Val Lewton (1904-1951) was one of the most influential film producers during the Golden Age of Hollywood who rescued RKO Radio Pictures after the Orson Welles / CITIZEN KANE debacle which nearly bankrupt the studio. His series of nine films for RKO, made between 1942 and 1946, pioneered an all new approach to the horror film - he placed the story in a contemporary setting that audiences could relate to and showed the horror by suggestion rather than explicit depiction. The result was that moviegoers created their own versions of what was happening onscreen.
Even if Lewton hadn't chosen to leave everything to the imagination and wanted to show everything, he couldn't have because he didn't have the money. The RKO studio executives gave him a B movie budget of $150,000 and told him to use existing sets from other A pictures on the lot. He was also forced to use movie titles already chosen by the studio heads as having strong commercial potential. Within those restrictions and as long as he didn't run over schedule or over budget, Lewton was allowed to make the movies any way he wanted.
The first title Lewton was given was CAT PEOPLE (1942). RKO hoped to cash in on the success of Universal's THE WOLF MAN from the year before. The contemporary setting and storyline of a woman who wouldn't have sex with her husband for fear of turning into a panther was quite a surprise to 1940s audiences. It was directed by Jacques Tourneur who would also direct Lewton's next two pictures. It wound up grossing over $4 million and spawned a sequel, CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE (1944) that was the first film directed by legendary director Robert Wise
1943 was a busy year for Lewton with the completion of four films. The first, I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE, certainly deserves its place in history for the title alone. Directed once again by Jacques Tourneur, ZOMBIE transplants JANE EYRE to the West Indies with voodoo thrown in for good measure. It's intelligent, moody , poetic, and it remains my favorite of Lewton's nine movies. Crisp editing, chiaroscuro lighting, and atmospheric B&W photography all combined with a haunting use of Native music make it one of the most memorable movies of the 1940s.
THE LEOPARD MAN, set in Mexico, was an attempt to cash in on the success of CAT PEOPLE. It has one celebrated shock scene involving a runaway leopard. Lewton's next film, THE SEVENTH VICTIM, deals with devil worship in modern day Greenwich Village. The titular character is a dead ringer for 1950s icon Bettie Page. The final film, THE GHOST SHIP, is a fascist parable about an authoritarian captain who loses his grip on reality. Due to legal complications, it was withdrawn from theaters and went unseen for many years. Both movies were directed by Mark Robson, another Lewton discovery who went on to have a distinguished career.
1944 began with CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE which, despite having recurring characters from the first film, is a dreamlike fantasy about a lonely child. Following CURSE were three movies all featuring Boris Karloff who had been signed by RKO to bolster the box office. The first to be released was THE BODY SNATCHER (1945) which was based on a story by Robert Louis Stevenson about grave robbing in 19th century Edinburgh. It was also directed by Robert Wise who was then promoted out of Lewton's unit and then up the ladder to A features. The film also had a small part for Bela Lugosi.
The last two movies, both directed by Robson, were inspired by celebrated works of Art. A famous painting by Swiss artist Arnold Bocklin was the source for ISLE OF THE DEAD which deals with Greek vampires and is set during the Balkan wars. It had been started before BODY SNATCHERS but was shut down due to an injury to Karloff. It was then completed later. BEDLAM (1946) was based on a panel from William Hogarth's THE RAKE'S PROGRESS and exposed the wretched conditions at the infamous mental hospital. It lost money and would be Lewton's last film at RKO.
All of Lewton's RKO movies featured literate, balanced scripts (often contributed by Lewton himself under an alias), an intelligent use of light and shadow (typical of Film Noir but done in this case to disguise recycled sets), and the Producer's now famous employment of the "Lewton bus", a calculated moment to make the audience jump - which it did then and still does today. Unfortunately the last two titles lost money which ended his tenure with RKO in 1946. After drifting from one Hollywood studio to another without success, Lewton died in 1951 at the age of only 46.
