Cat Girl, Cat-Fighting...Literally!

Ah, a good cat-fight! This plot device always enhances a movie. In today's feature, 1957's "Cat Girl," we'll see cat-fighting. Our sultry protagonist (or is she an antagonist?) will have her claws out, in both feline and human form. Pretty women and slimy men better watch out as a woman's true nature is nothing to be cavalier about.

Our aforementioned sultry protagonist is Leonora (Barbara Shelley). She has been summoned to her Uncle Edmund's (Ernest Milton) mansion...and ordered to come alone. She's a dame so naturally she brings her unfaithful husband Richard (Jack May), his lover Cathy (Paddy Webster), and her inconsequential husband. Edmund, in private, lets Leonora know the family curse is about to be handed down to her and she mustn't ever have children. The family curse? Since you asked, it appears that the sole heir (or heiress) will become a deadly leopard when she gets angry...kinda like Bill Bixby in "The Incredible Hulk," except Barbara Shelley is prettier than the dweeb Bixby.

Edmund breaks the curse on himself and the leopard rips him to pieces. Now Leonora is Cat Girl! As her husband and Cathy take a walk and engage in extra-marital sex, she rips him apart...Cathy makes it back to the mansion. Leonora, now in human form, tears Cathy's dress off and claws at her...unfortunately, she is restrained. Old lover Brian, a psychiatrist, is called in. Brian doesn't believe the curse story and is stupid enough to introduce Leonora to his beautiful blonde wife, Dorothy (Kay Callard). By the way Leonora looks at Dorothy, now the wife of her old lover, we are reminded of how a rottweiler views a lamb chop. As Brian continues treating, and not believing Cat Girl, Leonora plots and Dorothy and her bleached blonde hair will be put in incredible danger.

Will the perky and vivacious blonde survive the wrath of the mysterious Leonora? Will a cat-fight, in either human or feline form, be in store for Leonora and her new rival? Will Brian ever get a clue and stop serving his pretty wife up as Meow Mix? This is a good one with some eerie English sets. As the sultry Leonora loses humanity, and the pretty are endangered, this becomes a vicious tale. Fans of cat-fights will enjoy this cat vs. human story. See "Cat Girl," directed by Alfred Shaughnessy.