Charles Regnier (Carl Esmond) return to Paris to great acclaim for his soon to be published novel, meeting with his patron, Henry Borchard (Douglass Dumbrille), who advises him that he need not fear the government, which is upset that his story approaches the truth of a corrupt trial. But Charles is bothered by more than that. He is suffering headaches and bouts of amnesia from a tropical fever he picked up on his travels. He’s also lost interest in his snooty fiancee, instead feeling attracted to publisher’s daughter, Marie Audet (Lenore Aubert). His troubles increase as he becomes a suspect to a series of murders, ones that leave the victim scratched as if by a cat. The head of the police suspects the supernatural is at work, and that someone is turning themselves into a cat.
Republic Pictures was the high end of Poverty Row. Their films could look as good as B-pictures from the major studios, and The Catman of Paris does look good, downright great for Poverty Row. And the acting is solid, even with the exaggerated French accents. Dumbrille is the standout, as he always was—one of the better character actors of the time. So yes, the skill is here. But there’s no great artistry to elevate the picture and there’s no theme. After all, Republic didn’t plan to make this film for artistic reasons. They wanted some of the money that Universal, and more recently RKO via Val Lewton, had been collecting. If RKO had made a bundle off of Cat People, then why couldn’t Republic off of a Catman. They followed this up with Valley of the Zombies, and released the pair as a double feature. I don’t think it was a coincidence that RKO had followed Cat People with I Walked With a Zombie.
So Republic made a quick rip off of Cat People, but without the kind of care and poetry that Lewton supplied, meaning the plot needs to do the heavy lifting, and it can’t. I appreciate that they didn’t cop out at the end, that this is actually a monster movie, but it’s also a pretty silly one. The were-cat has a plan, and it’s a plan that doesn’t make any sense. The major subplot of the books connection to government malfeasance ends up having a lot less importance that the time spent on it would imply. Cut most of the fretting about the government and they could have slipped in another murder or two.
The fundamental problem is that Republic didn’t know how to make a horror film. There are two major action scenes, and neither are what an audience for this type of picture is looking for: a ballroom brawl and a carriage chase. If I’m watching The Catman of Paris, then any fight should involve some claws. What Republic and director Lesley Selander did know was Westerns and Westerns have ballroom brawls and stagecoach chases.
The Catman of Paris is too competently made to be a bad film. It’s the kind of film that can be fun to watch on a Saturday afternoon. It’s also a film that’s easy to forget about.