Cat People - my sister

Clip from the film Cat People (1942). Simon Simone and Elizabeth Russell.

[@XxwhosrightxX]

Great movie! If you haven't seen it, you don't know what your missing!

[@Person1865]

I love this movie. Simone Simon was so cute! She really gets screwed over by the plot though.

[@JamesVaughan]

Simone Simon crosses herself the wrong way - left, right, the Roman Catholic way, whereas if she were really Serbian she would cross herself right, left, the Serbian Orthodox way - a minor detail the moviemakers didn't catch.

[@FictiveImagination]

Serbian here, also the tips of the first three fingers are brought together when orthodox ppl cross themselves. I don't think it was some mistake, because everything else related to Irena's origin is fiction - there is no King with name John (Jovan) in Serbian history, nor there are any ancient myths related to cats, not even in Slavic mythology, her surname Dubrovna sounds east slavic (russian, ukranian, certanly not serbian...), and in this scene she says something like comitagi/komitaži means thief in serbian, but that word doesn't even exist in our language, etc. It's all the director's imagination for the film, I even think that the choice of the country of Serbia was accidental or random :-)

[@JamesVaughan]

@@FictiveImagination Early 1940s Hollywood wasn't very sophisticated as far as geography or the various European cultures was concerned. These Val Lewton-Jacques Tourneur films, though in many ways artistically of a high standard, were "quickies", made in only a few weeks, with probably minimal research before they were shot. Most Americans back then couldn't even find Serbia on a map and probably couldn't even now. It just sounded kind of remote and mystical - rather like Transylvania, which was the locale for many of the Dracula films. Even now most Americans have no idea where Transylvania is - and Romanians and Hungarians are still arguing as to which country it ought to belong!

[@arielilijeva3019]

I agree that historical inaccuracies abound, but it’s worth noting though that Val Lewton was not American born but was a Russian emigre... his original short story this movie was based on (and which I have not read) was set in the Caucasus. Apparently King John has been identified as Jovan Nenad ‘The Black’.

[@krlek]

Not to mention the fact that she morphs into black cat in a way that no self respecting Serbian person would! Totally inaccurate!

[@CountessMaryaZaleska]

I always thought that it may have been more interesting had their roles been reversed…Simone Simon was cast first because she was a 'name' actress & resembled a cute little kitten. Elizabeth Russell was then cast a little later on - just in this bit part, and with her incredibly high cheek bones, she resembled an intense, sexy and slinky looking cat. But what if Russell had been given the leading role instead? The film is a psycho-sexual study in horror movie clothing - both actresses were very good - Simone Simon has a certain childishness about her portrayal, which imbues it with this tone throughout. But perhaps Elizabeth Russell would have brought a more intense, tormented and 'adult facet' to the role of the sexually repressed, possibly lesbian woman, who may or may not be a cat-monster. I do, of course love the film as fate has always intended, but whenever I see this sexy 'recognition' scene and her stunning impact within it - it only ever makes me wonder about Elizabeth Russell…. and what the film might have been….. had she ended up playing the lead….

[@RamaRendezvoo]

With Robert Wise directing The Curse Of The Cat People sequel, Elizabeth Russell elicited both a very mysterious and sympathetic role I'll never forget... especially as she walks up the staircase to her room while her own mother cautions the young girl as to her daughter's strange behavior. Together, these two very different films should not be missed by anyone alert enough to have a good time.

[@nightworld3206]

@randolph She is one of the leads in the sequel.

[@floydvaughn836]

@@nightworld3206 and yeah, are they...sisters? What about the old actress? Who toured the world? A night in Belgrade.

[@briankocheraabcdt4628]

I see the casting choice of Simone as juxtaposition. If Russell had been cast, there would not be the same shock at the first transformation. Also, this "sister" scene is a great foreshadowing that would have been missing had another actress been cast.

[@theexpresidents]

Supposedly Julie Newmar based her villainous role as Catwoman in TV's Batman (1966) on this scene.

[@citizenofcorona8783]

Back when it was socially acceptable to smoke indoors and blow it in peoples' faces

[@frankeffenberger9094]

Correct spelling is "moja sestra".

[@anikahessen308]

+Frank Effenberger Moja sestra or моја сестра.

[@termc]

Da. Tako je.

[@annabrown9670]

FILM WAS MADE IN 1940s KZbin WANTS TO CHARGE PEOPLE DURING THIS PANDEMIC TO WATCH IT THAT IS WRONG

[@theexpresidents]

Julie Newmar based everything off this very scene.

[@sosoangle5534]

I WANT THE FULL MOVIE PLEASE

[@charlesdespres]

Great scene from a great movie! I would really like to know the name of the tune starting around 1:48. If anybody could tell me, I'd really appreciate it. I have tried to find some info, but to no avail...

[@voiskumbeaver3285]

Alfred tumbled Cat Woman of course.

[@branislavmaljkovic7999]

Ha ha...Heidi, ma chérie; tu m' espionnes..?