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Cat People (1942 film)

Cat People is a 1942 American supernatural horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced for RKO by Val Lewton. The film tells the story of Irena Dubrovna, a newly married Serbian fashion illustrator obsessed with the idea that she is descended from an ancient tribe of Cat People who metamorphose into black panthers when aroused. When her husband begins to show interest in one of his coworkers, Irena begins to stalk her. The film stars Simone Simon as Irena, and features Kent Smith, Tom Conway, and Jane Randolph in supporting roles.

Production began in 1942, with Lewton being placed in charge of developing RKO's low-budget horror films. He brought together a team of filmmakers that he had worked with in the past, including Tourneur, editor Mark Robson and screenwriter DeWitt Bodeen. Cat People was the first film upon which the team worked. They were given the title by an RKO executive, who instructed them to develop a film from it. After researching various horror films and cat-related literature, Bodeen and Lewton developed the script with Lewton doing extensive uncredited work on the story. The film was shot at RKO's studios reusing sets from previous films such as The Magnificent Ambersons. During editing, Robson developed a technique later called The Lewton Bus, a jump scare that Lewton used in his subsequent films.

Cat People had its premiere at the Rialto Theatre in Manhattan on December 5, 1942, before having a wider release on December 25. Initial critical reviews ranged from negative to mildly enthusiastic. The film did well at the box office, being one of RKO's biggest hits of the season. Several horror films of the 1940s and 1950s were influenced by Cat People, either drawing on the film's shadowy visuals or containing a female character who fears that she possesses a hereditary trait that makes her transform into a monster. The film was followed by a sequel, The Curse of the Cat People, in 1944, and a remake, directed by Paul Schrader, was released in 1982. The film has become well known, though created as a B-movie, being selected by Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1993. Retrospective reception of the original has been varied. Some modern critics have described the film as being too subdued for the genre and have deprecated the quality of the acting. Others have praised the film's atmosphere and sophistication, with the critic Roger Ebert describing it and the other Val Lewton productions as landmark films of the 1940s.

Plot
At the Central Park Zoo, Serbian-born fashion illustrator Irena Dubrovna makes sketches of a captive black panther. She catches the attention of marine engineer Oliver Reed, who strikes up a conversation. Irena invites him to her apartment for tea. At her apartment, Oliver is intrigued by a statue of a medieval warrior on horseback impaling a large cat with his sword. Irena informs Oliver that the figure is King John of Serbia and that the cat represents evil. According to legend, in medieval times, the Christian residents of her home village gradually turned to witchcraft after being enslaved by the Mameluks. When King John drove the Mameluks out and saw what the villagers had become, he had them killed. However, "the wisest and the most wicked" escaped into the mountains. Oliver is dismissive of the legend even though Irena clearly takes it seriously.

Oliver buys Irena a kitten, but upon meeting her, it hisses. Irena suggests they go to the pet shop to exchange it. When they enter the shop, the animals go wild in her presence, and Irena becomes uneasy. Irena gradually reveals to Oliver that she believes she is descended from the cat people of her village, and that she will transform into a panther if aroused to passion. Despite this, Oliver asks her to marry him, and she agrees. During the dinner after their wedding at a Serbian restaurant, a cat-like woman walks over and addresses Irena as moja sestra ("my sister").

Irena never consummates the marriage, fearful of the consequences. Oliver is patient with her, but eventually persuades her to see a psychiatrist, Dr. Louis Judd. Judd tries to convince her that her fears stem from childhood traumas. Meanwhile, Irena is unhappy to discover that Oliver has confided in his assistant, Alice Moore. Alice confesses to Oliver that she loves him. When Irena chances to see Oliver and Alice seated together at a restaurant, she follows Alice home. Just as Alice hears a menacing sound, a bus pulls up and she boards it. Soon after, a groundskeeper discovers several freshly killed sheep. The paw prints leading away turn into imprints of a woman's shoes. A disheveled Irena returns to her apartment; she is shown afterwards weeping in the bathtub. Irena dreams of Dr. Judd dressed up as King John speaking of "the key". She later steals the key to the panther's cage at the zoo.

Irena, Oliver and Alice visit a museum, and Irena is angered when the two virtually ignore her. That evening, when Alice decides to use the basement swimming pool of her apartment building, she is stalked by an animal. When Alice screams for help, Irena appears, turning on the lights, and says she is looking for Oliver. Alice later finds her bathrobe torn to shreds. After an appointment with Dr. Judd, Irena tells Oliver that she is no longer afraid, but Oliver tells her it is too late: he has realized that he loves Alice and intends to divorce Irena. Later at work, Oliver and Alice are cornered by a snarling animal. Oliver and Alice manage to get out of the building, but not before smelling Irena's perfume.

Alice calls Judd to warn him to stay away from Irena, but he hangs up when Irena arrives for her appointment with him. He kisses Irena passionately, resulting in her transformation into a panther, resulting in his death. When Oliver and Alice arrive, Irena slips away and goes to the zoo. She opens the panther's cage with the stolen key and is struck down by the escaping panther, which is accidentally hit and killed by a car. Next to the panther's cage, Oliver and Alice find Irena's body lying on the ground. Oliver says, "She never lied to us," and leads Alice away.

