Details

Release year: 2007

Storyline

Martin Scorsese narrates this tribute to Val Lewton, the producer of a series of memorable low-budget horror films for RKO Studios. Raised by his mother and his aunt, his films often included strong female characters who find themselves in difficult situations and who have to grow up quickly. He is best remembered for the horror films he made at RKO starting in 1942. Starting with only a title - his first was Cat People (1942) - he would meticulously oversee every aspect of the film's completion. Although categorized as horror films, his films never showed a monster, leaving it all to the viewers imagination, assisted by music, mood and lighting.

Top credits

Directors

Kent Jones

Writers

Kent Jones

Cast

Martin Scorsese — Narrator
Orson Welles — Self
Val E. Lewton — Self
Alexander Nemerov — Self - Author, 'Icons of Grief'

See all 13 credits →

Did you know

• The podcast series 'The Secret History Of Hollywood' is entirely about Val Lewton; not only does it handle his movie-making life but also his private life. The series handles all of Lewton's relations to other producers, studios, studio owners, actors, writers, and everything in-between.

• Val Lewton initially resisted working with Boris Karloff because he didn't want to make a "monster movie". However, when they did work together on The Body Snatcher (1945), they developed a mutual respect and friendship. Both men knew that they had made a good film outside the bounds of the "monster movie" genre.

• This film has a 100% rating based on 5 critic reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.