Despite his early death, Val Lewton's less is more approach to the horror film made a lasting impression. His legacy can be detected in such later films as THE UNIVITED (1944) with Ray Milland, THE INNOCENTS (1961) with Deborah Kerr, THE HAUNTING (the 1963 version with Julie Harris not the 1999 remake) directed by his protege Robert Wise as a tribute to Lewton, THE CHANGELING (1979) with George C. Scott from cult director Peter Medak (THE RULING CLASS), and most recently in the Nicole Kidman / Alejandro Amenabar thriller THE OTHERS (2001)...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
Even if Lewton hadn't chosen to leave everything to the imagination and wanted to show everything, he couldn't have because he didn't have the money. The RKO studio executives gave him a B movie budget of $150,000 and told him to use existing sets from other A pictures on the lot. He was also forced to use movie titles already chosen by the studio heads as having strong commercial potential. Within those restrictions and as long as he didn't run over schedule or over budget, Lewton was allowed to make the movies any way he wanted.
The first title Lewton was given was CAT PEOPLE (1942). RKO hoped to cash in on the success of Universal's THE WOLF MAN from the year before. The contemporary setting and storyline of a woman who wouldn't have sex with her husband for fear of turning into a panther was quite a surprise to 1940s audiences. It was directed by Jacques Tourneur who would also direct Lewton's next two pictures. It wound up grossing over $4 million and spawned a sequel, CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE (1944) that was the first film directed by legendary director Robert Wise
1943 was a busy year for Lewton with the completion of four films. The first, I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE, certainly deserves its place in history for the title alone. Directed once again by Jacques Tourneur, ZOMBIE transplants JANE EYRE to the West Indies with voodoo thrown in for good measure. It's intelligent, moody , poetic, and it remains my favorite of Lewton's nine movies. Crisp editing, chiaroscuro lighting, and atmospheric B&W photography all combined with a haunting use of Native music make it one of the most memorable movies of the 1940s.
THE LEOPARD MAN, set in Mexico, was an attempt to cash in on the success of CAT PEOPLE. It has one celebrated shock scene involving a runaway leopard. Lewton's next film, THE SEVENTH VICTIM, deals with devil worship in modern day Greenwich Village. The titular character is a dead ringer for 1950s icon Bettie Page. The final film, THE GHOST SHIP, is a fascist parable about an authoritarian captain who loses his grip on reality. Due to legal complications, it was withdrawn from theaters and went unseen for many years. Both movies were directed by Mark Robson, another Lewton discovery who went on to have a distinguished career.
1944 began with CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE which, despite having recurring characters from the first film, is a dreamlike fantasy about a lonely child. Following CURSE were three movies all featuring Boris Karloff who had been signed by RKO to bolster the box office. The first to be released was THE BODY SNATCHER (1945) which was based on a story by Robert Louis Stevenson about grave robbing in 19th century Edinburgh. It was also directed by Robert Wise who was then promoted out of Lewton's unit and then up the ladder to A features. The film also had a small part for Bela Lugosi.
The last two movies, both directed by Robson, were inspired by celebrated works of Art. A famous painting by Swiss artist Arnold Bocklin was the source for ISLE OF THE DEAD which deals with Greek vampires and is set during the Balkan wars. It had been started before BODY SNATCHERS but was shut down due to an injury to Karloff. It was then completed later. BEDLAM (1946) was based on a panel from William Hogarth's THE RAKE'S PROGRESS and exposed the wretched conditions at the infamous mental hospital. It lost money and would be Lewton's last film at RKO.
All of Lewton's RKO movies featured literate, balanced scripts (often contributed by Lewton himself under an alias), an intelligent use of light and shadow (typical of Film Noir but done in this case to disguise recycled sets), and the Producer's now famous employment of the "Lewton bus", a calculated moment to make the audience jump - which it did then and still does today. Unfortunately the last two titles lost money which ended his tenure with RKO in 1946. After drifting from one Hollywood studio to another without success, Lewton died in 1951 at the age of only 46.
Despite his early death, Val Lewton's less is more approach to the horror film made a lasting impression. His legacy can be detected in such later films as THE UNIVITED (1944) with Ray Milland, THE INNOCENTS (1961) with Deborah Kerr, THE HAUNTING (the 1963 version with Julie Harris not the 1999 remake) directed by his protege Robert Wise as a tribute to Lewton, THE CHANGELING (1979) with George C. Scott from cult director Peter Medak (THE RULING CLASS), and most recently in the Nicole Kidman / Alejandro Amenabar thriller THE OTHERS (2001)...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.