Development
In March 1942, producer Val Lewton ended his working relationship with independent producer David O. Selznick to work for RKO Radio Pictures' Charles Koerner, becoming the head of a new unit created to develop B-movie horror feature films. Writing in 2009, the film critic Kim Newman compared the Lewton productions to RKO's own B-movie mystery series based on The Falcon, which were, unlike Lewton's productions, "churned out". The Lewton productions were modestly budgeted compared to Universal productions like The Wolf Man (1941), or Paramount productions like The Uninvited (1944), but had larger budgets than those of Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC) films like The Mad Monster (1942), or Monogram films like The Ape Man (1943). Cat People had a budget of around $135,000, which was significantly less than Universal spent on Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943), but more than the $97,000 that the poverty row studio PRC spent on The Devil Bat (1940).

Lewton selected most of the film's main crew, including director Jacques Tourneur and writer DeWitt Bodeen, who all worked on the treatment. These were people Lewton had connections with through their work with Selznick, as Tourneur had worked as part of the second unit teams for Selnick's production of A Tale of Two Cities (1935) and Bodeen had been a research assistant on what would become Jane Eyre (1943). Tourneur and Bodeen offered conflicting accounts as to how Cat People was conceived. Tourneur said that Lewton called him from RKO to direct the film after Koerner attended a party where it was suggested to him that he develop a film with the title Cat People. Tourneur added that Lewton was not sure what to do with the title and recalled Lewton deciding to not make a "cheap horror movie that the studio expected but something intelligent and in good taste". Bodeen's version involved him being hired by Lewton at RKO as a contract writer. He had previously watched British and American horror and suspense films that he felt were "typical of what we did not want to do". According to Bodeen, Koerner felt that werewolves, vampires and man-made monsters were over-exploited, and that "nobody has done much with cats". Bodeen added that Lewton was unhappy with the proposed title of Cat People and said, "if you want to get out now, I won't hold it against you".

Bodeen then began researching cat-related literature, including Ambrose Bierce's "The Eyes of the Panther" and Margaret Irwin's "Monsieur Seeks a Wife". Lewton decided to base the film on Algernon Blackwood's 1906 short story "Ancient Sorceries". Blackwood's story had a contemporary setting and involved a Medieval architecture French town inhabited by a group of devil-worshipping cat people. According to Bodeen, as the rights were about to be purchased, Lewton changed his mind at the last minute and told Bodeen that the film would be set in contemporary New York and involve a love triangle between a man, a foreign woman obsessed with abnormal fears, and a female office worker. According to Tourneur, he was not content with the period setting of "Ancient Sorceries", stating, "if you're going to have horror, the audience must be able to identify with the characters in order to be frightened". Lewton contributed heavily to the screenplay. During the writing process, Tourneur recalled driving by Lewton's home in the evening to find a light turned on where Lewton was still working on the screenplay. Bodeen described the screenplay as a "group project", saying Lewton had the original idea and he wrote the treatment and screenplay, collaborating with Tourneur and Lewton, and later the film's editor Mark Robson. Bodeen concluded that "Tourneur was entirely responsible for the style of Cat People, but if you read the screenplay you would find everything in the film was in the original script – and that's simply because it was a group project. Val, Tourneur, myself, Robson – we all talked about it and I put it down on paper". By May 1, 1942, Bodeen had a fifty-page treatment completed for Cat People.

Pre-production

Simone Simon was cast in the role of Irena Dubrovna by producer Lewton. Lewton commented that, "I'd like to have a girl with a little kitten face like Simone Simon, cute and soft and cuddly and seemingly not at all dangerous". He compared his decision to the casting of Kathleen Burke in Island of Lost Souls (1932), where she portrayed the Panther Woman, stating that any attempt at securing a wild, cat-like appearance in their casting would be disastrous. Simon, a star in her native France, had recently garnered fame in the United States for her role in The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941). Opposite Simon, Kent Smith was cast as Oliver Reed. Smith allegedly received the role after Lewton spotted him cycling across the studio lot.

The Los Angeles Times reported in August 1942 that Jack Holt had been cast in a supporting role, following Simon's casting as the lead. Tom Conway was cast as Dr. Judd, a psychiatrist who evaluates Irena and initially believes her fears to be delusional. Jane Randolph, then a young actress who had recently begun her film career, was cast as Alice Moore, a woman vying for Oliver's affections. Lewton had wanted Jennifer Jones to play Alice, but was prevented from casting her by Selznick, who had other plans for Jones. Among the rest of the crew was the composer of the score Roy Webb and cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca, who were seasoned veterans at RKO.

