Went to see Cat People (1942) as the AFI is showing all of Val Lewton's movies as the Val Lewton: Master of Macabre movie series for Halloween with ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
greenygal and A (person to be pseydonymed later).
The movie has some truly stunning sequences, including a walk through the dark that ends with a bus pulling up while sounding like a screaming pather. You can really see techniques that came to define Noir in the film, including really gorgeous use of chiaroscuro lighting effects. And the scene at the pool allowed the secondary female character to be smart and displayed the terrifying uses of lighting and sound effects in the hands of someone who knew how to do a lot with minimal equipment.
We all wound up rooting for the death of the psychiatrist by halfway through the film, for being a boundary-violating creep. I don't know if any of that was accurate to acceptable practice of the day, but even his Dr. Van Helsing vibe couldn't get us to sympathize with him.
Also, Alan Napier made another appearance in a noir-ish film, and I'm beginning to wonder if I should make a spotter's list of all the actors who I recognize from other roles that show up in my vintage movies...
greenygal and A (person to be pseydonymed later).The movie has some truly stunning sequences, including a walk through the dark that ends with a bus pulling up while sounding like a screaming pather. You can really see techniques that came to define Noir in the film, including really gorgeous use of chiaroscuro lighting effects. And the scene at the pool allowed the secondary female character to be smart and displayed the terrifying uses of lighting and sound effects in the hands of someone who knew how to do a lot with minimal equipment.
We all wound up rooting for the death of the psychiatrist by halfway through the film, for being a boundary-violating creep. I don't know if any of that was accurate to acceptable practice of the day, but even his Dr. Van Helsing vibe couldn't get us to sympathize with him.
Also, Alan Napier made another appearance in a noir-ish film, and I'm beginning to wonder if I should make a spotter's list of all the actors who I recognize from other roles that show up in my vintage movies...
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