'Cat People' 1942 actress Simone Simon remembered: Starred for Jean Renoir, Max Ophüls (photo: Simone Simon as Irena in 'Cat People') Pretty, kittenish Simone Simon is best remembered for her starring roles in the cult horror classic Cat People (1942) and the French film noir La Bête Humaine (1938). Her film career spanned a quarter of a century, from the early '30s to the mid-'50s – in addition to a one-film comeback in the early '70s. During that period, Simon was featured in nearly 40 movies in France, Italy, Germany, Britain, and Hollywood. In France, she worked for directors such as Jean Renoir (La Bête Humaine) and Max Ophüls (La Ronde and Le Plaisir). Additionally, she was featured in five films for Marc Allégret, including Ladies Lake / Lac aux dames and Happy Days / Les beaux jours. In Hollywood, besides collaborating with fellow French national Jacques Tourneur (Cat People), she also worked for Robert Wise (Mademoiselle Fifi and The Curse of the Cat People), Henry King (Seventh Heaven), and William Dieterle (All That Money Can Buy). Among Simon's leading men were Jean Gabin (La Bête Humaine), Herbert Marshall (Girls' Dormitory), Walter Huston (All That Money Can Buy), Daniel Gélin (Le Plaisir), Michel Simon (no relation; in Ladies Lake and Love Cavalcade / Cavalcade d'amour), Don Ameche (Josette), Robert Newton (Temptation Harbor), and Claude Dauphin (Love Cavalcade). Additionally, she was featured opposite Jean-Pierre Aumont in three films: Ladies Lake, Happy Days, and Black Eyes / Les yeux noirs*. Simone Simon movies She was born Simone Thérèse Fernande Simon on April 23, 1910, to a French father and an Italian mother. Her place of birth is unclear. Some sources claim she first saw the light of day in Béthune, a small town in the Pas de Calais province near the Belgian border. Others claim she was actually born in Marseille. Either way, her parents' marriage didn't last very long. At the age of three, Simone moved to Madagascar, where her mother's new husband managed a graphite mine. She spent her formative years there (and possibly in Marseille). Later on, she attended schools in Berlin, Budapest, and Turin. While still a teenager, she began modeling and acting on stage, mostly in musicals. As the story goes, in 1931 the 21-year-old Simone Simon was drinking coffee on the terrace of the Café de la Paix in Paris when she was discovered by exiled Russian director Victor Tourjansky, who cast her in The Unknown Singer / Le Chanteur inconnu (1931). The film's star was opera singer Lucien Muratore. By the time Tourjansky and Simon worked together again, in Black Eyes in 1935, Simon had already established herself as a popular young player in the French film industry. Publicity dubbed her "La Sauvage Tendre," a label that must have appealed to 20th Century Fox talent scouts. Fox mogul Darryl F. Zanuck had Simon shipped to Hollywood – billed as "Europe's Sweetheart" – to star in a series of films for the studio. The Fox publicity department taught Americans to pronounce her name "See-moan See-moan," but the studio initially had problems teaching the Tender Savage to speak proper English. Disappointing Hollywood movies An even bigger problem was that Fox's vehicles for Simone Simon, who was expected to become a major Hollywood star, failed to show her to best advantage. But maybe it wasn't only the fault of 20th Century Fox. Because of her temper, which displeased director Frank Lloyd, Simon was replaced by French-born (but U.S.-raised) Paramount star Claudette Colbert in the role of Cigarette in Under Two Flags. Around that time, she also lost to Rita Hayworth the role of a Cuban patriot in A Message to Garcia**. Instead, Simone Simon found herself cast in the more modest Girls' Dormitory (1936), a romantic comedy directed by Irving Cummings. In the film, she competed with older woman Ruth Chatterton – with whom she reportedly didn't get along – for the attentions of Herbert Marshall. As per modern sources (quoting a 1936 article in the Milwaukee Journal), Simon would claim that she could be difficult at times. But after all, Marlene Dietrich had told her that "a star is only as important as she makes herself out to be." Yet, perhaps she wasn't temperamental enough. In Edward H. Griffith's Budapest-set Ladies in Love (1936), featuring Fox's perennial plotline about three young women looking for husbands and comforts, Simon was billed below Janet Gaynor, Loretta Young, and Constance Bennett. (Don Ameche, Paul Lukas, and Tyrone Power were the objects of their affection.) In a weak, talkie remake of Seventh Heaven (1937), Simon was cast in the old (1927) Janet Gaynor role: a Parisian street urchin romancing a pathetically miscast James Stewart. Henry King, 20th Century Fox's top filmmaker alongside John Ford, directed with a surprising lack of imagination. Simone Simon bravely pouted her way through these films, but to no avail. Another publicity gimmick, "Simone Simon Sings Sings" didn't help matters any, especially since the sing-singing was performed in B fare like Sidney Lanfield's Love and Hisses (1937), with Bert Lahr, and Allan Dwan's Josette (1938), opposite Don Ameche. Future blacklisted composer Larry Adler recalled going on a date at Simon's home in the late '30s, only to share her company with fellow Simon admirer George Gershwin. Sometime during the course of the evening, a pair of Fox sound technicians joined the trio. They had conveniently brought along a recording