Filming
Principal photography commenced on July 28, 1942, at RKO's Gower Gulch studios in Hollywood. Tourneur recalled that he was nearly fired three days into shooting after executive producer Lew Ostrow saw the daily rushes, called Lewton and told him to fire the director. According to Tourneur, Lewton subsequently contacted Koerner, who viewed the raw unedited footage of the film the following day and expressed satisfaction with Tourneur's performance. Simon frequently clashed with co-stars as well as Tourneur during the shoot and displayed a significant temper. Randolph recalled that Simon frequently upstaged her during their scenes together, to the point that Tourneur confronted Simon: "He really bawled her out—in French. And she didn't like that either". Randolph also recalled Simon intentionally pouring coffee on one of her costumes in order to halt the production for the day. In a 1994 interview, Simon commented on her reputation in the United States: "I had a reputation of being temperamental – I never knew why – but this became part of my temperamental legend". Tourneur also clashed with higher-ups at RKO, recalling a later scene in the film, which featured a panther: "The front office made me put a cat in the drafting room scene: I had only intended to suggest the cat's presence by shadows". The director finished this scene by shooting it in a way that "you couldn't really be sure what you were seeing. That's the only way to do it".

Some of the film sets were re-used from previous productions, such as the hallway and staircase in Dubrovna's apartment, which were from The Magnificent Ambersons. Other sets were re-used from The Devil and Miss Jones. Additional photography took place at the Royal Palms Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, where the swimming pool sequence involving a character believing she is stalked by a panther was shot. The location was chosen by the production team due to its claustrophobic atmosphere. Bodeen also stated that the scene was inspired by his own experience of nearly drowning when swimming alone at night in a pool while Tourneur said that the scene was based on his own experience of swimming alone in a friend's pool while the friend's pet cheetah escaped and began pacing nearby. Filming was concluded on August 21. The film's final cost sheet was $141,659.88, which was $22,711.88 over-budget.

Post-production
Cat People editor Mark Robson had previously worked on Orson Welles's The Magnificent Ambersons, which was a financial failure on its release. Robson felt that he was assigned to Lewton's horror film unit because RKO punished anyone who had worked with Welles. Cat People contains a stalking scene that ends with a jump scare. Such scenes were also featured in other Lewton horror productions, such as The Leopard Man and The Seventh Victim. Robson referred to these scenes as "the bus", which he described as an "editing device [he] created by accident". In Cat People, the scene involved Alice walking through a park alone at night as the film cuts to close ups of her face while her expression changes from chipper to distressed as she quickens her walking pace. Alice looks over her shoulder and turns to the sudden sound of a bus's air brakes. Robson stated that he "put a loud sound of air brakes on it so that it knocked viewers out of their seats. That became the 'bus' and we used it in every film".

On October 5, Constantin Bakaleinikoff conducted Roy Webb's score for Cat People at RKO's Stage 2A. Part of the score was influenced by Simon. Lewton found Simon singing a tune at RKO that went "doo-doo-baby-doo", subsequently taking her to see Webb, who developed the tune into the film's score. The score of the film, along with those of I Walked with a Zombie, The Seventh Victim, The Body Snatcher and Bedlam, was re-recorded by The Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra and released on compact disc in 1999. In his review of the album, Bruce Eder wrote for AllMusic noting that both Cat People and The Seventh Victim scores "represent distinctly non-traditional suspense scores, built around memorable core motifs, dealing with their central characters' struggle with the forces of evil within and without".

Prior to its official release, the higher-up executives at RKO saw the film at a studio projection room and expressed disapproval. Early test screenings took place in October at the RKO Hill Street Theatre, a testing site for sneak previews, with the cast and crew in attendance. Bodeen recalled that the film opened up with a Disney cartoon about a kitten, which led to the audience meowing. The audience cat-called and meowed further at the films opening title screen, according to Bodeen. Upon seeing an early preview, Randolph commented that she thought she was "terrible" in the film, while Simon was terrified that people would laugh at her performance, specifically in the pool scene. Bodeen found that as the story progressed the audience calmed and became more involved in the film. By late October, Lewton and Tourneur were already shooting their next film together, I Walked with a Zombie.

Release
Cat People had its premiere at the Rialto Theatre in Manhattan on December 5, 1942, and it was released regionally the following day in New York City. Its first two weeks at the Rialto Theatre, the film took in $17,000; in comparison, The Wolf Man grossed $19,500 at the same theatre in December 1941. The film received a wide release on December 25, distributed by RKO Radio Pictures. It had its Los Angeles premiere on January 14, 1943, at the Hawaii Theater, where it broke the attendance record. RKO reissued the film theatrically in 1952.

The film's box office receipts are disputed. Film historian Edmund Bansak has estimated the box office for Cat People at $4 million domestically and $4 million in foreign markets. Film historians Chris Fujiwara and Joel Siegel also put the domestic box office at $4 million. Variety estimated its rentals in 1943 as $1.2 million. Gregory Mank stated that RKO files report that domestic rentals were $360,000 and foreign rentals were $175,000, leading to a total of $535,000, and a profit of $183,000. Mank noted that rentals are not equivalent to gross revenue, and, assuming the revenue was split evenly between theaters and the studio, the film grossed over $1 million. He wrote that this was still "excellent business", comparing it to the profit of RKO's The Falcon's Brother, which had worldwide rentals of $361,000.

