director, Robert Wise (1914-2005)

for Lewton:
Mademoiselle Fifi (1944), The Curse of the Cat People (1944), The Body Snatcher (1945)

also:
Born to Kill (1947), Blood on the Moon (1948), The Set-Up (1949), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956), Run Silent Run Deep (1958), Odds Against Tomorrow (1959), West Side Story (1961), The Haunting (1963), The Sound of Music (1965), The Sand Pebbles (1966), The Andromeda Strain (1971)

Became one of Hollywood's most successful directors, with a long and varied career. The man who did The Sound of Music also did the tough claustrophobic boxing movie, The Set-Up. For this reason, not a favorite with auteurists.

director, Mark Robson (1913-1978)

for Lewton:
The Seventh Victim (1943), The Ghost Ship (1943), Youth Runs Wild (1944), Isle of the Dead (1945), Bedlam (1946)

also:
Champion (1949), Bright Victory (1951), The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954), The Harder They Fall (1956), Peyton Place (1957), The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958), Von Ryan's Express (1965), Valley of the Dolls (1967), Earthquake (1974)

Born in Montreal. Editor with Orson Welles and then Lewton. Like Wise, he managed a long, successful, though less-celebrated, career. His output defies any attempt at classification, going from war movie to soap opera in the blink of an eye.

music, Roy Webb (1888-1982)

for Lewton:
Cat People (1942), I Walked with a Zombie (1943), The Leopard Man (1943), The Seventh Victim (1943), The Ghost Ship (1943), The Body Snatcher (1945), Bedlam (1946)

also:
Bringing Up Baby (1938), My Favorite Wife (1940), Stranger on the Third Floor (1940), Journey Into Fear (1943), The Fallen Sparrow (1943), Murder, My Sweet (1944) , Experiment Perilous (1944), Cornered (1945), The Spiral Staircase (1945), Notorious (1946), The Locket (1946), It's a Wonderful Life (1946), The Devil Thumbs a Ride (1947), Crossfire (1947), Out of the Past (1947), Blood on the Moon (1948), The Window (1949), The Racket (1951), Clash by Night (1952), The Lusty Men (1952), Angel Face (1952), Track of the Cat (1954), Marty (1955)

Webb came to the movies well grounded in classical music as well as Broadway show tunes. He had worked with Richard Rogers and Max Steiner. Though he could handle comedy like Bringing Up Baby, it was when he brought his "advanced harmonies and melancholy fatalism" to " the brooding psychological thrillers that were RKO’s specialty in the 1940s" (Naxos), that he made his most indelible mark.

camera, Nicholas Musuraca (1892-1975)

for Lewton:
Cat People (1942), The Seventh Victim (1943), The Ghost Ship (1943), The Curse of the Cat People (1944), Bedlam (1946)

also:
Golden Boy (1939), Stranger on the Third Floor (1940), The Fallen Sparrow (1943), The Spiral Staircase (1945), The Locket (1946), Out of the Past (1947), I Remember Mama (1948), Blood on the Moon (1948), Where Danger Lives (1950), Clash by Night (1952), The Blue Gardenia (1953), The Hitch-Hiker (1953)

Born in Italy. He is one of the primary shapers of noir with his fearless use of black. He shot Stranger on the Third Floor (1940), a contender for first-noir-movie status. "The low placement of light sources - often in the guise of table lamps, but also fireplaces and campfires - netted a highly expressionistic look as the illuminated subject was trapped by his or her own shadow looming on the walls and ceiling above." (Eric Schaefer, Film Reference)

camera, Robert DeGrasse (1900-1971)

for Lewton:
The Leopard Man (1943), The Body Snatcher (1945)

also:
The Outcasts of Poker Flat (1937), Stage Door (1937), Crack-Up (1946), Born to Kill (1947), The Window (1949), The Men (1950)

Came from a family involved in the early days of movies. Was a cinematographer at 21, having been a camera operator. With the advent of sound, he went back to being an operator and once again worked his way to cinematographer by learning the details of the new medium.

actress, Elizabeth Russell (1916-2002)

for Lewton:
Cat People (1942), The Seventh Victim (1943), The Curse of the Cat People (1944), Youth Runs Wild (1944), Bedlam (1946)

also:
The Corpse Vanishes (1942), Hitler's Madman (1943), A Scream in the Dark (1943), Weird Woman (1944), Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945)

A successful fashion model before turning to film, she became a consumate character actor. Her roles for Lewton were small, but in each she was a magnetic presence. It's quite sad that she didn't go on to have a glorious career.

actor, Skelton Knaggs (1911-1955)

for Lewton:
The Ghost Ship (1943), Isle of the Dead (1945), Bedlam (1946)

also:
The Lodger (1944), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), Terror by Night (1946), The Paleface (1948), Casanova's Big Night (1954), Moonfleet (1955)

Born in England, Shakespearean training. His career was largely made of sinister roles, though Lewton seemed to see him in a sympathetic light and used him accordingly, particularly in The Ghost Ship.

art director, Albert S. D'Agostino (1892-1970)

all of Lewton’s RKO output.

also:
The Raven (1935), Journey Into Fear (1943), The Fallen Sparrow (1943), Murder, My Sweet (1944), Cornered (1945), The Spiral Staircase (1945), The Stranger (1946), Notorious (1946), The Locket (1946), The Devil Thumbs a Ride (1947), Born to Kill (1947), Crossfire (1947), Out of the Past (1947), Berlin Express (1948), Blood on the Moon (1948), The Set-Up (1949), The Window (1949), The Thing (1951), His Kind of Woman (1951), The Racket (1951), On Dangerous Ground (1952), Macao (1952), The Narrow Margin (1952), Clash by Night (1952), The Lusty Men (1952), Angel Face (1952), The Hitch-Hiker (1953), Run of the Arrow (1957)

New Yorker Albert D'Agostino journeyed to Hollywood in the '20s to seek work as an art director, and freelanced for many different studios as a set decorator and art department technician before he found his niche at RKO, where he stayed for the rest of his career. D'Agostino was one of those responsible for the glossy but gritty look of RKO's productions, and he collaborated on or supervised the art direction of every RKO film. - IMDb

writer, DeWitt Bodeen (1908-1988)

for Lewton:
Cat People (1942), The Seventh Victim (1943), The Curse of the Cat People (1944)

also:
The Enchanted Cottage (1945), I Remember Mama (1948), Billy Budd (1962)

Began his career as an actor and playwright. Was Aldous Huxley's research assistant for Jane Eyre. Did screenplays for RKO, and eventually wrote for television as well as authoring articles and books on film.

Lewton was interested in paintings with a macabre bent and had a number of famous works reproduced for use in the titles or on the sets of his movies. Here (click left) are three that played a significant thematic role in his oevre.

the nine titles