machine, which was then used to record Gershwin playing the piano, Adler the mouth organ, and Simon sing-singing songs from Porgy and Bess. But all that "impromptu" training came to naught. In truth, Simone Simon's film appearances during her 20th Century Fox period were of less interest than her private life, which garnered loads of (unwanted) publicity when she accused her secretary of forging checks. The accused in turn divulged naughty details about Simon's private affairs. Among these was her alleged habit of showering her male friends with gifts, including gold keys to her home. Simone Simon in 'La Bête Humaine': Return to France and Jean Renoir (photo: Jean Gabin and Simone Simon in 'La Bête Humaine') With her Hollywood career stalled and now facing competition at Fox from another French import, Annabella (later Tyrone Power's wife), Simone Simon went back to France. There, she reestablished herself as an actress to be reckoned with in Jean Renoir's moody La Bête Humaine. Based on Émile Zola's novel, La Bête Humaine exudes a dark, fatalistic atmosphere that was quite common in pre-World War II French movies – and that would later influence American film noir. In fact, La Bête Humaine has more than a few elements in common with two James M. Cain novels that would be filmed in the 1940s: The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity***. In a gloomy railway station, the child-like siren Séverine (Simon Simon) would rather spend her time with a virile engineer (Jean Gabin) than with her unattractive (and murderous) station master husband (Fernand Ledoux). She tries to lure the engineer into killing the husband, but ends up being murdered herself. "Her Séverine was unforgettable," Jean Renoir would later say. Renoir also wanted Simon to play the female lead in what was to become his masterwork, The Rules of the Game / La règle du jeu (1939). However, he couldn't meet her salary demands. So the director-producer opted for the less expensive – and considerably less saucy – Nora Gregor. Simone Simon: 'Cat People' 1942 After World War II broke out, Simone Simon returned to the United States. Her second Hollywood foray was a tad happier, as she was offered two more memorable roles. In both, sex once again played an important part. In 1941, Simon was Belle, the perky, kittenish devil's handmaiden in William Dieterle's slow-moving All That Money Can Buy / The Devil and Daniel Webster. Walter Huston (excellent as the devil), James Craig, and Edward Arnold were the stars. Taking her patented kittenishness to a higher, more complex plane the following year, Simone Simon portrayed the sexually repressed Irena Dubrovna in Jacques Tourneur's Cat People. In the film, Irena is a Serbian fashion artist who believes she turns into a panther whenever she gets stirred up. Much like Séverine in La Bête Humaine, Irena is ultimately doomed by her emotions and desires. One of the most widely admired cult classics ever, the 1942 Cat People was one of several low-budget but generally well-regarded horror – or rather, atmospheric – films produced by Val Lewton for RKO. Jacques Tourneur, who would return to the genre in the more blatantly horrific Night of the Devil (1957), directed the proceedings from a screenplay by DeWitt Bodeen. Tourneur was assisted by future two-time Best Director Oscar nominee Mark Robson (Peyton Place, The Inn of the Sixth Happiness), the production's film editor. Simone Simon's Cat People co-stars were B movie actors Kent Smith (as Irena's husband) and Tom Conway. But the film's real star was the magnificent chiaroscuro cinematography by Nicholas Musuraca. Despite its current cult classic status, back in 1942 Cat People was not much more than a well-received and popular B movie. Although back in those days more titles were allowed to be shortlisted in several Academy Award categories, Cat People failed to be nominated for a single Oscar§. Unsurprisingly, after Cat People Simone Simon would land roles in only a handful of minor Hollywood films. The most distinguished of these were two 1944 releases produced by Val Lewton, and (at least partly) directed by Citizen Kane editor and future two-time Best Director Oscar winner Robert Wise†: The Curse of the Cat People and Mademoiselle Fifi. Also written by DeWitt Bodeen, The Curse of the Cat People was a sequel of sorts to the original film. But those expecting another atmospheric entry were likely sorely disappointed. Although beautifully shot by Nicholas Musuraca, The Curse of the Cat People is a children's fantasy tale. Simon has what amounts to an extended cameo as Irena's ghost, helping out the daughter (Ann Carter) of her widower (Kent Smith), now married to another woman (Jane Randolph, also seen in the 1942 Cat People). The Curse of the Cat People was initially made under the direction of short-subject filmmaker Gunther V. Fritsch. Once Fritsch fell behind schedule, RKO replaced him with Robert Wise, who thus earned his first directorial credit. Mademoiselle Fifi was Val Lewton's departure from the horror and fantasy genres. Based on a couple of Guy de Maupassant stories, "Mademoiselle Fifi" and "Boule de Suif"††, the film was set in occupied France during the Franco-Prussian War in the late 19th century. In a role akin to that of Claire Trevor in Stagecoach, Simon was cast as a French laundress aboard a coach filled with uppity passengers. Unfortunately for her, Mademoiselle Fifi was not a financial success. Second return