Home media
RKO Home Video released the film on home video in 1986 as part of their horror series. It was released on laserdisc by the Voyager Company as part of The Criterion Collection in 1995. This release contained an audio commentary by Bruce Eder, trailers for other Val Lewton titles and his filmography, and a section with production stills, lobby cards, and production photos.

In the United States, Cat People and its sequel, The Curse of the Cat People, were issued in 2005 as both a double feature DVD and as part of the Val Lewton Horror Collection DVD box set. In December 2016, Cat People was reissued on DVD and Blu-ray by The Criterion Collection. This Blu-ray was from a new digital transfer created at 2K resolution from a 35mm safety fine-grain master.

Contemporary
At the time of its original release, the reviews for Cat People were mixed. Newman compiled the reviews after the film's premiere in New York, stating that The New York Times, The New York Herald Tribune, New York Sunday News, and the New York World-Telegram "all went thumbs down", while The New York Sun, New-York Mirror, New York Journal-American, and PM reviews were "more positive, if not really enthusiastic". Wanda Hale of the New York Daily News was unimpressed by the film, writing that it "tries hard to be a melodrama ... but it doesn't try hard enough". Bosley Crowther of The New York Times described the film as a "labored and obvious attempt to induce shock", and said that its themes are explored "at tedious and graphically unproductive length". He commented on Simon's acting, stating that actresses who are trying to portray "[feline] temptations – in straight horror pictures, at least – should exercise their digits a bit more freely than does Simone Simon".

Newman referred to the reviews after the film opened in Los Angeles as "somewhat better". Variety stated that the film was "well-made on a moderate budget outlay" and relies upon "developments of surprises confined to psychology and mental reaction, rather than transformation to grotesque and marauding characters for visual impact on the audiences". The review went on to say that the script would be "hazy for the average audience in several instances, [but] carries sufficient punch in the melodramatic sequences to hold it together in good style", elaborating that Tourneur "does a fine job with a most difficult assignment". A reviewer at BoxOffice found the film "grim and unrelenting ... a dose of horror best suited to addicts past the curable stage", and noted that the film was "definitely not for children, young or old ... Potent stuff, straight from the psychopathic clinic". A critic writing in the Monthly Film Bulletin, a British publication, stated that Cat People was "a fantastic story, reasonably produced and directed", and complimented the photography and acting, noting that Simon "only partly succeeds in interpreting the part of Irena, but lighting and camera work and sound recording help to make her performance adequate".

Retrospective
Fujiwara summarized Cat People's retrospective critical status by stating that it "is so famous that it has, inevitably, suffered a backlash, and now it might even be called underrated". Less enthusiastic reviews came from Charles Higam and Joel Greenberg, who wrote that the film now appeared "so understated that much of its intended effect is dissipated [...] its total impression is distinctly tepid". Joel E. Siegel spoke about the film in his book on Lewton, stating it was "seriously weakened by passages of lumpy, strained dialogue, uncertain performance and uneven pacing". Richard Combs of the Monthly Film Bulletin compared the film unfavorably to other Lewton productions, stating that "it is perhaps easier to prefer the more mellow, less heavily fingered fantasy of Curse of the Cat People, and even the reconciled ambitions of The Ghost Ship". In his 1995 book on Lewton, Edmund G. Bansak found that Cat People "may have lost some of its edge over the years and what remains may be a bit tarnished, but it is infinitely better than Paul Schrader's 1982 remake". Tourneur himself held varying opinions about the film, once saying that it was "very childish but audiences in those days were more naive than they are today [...] but there are some very good things in it". On another occasion, he suggested that World War II-era audiences "all love war and love to be frightened, and in wartime people had money from plants, money to burn, and they loved that kind of film". Critic Ken Hanke remarked: "It isn't because the [Lewton films] are unsuccessful in themselves. It's simply that they threw the baby out with the bathwater by rejecting everything of the Universal product. Moreover, the films are a bit too trés snob and condescending for genre fans to feel comfortable about them".

The critical reception to Simon's acting has historically been mixed. Siegel critiqued her acting, stating that her range was "too narrow for the film's more dramatic moments, a problem heightened by her difficulties with American pronunciation". Tourneur also stated that he was not happy with Simon's acting. On the other hand, Fujiwara wrote that, although "not delicately nuanced", Simon's performance "is effective in its mixture of narcissism and hesitant uncertainty". Newman described Simon's performance as "remarkably affecting, strange accent and all", adding that "there's a sense of life in her performance that makes Cat People, like most great monster movies, as much a tragedy as a melodrama".

