Cat Girl

Cat Girl is a 1957 British-American horror film, produced by Herbert Smith and Lou Rusoff, directed by Alfred Shaughnessy, that stars Barbara Shelley, Robert Ayres, and Kay Callard. It was an unofficial remake of Val Lewton's Cat People (1942). AIP released Cat Girl on a double bill with their 1957 film The Amazing Colossal Man. This was the first of two cat-related films starring Barbara Shelley, the other being The Shadow of the Cat (1961). Plot Leonora Johnson (Barbara Shelley) is a young woman who returns to her ancestral home and is told by her uncle of her legacy - she will inherit the large ancestral home and money, but also a family curse; she will be possessed by the spirit of a leopard, as members of her family have been for centuries. Her uncle is then killed by his pet leopard, fulfilling the curse, which states that its victims must die in their 70th year. A fruitless search is made for the leopard. Leonora's husband, who had insisted on accompanying her to the house, even though she had been instructed to come alone, has clearly married Leonora for the wealth that is to come to her. He had also insisted that their friends, another couple, come with them to the house, mainly to expedite his affair with the woman, Cathy. When Leonora sees her husband and Cathy making love in the woods, she looks up and sees the leopard in a tree. The leopard then attacks and kills her husband, while Cathy runs away. Leonora tells the police that she is a were-cat and responsible for her husband's death and that they must arrest her, but since Cathy saw Richard being attacked by the leopard, they believe Leonora is in need of medical help. Leonora's former boyfriend, Dr. Brian Marlowe (Robert Ayres) is back visiting in the area. He is a psychiatrist and believes that Leonora is suffering from delusions. He asks her to admit herself to a medical facility, to which she agrees, but she senses that the leopard has followed her to London. Leonora becomes jealous of Brian's wife, whose life may now be in serious danger. Will Brian be able to help her in time to save his wife's life? Cast