper's key, which has obsessed her throughout the film — and the cat lunges at and mauls her. When Alice and Oliver arrive they find her dead, with part of Judd's cane sword in her. He laments that Irena, at least, never lied to them. It's hard to tell, from a distance, whether she is in human or cat form. The zoo panther, however, has been run over by a car in its escape.
The film was among the first to embody the idea that, in horror, less is more. And while the film is credited as one of the earliest films noir, few critics have ever traced its lineage back to the German Expressionism of the 1920s, in films like Nosferatu, Symphony of Horror by F.W. Murnau, The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari by Robert Wiene, or Metropolis by Fritz Lang.
Yet, the film could easily be camp itself, were it not for the superb acting of all involved, especially Simon. At times vacant, passionate, disinterested, hurt, she embodies a naïf sexuality that few men can resist. Kent Smith is stiff, but in the best sort of way, as the affably satisfied Oliver, who seems so boring that it's hard to believe two beautiful women would desire such a bore and wimp. Jane Randolph is very good as well, as a subtle manipulator of events, such as telling Oliver she loves him in a seductive voice when he confides in her of Irena's problems.
But, the film's real scene stealer is Tom Conway, as the lascivious Dr. Judd. He's believable as the parasitic doctor who gets his comeuppance. He was also the real life brother of actor George Sanders, who played a similarly smarmy role, as Jack Favell, in Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca. The rest of the minor characters are also rounded out into believability; a rarity, even for A films of any era. Most notable are Alex Craig as the fearful zookeeper, Jack Holt as The Commodore, and Alan Napier (who would later play Alfred the butler on the 1960s TV show Batman) as Carver, a coworker of Oliver's and Alice's. Even a black female coffer server at the coffee shop is shown wearing a headwrap, but she's shown as a real person, not a mammy.
Article comments