Trailer
Assistive Technologies

Cat People (1942)

Runtime
1hr 13mins
Directed by
Jacques Tourneur
Featuring
Simone Simon,
Tom Conway,
Kent Smith
Body

The first of the horror films producer Val Lewton made for RKO Pictures redefined the genre by leaving its most frightening terrors to its audience’s imagination. 

Simone Simon stars as a Serbian émigré in Manhattan who believes that, because of an ancient curse, any physical intimacy with the man she loves (Kent Smith) will turn her into a feline predator. Lewton, a consummate producer-auteur who oversaw every aspect of his projects, found an ideal director in Jacques Tourneur, a chiaroscuro stylist adept at keeping viewers off-kilter with startling compositions and psychological innuendo. Together, they eschewed the canned effects of earlier monster movies in favor of shocking with subtle shadows and creative audio cues. One of the studio’s most successful movies of the 1940s, Cat People raised the creature feature to new heights of sophistication and mystery. - The Criterion Collection

This Week

  • In the tense 72 hours before D-Day, the fate of the world hangs in the balance. 

    Showtimes
  • Welcome to a new world of style.

    Showtimes
  • Academy Award-winning director Daniel Roher’s first narrative feature, starring Leo Woodall, Havana Rose Liu, & Dustin Hoffman.

    Showtimes
  • The eagerly awaited sequel to the 2006 phenomenon that defined a generation. 

    Showtimes
  • A strange doorway appears in the basement of a furniture showroom.

    Showtimes
  • Learn more about the movie, its director, and its influence on movies and filmmakers.

    Showtimes
  • A worldwide smash hit, Rififi earned director Jules Dassin the Best Director prize at Cannes and set the standard for screen robberies for decades to come.

    Showtimes
  • A film by Lynne Ramsay, acclaimed director of Ratcatcher

    Showtimes
  • Join professor Andre Puca of Emerson College as he explores the style and themes of Anderson’s films spanning all 3 decades of his noteworthy career

    Showtimes
  • A director and screenwriter pen a script and, in the process, blur the line between fiction and reality.

    Showtimes
  • Nicola Coughlan joins Éanna Hardwicke and Siobhán McSweeney in John Millington Synge’s riveting play of youth and self-discovery

    Showtimes
  • Featuring a special pre-show performance by students of the Brookline Music School!

    Showtimes
  • The most controversial film you will see this year.

    Showtimes
  • Screens with Don Hertzfeldt's short films Paper Trail  and World of Tomorrow!

    Showtimes
  • A singular work of art from Academy Award-nominated director and Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata.

    Showtimes
  • Santatango

    #36 on the Sight & Sound / BFI’s Critic’s Poll of the 100 Greatest Films Ever Made.

    Showtimes
  • Pre-film seminar taught by Mikal J. Gaines, Ph.D

    Showtimes