The Leopard Man. 1943. USA. Directed by Jacques Tourneur. 66 min.
Screenplay by Ardel Wray and Edward Dein, based on the story “Black Alibi” by Cornell Woolrich. With Dennis O’Keefe, Jean Brooks, Isabel Jewell, Margo. Posters promising lurid scenes of women victimized by a “strange, savage killer” were in striking contrast to the shadowy black and white, moody silence, and basic sound effects that characterize this third horror collaboration by RKO producer Val Lewton and director Tourneur. Scorsese has described their low-budget style as a prime example of how meaning and innovation could be “smuggled” into modest Hollywood genre films. Preserved by The Library of Congress.