The Leopard Man is a 1943 American horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur, and starring Dennis O'Keefe, Jean Brooks, and Margo. Based on the book Black Alibi by Cornell Woolrich, it follows a series of violent murders in a small New Mexico town, which coincide with the escape of a leopard from a nightclub. It is one of the first American films to attempt an even remotely realistic portrayal of a serial killer (although that term was yet to be used). Plot In a sleepy New Mexico town, nightclub promoter Jerry Manning hires a black leopard as a publicity stunt for his girlfriend, Kiki Walker, a performer there. Kiki uses the opportunity to interrupt the act of her rival, Clo-Clo, by storming into the restaurant with the leopard on a leash. Angered, Clo-Clo frightens the leopard with her castanets, and it escapes, fleeing into the night. Charlie, the Native American owner of the leopard who leased it to Jerry, begins pestering him for money to replace the cat. That night, a young local woman, Teresa, goes to purchase corn meal for her family's dinner. Under a bridge in an arroyo, she encounters the leopard, and flees to her house. She is killed at the door just before her family is able to let her back in the house. The medical examiner rules Teresa's death an accident, presuming she was mauled by the leopard. Shortly after, Consuela, another local, goes to visit her father's grave in the cemetery on her birthday. Lost in thought, Consuela fails to leave before the gatekeeper locks the gate, and finds herself trapped within the cemetery's stone walls. When help arrives, Consuela is found, another apparent victim of the leopard. After learning of the second murder, Jerry inquires to the police as to why the leopard has remained within the city, as he was informed it would naturally flee to the wilderness. Charlie also questions whether the leopard killed Consuela, but is gaslit by the local historian and museum curator Galbraith, into believing he may be responsible, committing the murders during his nightly alcohol binges in which he blacks out. At his request, Charlie is kept in a jail cell overnight. Clo-Clo spends the night with an elderly wealthy man at the nightclub, who gifts her a hundred-dollar bill. After, she visits Maria, a fortune teller, who warns her that "something black" is coming to claim