Newman praised the film, noting that it was the first major supernatural horror film with a contemporary, urban, American setting and "normal people, engaged in normal occupations" as leading characters, and concluded that Cat People was a progenitor of films like Rosemary's Baby. He wrote that, through numerous viewings of the film, he discovered "new aspect[s], some unnoticed detail carefully crafted [...] I would happily rewatch it this evening which may be the highest praise I can give any film". In his book on Tourneur, Fujiwara declared that Cat People was the "master text" of Tourneur's career, stating that most of his later films have some connection with Cat People, specifically The Leopard Man and Night of the Demon, but also Experiment Perilous, Out of the Past, Nightfall, and Circle of Danger. Fujiwara concluded that Cat People is, "with all its flaws, a perfect film", and added that even its flaws "have become classic", dismissing the "careful", "tepid", "strained", and "uneven" qualities that some critics have complained about. He also stated that Cat People "is still contagious; the viewer can still share the surprise and pleasure the film evoked in audiences who discovered this unheralded B horror film on its initial release". Critic Roger Ebert included Cat People in his list of "Great Movies" in 2006. He remarked that the film would work for contemporary audiences depending on their tastes, stating that it is "frightening in an eerie, mysterious way that was hard to define" with "an undertone of sexual danger that was more ominous because it was never acted upon". Ebert also praised the filmmakers, writing that Tourneur and Musuraca were "masters of light and shadow", and called the films Lewton produced in the 1940s "landmark[s] in American movie history". In 1993, the Library of Congress deemed Cat People "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.

In Monsters in the Closet, the film theorist Harry Benshoff argues that the films of Val Lewton such as Cat People reflected "a growing awareness of homosexuality, homosexual communities, and the dynamics of homosexual oppression as it was played out in society and the military" during that era, which led to a more nuanced depiction of monsters in films of that era.

Sequels
Discussing the history of horror films, Newman stated that, if a horror film in the 1940s was financially successful, it was likely to become a franchise. Cat People was followed by The Curse of the Cat People, directed by Robert Wise, which is about Oliver and Alice's daughter, Amy, and Amy's invisible friend, portrayed by Simon. In addition to Simon, Smith, and Randolph, Elizabeth Russell appears in the sequel in a different role, that of Barbara Farren. Lewton unsuccessfully attempted to have the title of The Curse of the Cat People changed to Amy and Her Friend.

The Seventh Victim is described by Newman as being "an unacknowledged spin-off" of Cat People, as it also features Tom Conway playing Dr. Judd, as well as another haunted woman eager to embrace death. In the film, Judd recalls that he once knew a mysterious woman who was in fact a "raving lunatic", even though Judd's character died in Cat People, making the relationship between the two fictional narratives incoherent. In memos and early drafts of the screenplay of The Seventh Victim, Conway's character was referred to as "Mr. Siegfried", leading film scholars to believe that the character's name was changed to create continuity between the two films and capitalize on Cat People's success.

Remakes
British producer Milton Subotsky bought the rights to Cat People from RKO with plans to develop a remake. Subotsky later passed the property to Universal, which initially planned to have Roger Vadim direct. Three drafts of the screenplay were developed, the first two written by Bob Clark and the final version written by Alan Ormsby. According to Ormsby, Vadim was very concerned that the film would appear sexist, as the woman who was sexually intense had to be destroyed, so he created a male character who has the same problem.

In the early 1980s, Universal Pictures hired Paul Schrader to direct the remake of Cat People. The remake was announced and began shooting in 1981. According to cinematographer John Bailey, Schrader paid homage to the stalking scene in the original with a scene featuring Annette O'Toole's character jogging through a park as she appears to be stalked. Bailey and Schrader also remade the swimming pool scene, with Bailey recalling that they carefully studied the original scene, taking note of how the shadows reflected against the pool, and stating that this sequence was the most similar part of the remake to the original film because "we didn't think we could do it any better". The remake was released in April 1982 to mixed reviews.

In March 1999, a second remake was announced as a co-production between Universal Pictures and Overbrook Entertainment. Written by Rafael Moreu, it would have been updated to the present day and set in New York, but this project was never filmed.

Influence
A number of contemporary films were influenced by Cat People, such as Columbia Pictures' Cry of the Werewolf (1944), which Newman described as combining the "subtle Lewton approach" with elements from Universal's The Wolf Man, like a plot that involves a gypsy curse. Numerous films have borrowed plot or character elements from Cat People, particularly by having a female character who fears she has inherited the tendency to turn into a monster, or attempted to replicate the shadowy visual style of Tourneur and Musuraca, among them Jungle Woman (1944), The Soul of a Monster (1944), The Woman Who Came Back (1945), She-Wolf of London (1946), The Catman of Paris (1946), The Cat Creeps (1946), The Creeper (1948), Cult of the Cobra (1955), The She-Creature (1956), and Daughter of Dr. Jekyll (1957).

