The Creeper (1948)

by Ted Davis and Linda Kay

Directed by: Jean Yarbrough

Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: Genial Dr. John Reade (John Baragray) teams with vaguely sinister Dr. Van Glock (reliable red herring Eduardo Ciannelli), to research allergens. In his spare time, Dr. Reade tries to comfort constantly whimpering Nora Cavigny (Janis Wilson), the daughter of kindly Dr. Lester Cavigny (Ralph Morgan), who partners with stern and single-minded Dr. Jim Bordon (Onslow Stevens) to refine a technique to illuminate the major human organs, presumably to improve diagnoses and surgical operations. Unfortunately, reaching this goal requires injecting a series of cats with phosphorous, which results in most deadly and unforeseen consequences.

Cat Burglars (Scene Stealers): The very first shot of the movie is a close up of a black cat, a still of which remains throughout the opening credits.

The Creeper - extreme close up of black cat's face

Immediately after the credits, a black cat creeps down a convenient tree branch. This shot was clearly recycled from The Catman of Paris (1946).

The Creeper - black cat walking down tree branch

The Creeper - black cat climbing down tree branch in front of mansion animated gif

Dr. Reade introduces nervous Nora, who has an irrational fear of cats, to his staff, which includes Creeper, who is grooming himself while relaxing on top of a file cabinet. Creeper is a handsome black cat with a very noticeable white left front paw (courtesy of the studio makeup department, which appears to have simply dipped the kitty’s foot in white paint), who serves as non-stop rodent patrol for a couple of the medical research suites. Creeper should not be confused with The Creeper, the shadowy presence who commits a handful of murders over the course of the movie’s short run time.

The Creeper - black cat with white paw preening on file cabinet

Bitchy Gwen Runstrom (June Vincent), Dr. Bordon’s efficient lab assistant, carries and sets down the cat directly in front of Nora, just to intimidate and scare her. The ploy is a success — Creeper looks up at Nora and a panicky Nora looks down at Creeper, then drops her glass and scurries out of the office.

The Creeper - Gwen June Vincent holding black cat with white paw with Dr. Reade John Baragray and a terrified Nora Janis Wilson behind

The Creeper - black cat with white paw sitting on floor looking up

The Creeper - Nora Janis Wilson terrified by black cat with white paw Creeper sitting in front of her animated gif

Next up is an apparent dream sequence, in which Nora sees a cat’s large and misshapen white paw (very clearly a person’s hand in a white fur glove with claws) entering through her bedroom window, and she reacts by sprinting out of her room while shrieking for help. The following morning Nora visits Dr. Reade, in part to apologize for her silly behavior the previous day, but is disturbed again when the sociable Creeper nudges the door open to say hello.

The Creeper - black cat with white paw standing and looking up

Dr. Van Glock picks up the cat and offers him to Nora to hold, and she reacts with a predictable and tiresome panic attack.

The Creeper - Dr. Van Glock Eduardo Ciannelli holding black cat with white paw with Dr. Reade John Baragray and a terrified Nora Janis Wilson

Nora recounts a past delirium-fueled nightmare when she envisioned a bunch of angry cats, hissing and snarling, and her first sighting of the distorted large white cat claw.

The Creeper - terrified Nora Janis Wilson surrounded by images of black cat eyes

The Creeper - Nora Janis Wilson imagining black and tabby cats all around her animated gif

Dr. Reade and Nora try to enjoy a nice relaxing dinner at a Chinese restaurant, but she is traumatized again when a curious black cat pops up from under their table and meows for attention (or maybe for a food morsel). This last shot appears to be in slow-motion with the film run back and forth to draw the shot out longer, although the repeated footage makes the cat look more comical than menacing.

The Creeper - black cat by Nora's feet under table

The Creeper - Nora Janis Wilson startled by black cat jumping onto booth beside her animated gif

Kitty Cameo: As Gwen takes a phone call from Dr. Cavigny, a tabby cat hops from the out-bin on the desk to the floor, to be picked up promptly and stroked by Andre Dussaud (David Hoffman), the gaunt caretaker who tends to the cats for Doctors Cavigny and Bordon.

