master. Reception Contemporary At the time of its original release, the reviews for Cat People were mixed. Newman compiled the reviews after the films premiere in New York, stating that The New York Times, The New York Herald Tribune, New York Sunday News and the New York World-Telegram "all went thumbs down", while The New York Sun, New-York Mirror, New York Journal-American and PM reviews were "more positive, if not really enthusiastic". Wanda Hale of the New York Daily News was unimpressed by the film, writing that it "tries hard to be a melodrama ... but it doesn't try hard enough". Bosley Crowther (The New York Times) described the film as a "labored and obvious attempt to induce shock" and said that its themes are explored "at tedious and graphically unproductive length". Crowther commented on Simon's acting, stating that actresses who are trying to portray "[feline] temptations – in straight horror pictures, at least – should exercise their digits a bit more freely than does Simone Simon". Newman referred to the reviews after the film opened in Los Angeles as "somewhat better". Variety stated that the film is "well-made on a moderate budget outlay" and relies upon "developments of surprises confined to psychology and mental reaction, rather than transformation to grotesque and marauding characters for visual impact on the audiences". A reviewer at BoxOffice found the film "grim and unrelenting ... a dose of horror best suited to addicts past the curable stage" and noted that the film was "definitely not for children, young or old ... Potent stuff, straight from the psychopathic clinic". A critic writing in the Monthly Film Bulletin, a British publication, stated that Cat People was "a fantastic story, reasonably produced and directed". Variety also added that the script would be "hazy for the average audience in several instances, [but] carries sufficient punch in the melodramatic sequences to hold it together in good style", elaborating that Tourneur "does a fine job with a most difficult assignment". The Monthly Film Bulletin complimented the photography and acting, noting that Simon "only partly succeeds in interpreting the part of Irena, but lighting and camera work and sound recording help to make her performance adequate". Retrospective Fujiwara summarized Cat Peoples retrospective critical status by stating that it "is so famous that it has, inevitably, suffered a backlash, and now it might even be called underrated". Less enthusiastic reviews came from