Director Curtis Harrington made two films as tributes to Lewton's work. The first was Night Tide (1961), which reworked the plot of Cat People into a story about a sideshow performer who dresses as a mermaid and is concerned she actually is a siren. The second was the television film The Cat Creature (1973), which featured Kent Smith in the cast and also paid tribute Universal's horror films.

title: Cat People (1942 film)


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Real estate contract

A real estate contract is a contract between parties for the purchase and sale, exchange, or other conveyance of real estate. The sale of land is governed by the laws and practices of the jurisdiction in which the land is located. Real estate called leasehold estate is actually a rental of real property such as an apartment, and leases (rental contracts) cover such rentals since they typically do not result in recordable deeds. Freehold ("More permanent") conveyances of real estate are covered by real estate contracts, including conveying fee simple title, life estates, remainder estates, and freehold easements. Real estate contracts are typically bilateral contracts (i.e., agreed to by two parties) and should have the legal requirements specified by contract law in general and should also be in writing to be enforceable.

In writing
It is a legal requirement in all jurisdictions that contracts for the sale of land be in writing to be enforceable. The various Statute of frauds require contracts for the sale of land to be in writing. In South Africa, the Alienation of Land Act specifies that any agreement of sale of immovable property must be in writing. In Italy, each transfer of real estate must be registered in front of a notary public in writing.

The common practice is for an "exchange of contracts" to take place. This involves two copies of the contract of sale being signed, one copy of which is retained by each party. When the parties are together, both would usually sign both copies, one copy of which would be retained by each party, sometimes with a formal handing over of a copy from one party to the other. However, it is usually sufficient that only the copy retained by each party be signed by the other party only. This rule enables contracts to be "exchanged" by mail. Both copies of the contract of sale become binding only after each party is in possession of a copy of the contract signed by the other party—i.e., the exchange is said to be "complete". An exchange by electronic means is generally insufficient for an exchange, unless the laws of the jurisdiction expressly validate such signatures.

A contract for the sale of land must:

 * Identify the parties: The full name of the parties must be on the contract. In a sales contract, the parties are the seller(s) and buyer(s) of the real estate, who are often called the principals to distinguish them from real estate agents, who are effectively their intermediaries and representatives in negotiation of the price. If there are any real estate agents brokering the sale, they are typically listed also as the real estate brokers/agents who would earn the commission from the sale.
 * Identify the real estate (property): At least the address, but preferably the legal description must be on the contract.
 * Identify the purchase price: The amount of the sales price or a reasonably ascertainable figure (an appraisal to be completed at a future date) must be on the contract.
 * Include signatures: A real estate contract must be entered into voluntarily (not by force), and must be signed by the parties.
 * Have a legal purpose: The contract is void if it calls for illegal action.
 * Involve Competent parties: Mentally impaired, drugged persons, etc. cannot enter into a contract. Contracts in which at least one of the parties is a minor are voidable by the minor.
 * Reflect a meeting of the minds: Each side must be clear and agree as to the essential details, rights, and obligations of the contract.
 * Include Consideration: Consideration is something of value bargained for in exchange of the real estate.  Money is the most common form of consideration, but other consideration of value, such as other property in exchange, or a promise to perform (i.e. a promise to pay) is also satisfactory.

Notarization by a notary public is normally not required for a real estate contract, but many recording offices require that a seller's or conveyor's signature on a deed be notarized to record the deed. The real estate contract is typically not recorded with the government, although statements or declarations of the price paid are commonly required to be submitted to the recorder's office.

Sometimes real estate contracts will provide for a lawyer review period of several days after the signing by the parties to check the provisions of the contract and counterpropose any that are unsuitable.

If there are any real estate brokers/agents brokering the sale, the buyer's agent will often fill in the blanks on a standard contract form for the buyer(s) and seller(s) to sign. The broker commonly gets such contract forms from a real estate association he/she belongs to. When both buyer and seller have agreed to the contract by signing it, the broker provides copies of the signed contract to the buyer and seller.

Offer and acceptance
As may be the case with other contracts, real estate contracts may be formed by one party making an offer and another party accepting the offer. To be enforceable, the offers and acceptances must be in writing (Statute of Frauds, Common Law)and signed by the parties agreeing to the contract. Often, the party making the offer prepares a written real estate contract, signs it, and transmits it to the other party who would accept the offer by signing the contract. As with all other types of legal offers, the other party may accept the offer, reject it (in which case the offer is terminated), make a counteroffer (in which case the original offer is terminated), or not respond to the offer (in which case the offer terminates by the expiration date in it). Before the offer (or counteroffer) is accepted, the offering (or countering) party can withdraw it. A counteroffer may be countered with yet another offer, and a counteroffering process may go on indefinitely between the parties.

To be enforceable, a real estate contract must possess original signatures by the parties and any alterations to the contract must be initialed by all the parties involved. If the original offer is marked up and initialed by the party receiving it, then signed, this is not an offer and acceptance but a counter-offer.

Deed specified
A real estate contract typically does not convey or transfer ownership of real estate by itself. A different document called a deed is used to convey real estate. In a real estate contract, the type of deed to be used to convey the real estate may be specified, such as a warranty deed or a quitclaim deed. If a deed type is not specifically mentioned, "marketable title" may be specified, implying a warranty deed should be provided. Lenders will insist on a warranty deed. Any liens or other encumbrances on the title to the real estate should be mentioned up front in the real estate contract, so the presence of these deficiencies would not be a reason for voiding the contract at or before the closing. If the liens are not cleared before by the time of the closing, then the deed should specifically have an exception(s) listed for the lien(s) not cleared.

