Leonora Johnson

Leonora Johnson (née Brandt) was the main villainess from the 1957 horror film, Cat Girl.

She was played by Barbara Shelley.

Leonora Johnson is a descendant of the cursed Brandt family, and she returns to her ancestral home to collect on her inheritance. The family curse was passed on to Leonora following the death of her uncle Edmund Brandt, who was mauled by a leopard. The curse has Leonora becoming a murderous leopard when she is angered; with Leonora using her connection to the leopard to kill. Leonora's curse is put to work when she catches her husband, Richard, carrying on with Leonora's friend, Cathy. The furious wife expressed her anger at the affair, which allowed the leopard to kill Richard. Knowing what she is capable of, Leonora stated that she was the one who killed her husband, and that she would have torn his mistress to pieces as well. She later attacks Cathy, blaming her for her husband's death.

Leonora is later institutionalized and under the care of her psychiatrist, Dr. Brian Marlowe, who Leonora is in love with. Later that night, Leonora sees the leopard outside and has a vision of herself physically transforming into a feline villainess; ransacking her room in her feline form. She attempt to convince Brian of her curse, but he doesn't believe her. The next night, Leonora again sees her hands becoming furry paws while the leopard is outside and again tells Brian, who opted to release her and leave her under the care of his wife, Dorothy.

Unbeknownst to Brian, Leonora appears to have fully embraced her evil side, and during her time with Dorothy, her feline persona resurfaced once they returned home from dining--as she devoured Dorothy's pet bird. Brian phoned Leonora with plans to meet both ladies for dinner, but after hanging up, Leonora deceptively sends Dorothy to meet her husband in a dark and dangerous part of town, with Dorothy changing her mind about staying at home with Leonora after seeing that her bird is missing. The film's climax has Dorothy encountered by the heel-turned Leonora, who expressed her true romantic feelings for Brian, as well as her hatred of Dorothy. After Dorothy walks off, the evil Leonora stalked her, removing her high heels during her pursuit. The villainess later used her connection to the leopard and ordered the animal to kill Dorothy, but at that moment, Brian (who sensed that his wife was in some sort of danger) drove towards the area and accidentally ran over and killed the leopard. With the leopard's death, Leonora keeled over and died as well.

Trivia

 * The film is seen as a British remake of the original Cat People film made 15 years prior. The difference is that Simone Simon's character in that film is a protagonist attempting to fight her curse, while Barbara Shelley's lead character in Cat Girl makes a slow transition into a villainous femme fatale.