The Leopard Man

(1943) Directed by Jacques Tourneur; Written by Ardel Wray and Edward Dein; Based on the novel, Black Alibi, by Cornell Woolrich; Starring: Dennis O’Keefe, Margo, Jean Brooks, Isabell Jewell, James Bell, Margaret Landry, Abner Biberman, Tuulikki Paananen, and Ben Bard; Available on Blu-ray and DVD Rating: **** "Time is strange. A moment can be as short as a breath or as long as eternity. Don’t linger. The gates are locked at six.” – Cemetery Gatekeeper (Brandon Hurst) Horror manifests itself in many forms. Is it the act itself, or the suggestion of the act that is the most horrific? As Alfred Hitchcock once observed, it’s not the gunshot but the anticipation of the gunshot that’s the most blood chilling. Jacques Tourneur understood this all too well, preferring suspense, shadows, and suggestions over explicit depictions of violence. The Leopard Man (based on the Cornell Woolrich novel Black Alibi),* his final collaboration with producer Val Lewton, was no exception. Like their…