MovieChat Forums > The Curse of the Cat People Discussion > Husband and Father of the Year

Husband and Father of the Year

posted 17 years ago by Cardiff-Giant
28 replies | jump to latest

In the first film, Oliver Reed could legitimately be called a terrible husband. He rushes into marriage (within what, a week?) with a woman who won't even kiss him. He almost immediately starts seeing his coworker and telling her all of their personal secrets. He then takes them both on some sort of three-way date to the museum, when he already knows that his wife is jealous. Then he and Alice send the Irina away while at the museum. Finally, they resolve to put Irina in a mental institution, because the sleazy, sword-wielding psychiatrist thinks it's the right thing to do. NICE CATCH, IRINA.

In the second film, he berates his daughter for not having any friends. He builds her toys when she's trying to fit in, but when she doesn't do very well he yells at her. He doesn't even believe her when she says she went to another house in the neighborhood (hardly a far-fetched story). He eventually beats her for having an imaginary friend. NICE PARENTING, *beep*

[–] sforzando_films 11 years ago

I agree completely! I hated the father oh my gawd I hated the father!

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[–] thesnowleopard 9 years ago

He's a total creep. In the first film, he can't wait to stick his new wife in a madhouse and run off with a new woman who's an idiot. He then marries the idiot, has a daughter with her who is too much like his first wife (so he spends most of the film rejecting her), and then starts having heart-to-hearts with an even dumber schoolteacher when his wife weakly protests about his smacking the daughter for...I don't even know what. Having too much imagination? Reminding him of his guilt over what he did to his first wife? Reminding him that he's a creep?

I wish they'd killed him off in both films.

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[–] cabbageboy316 9 years ago

The whole plot of the first Cat People completely does not hold up to a modern viewer. I mean it REALLY doesn't. Who on earth would marry someone with serious issues in terms of being intimate and especially who would do it on short notice? Good grief, in Carefree (1938) Ralph Bellamy had Ginger Rogers see his shrink buddy (Astaire) before they were going to get married. And that film is a goofy musical comedy.

As far as other Lewton protagonists go, I didn't so much mind Dennis O'Keefe in The Leopard Man. Within his phony tough guy shtick I think he felt broken up about the leopard escaping.

How about The Seventh Victim? I guess Kim Hunter is a decent enough protagonist in that, but what do we make of her sister's husband? Kind of a dirtbag. And I don't even know what to make of Tom Conway returning from the dead as Dr. Judd there (yet not really playing it the same). Or the dude that was the poet. So much weirdness going on there.

[–] FranLovesBetteD 9 years ago

LOL, I couldn't agree more. In the first movie, it really mad me so mad the way he suddenly "stopped loving" Irena once her problems started, and then again instantly "realized" that he really "loved" her happy-go-lucky co-worker.

Much as I love both movies, I was really hoping that Irena's ghost would torment him at least during 60 of the 70 minutes the sequel runs.

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[–] jrhpax 7 years ago

Wow, I can hardly believe the hate that many of you have toward Oliver.

I don't think he deserves it.

In "Cat People," Irena wouldn't consummate the marriage, and her psychiatrist diagnosed her as a few steps away from insanity. Oliver decided to stick by her anyway.

In the second movie, he tries to be a good father (by standards of 75 years ago!) and keep his daughter from fantasizing about sick Irena.

Kent Smith gives a sympathetic performance in both movies. I repeat, I don't understand the hate for his character.