to France Following the armistice, Simone Simon returned to France. She would appear in 11 more films in Europe. Most notable among these were Jacqueline Audry's The Pit of Loneliness / Olivia (1951), opposite Marie-Claire Olivia (in the French-language title role), and stage and screen veteran Edwige Feuillère; and two all-star movies for German director Max Ophüls: La Ronde and Le Plaisir. In the delightful La Ronde (1950), based on Arthur Schnitzler's play, Simon was a chambermaid in one of the various segments. The La Ronde cast also included Gérard Philipe, Danielle Darrieux, Simone Signoret, Serge Reggiani, Anton Walbrook, Daniel Gélin, Isa Miranda, Fernand Gravey, Odette Joyeux, and Jean-Louis Barrault. In Le Plaisir (1952), she was a model who becomes involved with painter Daniel Gélin in the segment "Le Modèle," one of the film's three tales by Guy de Maupassant. Jean Servais was the third cast member and narrator. An unusual – and little-known – Simone Simon film released around that time was Géza von Radványi's drama Women Without Names / Donne senza nome (1950). Set in Italy in the aftermath of World War II, Women Without Names features Simon as one of several residents in a camp for displaced women. Veterans Françoise Rosay and Gino Cervi were two of her co-stars. Following William Fairchild's British comedy The Extra Day in 1956, with Richard Basehart and George Baker, Simon retired from films. From then on, she would focus on stage work. In 1973, she made a brief comeback in a key supporting role in Michel Deville's The Woman in Blue / La femme en bleu. The comedy-drama starred Michel Piccoli, Lea Massari, and Michel Aumont. Simone Simon died of "natural causes" in Paris on the night of Feb. 22, 2005. She was 94. At the time, French Minister of Culture Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres issued a statement extolling Simon's "charm, her irresistible smile. ... With Simone Simon's passing, we have lost one of the most seductive and most brilliant stars of the French cinema of the first half of the 20th century." Simon never married. At one point, she was reportedly the mistress of French banker and racehorse breeder Alec Weisweiller. Simone Simon lost movie roles to Ann Sothern, Annabella * According to various online sources, including the IMDb, Simone Simon also had an undetermined role in Le Voleur, in which Jean-Pierre Aumont becomes involved with married woman Madeleine Renaud. This 1933 release was directed by Maurice Tourneur, father of Cat People director Jacques Tourneur. Note: Black Eyes is also referred to as Dark Eyes. ** Rita Hayworth was known at the time as Rita Cansino; she was eventually replaced by Barbara Stanwyck in A Message to Garcia (1936). At the time Simone Simon was fired from Under Two Flags, 20th Century Fox publicly asserted that Simon had to be replaced because of illness. Her footage had to be scrapped. As a result, Lloyd's of London ended up paying the studio $115,000 for a release to all claims related to Simon's dismissal and the hiring of the costlier Claudette Colbert. Among the other roles Simone Simon lost during her tenure at 20th Century Fox were those in White Hunter (she was replaced by June Lang), Danger – Love at Work (replaced by Ann Sothern), and Suez (replaced by fellow Frenchwoman Annabella). *** Lana Turner and John Garfield starred in Tay Garnett's 1946 film version of The Postman Always Rings Twice, released by MGM. Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, and Edward G. Robinson were the leads in Billy Wilder's 1944 Paramount release Double Indemnity. Lawrence Kasdan's classic 1981 neo-noir Body Heat, starring Kathleen Turner, William Hurt, and Richard Crenna, shared similarities to the aforementioned two titles and, by extension, to La Bête Humaine. Émile Zola's novel would get an official Hollywood version in 1954, when Fritz Lang directed Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, and Broderick Crawford in Human Desire. The film was not well received. § A more graphic and less well-regarded 1982 Cat People remake was directed by Paul Schrader, and starred Nastassja Kinski (in the old Simone Simon role), Malcolm McDowell, John Heard, Annette O'Toole, Ruby Dee, and Ed Begley Jr. Alan Ormsby was credited for the screenplay adaptation. † Robert Wise also edited Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons and the Simone Simon movie All That Money Can Buy. His two Best Director Oscars were for two musicals: West Side Story (1961, shared with Jerome Robbins) and The Sound of Music (1965). †† Elements in common with John Ford's Stagecoach (1939), starring Claire Trevor as a prostitute (and John Wayne as her protector), aren't coincidental. Ford's classic Western lifted the basic plot from Guy de Maupassant's "Boule de Suif." An official film version of de Maupassant's tale was released in 1945, the year after Mademoiselle Fifi came out in the United States. Directed by Christian-Jaque, the French-made Angel and Sinner / Boule de Suif starred Micheline Presle. Information about the making of Under Two Flags via tcm.com. The article "Cat People 1942 Actress Simone Simon Remembered" is a revised and expanded edition of a post originally published in February 2005. Cat People 1942 Simone Simon photo: RKO publicity image. Jean Gabin and Simone Simon La Bête Humaine photo: Paris Film publicity image. This article was originally published at Alt Film Guide (http://www.altfg.com/).