The Leopard Woman (1920) User Reviews (5)

Provocative Agent!!

[kidboots · 7/10 · 8 January 2015]

Louise Glaum may have been renowned for being Theda Bara's nearest rival but her career was much more than that. She seemed to be there at the beginning of every genre - initially doing comedies at Nestor and was a regular in the "Universal Ike" series. She then joined Inceville Studios and was memorable for her vamping roles in William S. Hart's "Hell's Hinges" and "The Return of Draw Egan". She then signed with Paralto, a new but prestigious film company, in January 1918 - who knew that in May it was to be taken over and the studio disbanded?? Glaum was considered a real feather in their cap and they were going all out in their effort to give her worthy photo-plays. Even though it was probably the shortest build up in cinema history once Louise left Paralta she then found glory as a vamp. With a title like "Sex" the back stage movie was hard to ignore and "The Leopard Woman" found her once again in exotic locales, even though the "vamp" as a character was becoming a bit passé!!!

Cairo - where "East meets West" and where John Culbertson meets "Madame" (Glaum) - woman of mystery. House Peters was a popular matinée idol from the pre 1920s and apparently dubbed the "Star of a Thousand Emotions" - only one was evident in this movie - steely determination!! Madame is having a party but Culbertson has rained on her parade by saying he has no interest in such trivial things. It is a pretty amazing do and as one reviewer comments, it is a pity this movie is missing the original tints - the exotic dancing girls, the place decked out like a harem and "Madame" sitting on an ornate throne would have looked glorious, as it is, it is just washed out grey.

Culbertson is on a mission to gain the allegiance of M'tela, a tiny African kingdom but "Madame", who goes by the moniker of "The Leopard Woman" is the rival power's top spy and is given the job to see that Culbertson doesn't reach his destination. The most exciting part happens before they set off: Madame sends a fiery native girl (an uncredited actress but she plays her role with gusto!!) with a knife to his room but after a tussle he emerges shaken and stirred!! She then puts together her own safari with the aim to derail his quest! So she purposely avoids a watering hole and John finds her and her natives half dead with thirst, she then feigns illness but gradually falls in love with him. When he succumbs to glaucoma she sends her trusted servant Chake (Noble Johnson) through the jungle to bring back an eminent doctor.

Unusual for the time and with full credit to the short lived independent film company Associated Producers Inc., Noble Johnson, a distinguished black actor played a leading role - this was still in the times when if a black actor was needed it was easier to find a white actor to "black up"!!!

Well-produced, but problematic

[claudecat · 5/10 · 2 February 2020]

Louise Glaum reportedly put $5,000 of her own money into this production (by one account about $64,000 today), as well as deferring her fee and sewing her own costumes. So I was expecting the movie to look pretty bare bones, but it's actually quite lavish, with a full complement of extras, and exotic tableaux that make a satisfying "Cairo" setting (at least the characters start in Cairo; it's a bit hard to tell where they go next). Stumar's cinematography particularly stands out in moonlit scenes, and the intertitles are little works of art, with background paintings and high-style calligraphy. We saw a pretty nice print at the Essanay Silent Film Museum in Niles, CA, and there was a brief glimpse of color that indicated the film was originally tinted, but sadly the color has been lost for now.

Despite the glamorous look of the film, I wouldn't recommend it to most casual viewers. The plot is muddled, and the film is nakedly white supremacist in a way that's uncommonly stark even for the time. Paradoxically, African-American actor Noble Johnson actually has a substantial featured role, with (written) lines and a character arc, and most of the "ethnic" characters are actually played by people of appropriate races, but the story goes ridiculously out of its way to make the Africans appear inferior to the white "bwana." The Englishman even supposedly knows the location of the water holes better than the natives do! Insane. At one odd moment, Johnson's character moves to kill an animal with a spear, and is overshadowed by the white man with a rifle...it told a little story about colonialism and change in a few microcosmic moments, but the filmmaker's point seemed just to be a simplistic "guns are better." Johnson's acting in the scene, however, made me wonder.

The story also seems conflicted about how much agency to allow the female lead. She does make some active choices, and is clearly the (anti?)heroine of the film, but part of the time she's portrayed as strangely weak and not very successful as the scheming femme fatale she's advertised as. This is not Glaum's fault, but the scenario writer's. Glaum's looks won't be as popular with modern viewers as they were back in the day, but she plays her part with conviction. And the costumes she (with her sister and mother) made are standouts; many of them reminded me of the Vienna Workshop, and some would fit right into a Gustav Klimt painting.