The buyer(s) signing the real estate contract are liable (legally responsible) for providing the promised consideration for the real estate, which is typically money in the amount of the purchase price. However, the details about the type of ownership may not be specified in the contract. Sometimes, signing buyer(s) may direct a lawyer preparing the deed separately what type of ownership to list on the deed and may decide to add a joint owner(s), such as a spouse, to the deed. For example, types of joint ownership (title) may include tenancy in common, joint tenancy with right of survivorship, or joint tenancy by the entireties. Another possibility is ownership in trust instead of direct ownership.

Contingencies
Contingencies are conditions which must be met if a contract is to be performed.

Contingencies that suspend the contract until certain events occur are known as "suspensive conditions". Contingencies that cancel the contract if certain event occur are known as "resolutive conditions".

Most contracts of sale contain contingencies of some kind or another, because few people can afford to enter into a real estate purchase without them. But it is possible for a real estate contract not to have any contingencies.

Some types of contingencies which can appear in a real estate contract include:

 * Mortgage contingency – Performance of the contract (purchase of the real estate) is contingent upon or subject to the buyer getting a mortgage loan for the purchase.  Usually such a contingency calls for a buyer to apply for a loan within a certain period of time after the contract is signed.  Since most people who buy a house require financing to complete their purchase, mortgage contingencies are one of the most common type of contingencies in real property contracts.  If the financing is not secured, the buyer may unilaterally cancel the contract by stating that his or her condition has not or will not be satisfied or allow the contract to expire by declining to waive the condition within the specified time period.
 * Inspection contingency – Another buyer's condition. Purchase of the real estate is contingent upon a satisfactory inspection of the real property revealing no significant defects.  Contingencies could also be made on the satisfactory repair of a certain item associated with the real estate.
 * Another sale contingency – Purchase or sale of the real estate is contingent on a successful sale or purchase of another piece of real estate. The successful sale of another house may be needed to finance the purchase of a new one.
 * Appraisal contingency – Purchase of the real estate is contingent upon the contract price being at or below a fair market value determined by an appraisal. Lenders will often not lend more than a certain percentage (fraction) of the appraised value, so such a contingency may be useful for a buyer.
 * 72-hour kick out contingency - Seller contingency, in which the seller accepts a contract from a buyer with a contingency (typically a home sale or rent contingency where the buyer conditions the sale on their ability to find a buyer or renter for their current property prior to settlement). The seller retains the right to sell the property to another party if he so chooses after giving the buyer 72 hours notice to remove their contingency.  The buyer will then either remove their contingency and provide proof that they can consummate the sale or will release the seller from their contract and allow the seller to move forward with the new contract.

Date of closing and possession
A typical real estate contract specifies a date by which the closing must occur. The closing is the event in which the money (or other consideration) for the real estate is paid for and title (ownership) of the real estate is conveyed from the seller(s) to the buyer(s). The conveyance is done by the seller(s) signing a deed for buyer(s) or their attorneys or other agents to record the transfer of ownership. Often other paperwork is necessary at the closing.

The date of the closing is normally also the date when possession of the real estate is transferred from the seller(s) to the buyer(s). However, the real estate contract can specify a different date when possession changes hands. Transfer of possession of a house, condominium, or building is usually accomplished by handing over the key(s) to it. The contract may have provisions in case the seller(s) hold over possession beyond the agreed date.

The contract can also specify which party pays for what closing cost(s). If the contract does not specify, then there are certain customary defaults depending on law, common law (judicial precedents), location, and other orders or agreements, regarding who pays for which closing costs.

Condition of property
A real estate contract may specify in what condition of the property should be when conveying the title or transferring possession. For example, the contract may say that the property is sold as is, especially if demolition is intended. Alternatively there may be a representation or a warranty (guarantee) regarding the condition of the house, building, or some part of it such as affixed appliances, HVAC system, etc. Sometimes a separate disclosure form specified by a government entity is also used. The contract could also specify any personal property (non-real property) items which are to be included with the deal, such as washer and dryer which are normally detachable from the house. Utility meters, electrical wiring systems, fuse or circuit breaker boxes, plumbing, furnaces, water heaters, sinks, toilets, bathtubs, and most central air conditioning systems are normally considered to be attached to a house or building and would normally be included with the real property by default.

Riders
Riders (or addenda) are special attachments (separate sheets) that become part of the contract in certain situations.

Earnest money deposit
Although money is the most common consideration, it is not a required element to have a valid real estate contract. An earnest money deposit from the buyer(s) customarily accompanies an offer to buy real estate and the deposit is held by a third party, like a title company, attorney or sometimes the seller. The amount, a small fraction of the total price, is listed in the contract, with the remainder of the cost to be paid at the closing. In some rare cases, other instruments of value, like notes and/or stock or other negotiable instruments can be used for consideration. Other hard assets, like gold, silver and anything of value can also be used or in other cases, love (where it can be shown to have existed between the parties). However, the earnest money deposit represents a credit towards the final sales price, which is usually the main or only consideration.