The Creeper - Nora Janis Wilson answering phone as tabby cat jumps off desk and is picked up by Andre David Hoffman animated gif

During an exchange between Dr. Bordon and Gwen, Dr. Von Brock uses Creeper as an excuse to sneak into their office and retrieve the guiltless cat.

The Creeper - Gwen June Vincent and Dr. Bordon Onslow Stevens interrupted by Dr. Von Brock Eduardo Ciannelli holding black cat with white paw Creeper

Nora may still be in a dream state when she sees the white claw moving from under her bed to cast a threatening shadow which glides down the hall in the direction of her father’s room. After a moment or two of silence, feline snarls and hisses can be heard, and, after another moment, the dark shape returns from whence it came. A rattled Nora rushes to her father’s side, only to find his shredded corpse. She takes fright and runs out of the house down the sidewalk, chased by a black cat, until she faints. The chase is constructed through editing; Nora and the cat are never seen together in the same shot and one shot of the cat passing a corner is actually repeated twice.

The Creeper - black cat running along sidewalk

The Creeper - Nora Janis Wilson being chased down street by black cat with white paw animated gif

The next morning, Creeper is outside the lab door waiting for Dr. Reade to pick him up, which he does, commenting that a nice saucer of milk would hit the spot for a kitty who had been out on the tiles the previous night. The good doctor fits the deed to his word and sets down a saucer of cold milk for Creeper to slurp.

The Creeper - black cat with white paw sitting beside door

The Creeper - black cat with white paw being given saucer of milk by Dr. Reade John Baragray

Irritable and useless Inspector Fenwick (Richard Lane) browbeats Doctors Reade and Van Brock and also casts a suspicious eye at Creeper, who does not hold up well under the scrutiny, slinking away as the scene fades out.

The Creeper - black cat with white paw crouching by door

Cat Cattle Call: The caged cats used for Dr. Bordon’s abhorrent experiments are seen several times in the background during the lab sequences.

The Creeper - Gwen June Vincent and Dr. Reade John Baragray in lab with numerous cats inside cages

The Creeper - Gwen June Vincent, Dr. Bordon Onslow Stevens and Inspector Fenwick Richard Lane in lab with numerous cats inside cages

Later on, Dr. Reade rushes into Dr. Bordon’s offices to extinguish a smouldering fire and discovers the body of Gwen surrounded by a number of the lab cats which have been freed from their cages and are wandering about on the floor. Some of the cats make themselves scarce when the doctor enters, and the remainder scoot out of sight when he moves about the lab to phone police headquarters. (If you’re wondering why we don’t see Gwen’s head or face in this scene, actress June Vincent explained the reason in the book Ladies of the Western by Michael G. Fitgerald; she couldn’t stand the idea of all those cats crawling over her body and insisted on a stand-in for that particular scene.)

The Creeper - Gwen lying on laboratory floor surrounded by numerous cats

The Creeper - Dr. Reade John Baragray running into laboratory on fire and finding body of body of Gwen lying on laboratory floor surrounded by numerous cats animated gif

At her home, things come to a head when Nora takes steps to protect her father’s secrets while The Creeper stalks her. Terrified as she moves around the dark house, Nora is interrupted by the appearance of Creeper the cat, who is followed immediately by Dr. Bordon.

The Creeper - black cat with white paw standing by open doorway

The Creeper - Nora Janis Wilson looking worried as black cat with white paw Creeper runs through house and stops at door animated gif

During the remainder of the scene, the identity of the killer is revealed, as is the secret behind the deadly white cat claw. Near the end of the movie, Creeper contemplates the vagaries of human behavior while posing next to a cat figure whose appearance mimics his own. The movie ends as it began, with the same close up of Creeper from the beginning underneath the closing credit.

The Creeper - black cat with white paw sitting beside small cat statue

We could not find any information about the cat actors in this movie but the image of the cat, albeit a rather deranged-looking one as opposed to the mellow Creeper, was featured in advertisements and posters for the film.