Slightly paunchy but still attractive, House Peters is believably resolute as the intrepid "great white hunter" (though less plausible as a man who commands total deference from the much fitter servants around him...however, he does carry a big rifle), but his character is so entitled and obnoxious that I found myself rooting for the femme fatale even at her most law-breaking. Unwittingly, the Peters character shows that the patriarchy is more trouble than it's worth, as he seems to spend 99% of his waking hours bluffing that he's in total control at all times, and it looks exhausting.

Extra tidbits: a zebra in the film appears to be played by a painted donkey, perhaps visiting from Tijuana.

This may be the only film you ever see in which glaucoma--or the film's idea of glaucoma, anyway--plays an important role in the plot.

I haven't yet found how this film did back in 1920, but the producer supposedly stowed away on a boat to France without paying his debts.

What a shame we don't have a tinted copy!

[JohnHowardReid · 6/10 · 16 September 2014]

Louise Glaum (Madame), House Peters (John Culbertson), Noble Johnson (Chaké), and Benny Ayers, Nathan Curry, Alfred Hollingsworth. Directed by Wesley Ruggles. Based on the play by Stewart Edward White. Adapted for the screen by H. Tipton Steck and Stanley C. Morse. Photography by Charles Stumar. Film editor: Ralph H. Dixon. Art titles: F. J. van Halle, Carl Schneider, Leo H. Braun. Art director: Charles Kyson. Technical directors: Harvey C. Leavitt, W.L. Heyward. Independently produced and supervised by J. Parker Read, Jr. Executive producer: Thomas H. Ince.

Copyrighted by J. Parker Read, Jr: 25 September 1920. Released through Associated Producers. Los Angeles opening: 15 October 1920. Running time: 71 minutes.

COMMENT: This elaborately produced nonsense would have enjoyed quite a lot of appeal for me in its original tinted print. Unfortunately, the black-and-white copy is a bit of a chore to sit through, despite the pleasure of some wonderfully bizarre art titles including: "Then the ruby-jeweled fingers of the dawn – parting the sable curtains of the tropic night." (sic). Nevertheless, Louise Glaum's siren (a Clayton's femme fatale if ever there was one, namely the femme fatale you have when you're not having a femme fatale) hots up the screen even in Grapevine's mostly far-too-dark, but occasionally far too light, black-and-white copy (which is at least complete – and not a mark on it!), but glum, slow-moving and slow-thinking hero, House Peters tends to out-stay his welcome.

Glaum looks great, but the film is mediocre

[scsu1975 · 4/10 · 30 November 2022]

The British government sends agent John Culbertson to make a treaty with an African tribal leader. "Madame," aka "The Leopard Woman," is assigned by some bearded guy to stop Culbertson in any way she can. This includes attempted murder, feigning sickness, and a failing attempt at seduction. Love triumphs in the end (I kid you not).

This film was a disappointment. No one should go out of their way to see it. The story is dull, and complicating matters was the poor print on YouTube. Titles and scenes were sometimes obscured, forcing me to squint my eyes. The film gets off to a decent start, particularly in the scene where Glaum strips down to the bare essentials, puts a knife between her teeth, and crawls into Peters' room to try to kill him. Unfortunately, this was one of the scenes that was faded and dark, so the viewer couldn't even get a chance to appreciate Glaum's "charms." The film drags after that, but picks up slightly near the end.

There is nothing wrong with the acting, but this film could have been more entertaining. Also, there is no explanation for the film's title. Unless I missed a title card, Glaum is never referred to as "The Leopard Woman," and she certainly never dresses like one. In addition, it was never clear to me just what "Madame" does, besides throw parties and try to kill British agents.

Noble Johnson has a substantial role as Glaum's slave/assistant. He keeps calling her "Memsahib." I hadn't heard this "title" before, but it really is a word, and apparently apt for this situation.

The 39 Year Old Noble Johnson

[The Novelist · 3 May 2002]

Although this film was a bit dull, the 39 year old Noble Johnson sprang into the silent 20's as the marginalized community's answer to Charles Chaplin as an actor, and D.W. Griffith as a producer. So much so, Cecil B. DeMille enlisted his talents for 'The Ten Commandments'.