Financial qualifications of buyer(s)
The better the financial qualification of the buyer(s) is, the more likely the closing will be successfully completed, which is typically the goal of the seller. Any documentation demonstrating financial qualifications of the buyer(s), such as mortgage loan pre-approval or pre-qualification, may accompany a real estate offer to buy along with an earnest money check. When there are competing offers or when a lower offer is presented, the seller may be more likely to accept an offer from a buyer demonstrating evidence of being well qualified than from a buyer without such evidence.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Real estate contract


text:
Lease purchase contract

A Lease-Purchase Contract, also known as a lease purchase agreement or rent-to-own agreement, allows consumers to obtain durable goods or rent-to-own real estate without entering into a standard credit contract. It is a shortened name for a lease with option to purchase contract. For real estate, a lease purchase contract combines elements of a traditional rental agreement with an exclusive right of first refusal option for later purchase of the home.

Elements
Elements of a lease purchase contract typically include: The contract will also generally include terms that relate to repairs and maintenance and, for real estate transactions, how such expenses such as property taxes and homeowner association fees will be paid.
 * Property value - The agreed sale price of the property.
 * Duration - The time frame of the agreement.
 * Monthly payment - How much the lessor will be paying monthly.
 * Rent credit - How much of the lessor's monthly payment will go to the eventual purchase price at the end of the lease.

Transaction Structure
In a standard Lease-Purchase Contract, the two parties agree to a lease period during which rent is paid, and the terms of the sale at the end of the lease period, including sale price. Often, the contract is structured in two parts, one representing the lease term and the other a contract of sale.

As is usually stated in the lease purchase contract, the option fee and accrued rent credit are both non-refundable should the tenant/buyer decide to walk at the end of the lease. The tenant/buyer is released from responsibility for the sale, and the landlord/seller is responsible for finding new tenants.

In simpler terms a LOA or LPA is to take over a property for little to no money down as an agreement to pay for a property later giving the incentive of Guaranteed monthly payments to the other party so you can take control of a property and generate monthly income from it with the (option not the obligation) to buy the property in an average of 5-8 years time from the agreed upon deal.

A LOA or LPA is an exceptionally popular property investment as you can profit by monthly rents from tenants and purchase the property at an agreed amount and then you can sell with a possible high profit from capital appreciation, pulling out all your money out having a maximum profit and an infinite ROI.

A LOA/LPA is especially popular to people in the UK and has created hundreds of thousands of millionaires over the last 30+ years in the UK alone.

Real estate
In real estate transactions, a lease purchase contract combines elements of a traditional rental agreement with an exclusive right of first refusal option for later purchase on the home.

The lease purchase agreement expounds upon what responsibilities the tenant/buyer and landlord/seller undertake during the course of the lease. This contract should describe any option fee and how much of the monthly payment will be credited to the down-payment for the purchase of the home at the end of the lease.

At the end of the lease-term, the tenant/buyer has the option to purchase the house. The lump sum accrued from the initial deposit and the rent credit are only released to the buyer as down-payment on the house should the tenant/buyer decide to proceed with the purchase. The tenant/buyer is responsible for securing the necessary mortgage loan to finalize the purchase of the home.

Should the tenant/buyer be unable to purchase the house due to a lack of financing, the tenant and landlord can agree to extend the option period, convert the lease purchase contract into a traditional rental agreement, or end the contract with the tenant moving out and the landlord seeking other renters or buyers.

Benefits
Lease-purchase contract agreements may meet the needs of a buyer and seller in a manner that cannot be accomplished through a traditional credit transaction. For example, lease-purchase contracts are popular with buyers who have poor credit scores, lower savings for down payments, or people who cannot qualify for a traditional loan at the time they need to acquire property.

Controversy
In the United States, when credits are applied to a purchase price the agreement becomes a financing contract and these contracts have been identified as predatory lending arrangements under the Dodd-Frank Act. Under this federal law any financing arrangement requires the purchaser of an owner occupied dwelling (one to four living units) is to qualify for any financing contract with a registered Mortgage Loan Originator. There are exemptions under this federal law for homeowners financing their primary residence, those in the business of real estate such as landlords are considered dealers. In all states, rent to own arrangements are no longer compliant with federal financing requirements.

Some vendors in rent-to-own transactions target vulnerable families for rent-to-own contracts, then threaten them with criminal charges in order to coerce payments that the families are struggling to afford.

For real estate transactions, alternative financing approaches such as lease-to-own carry fewer consumer protections than traditional financing, and typically involve a higher cost for the buyer.

Commercial loan arrangements are exempt from the Dodd-Frank Act, as a landlord might rent to own a property for the purpose of sub-letting to a tenant. This arrangement is not a popular arrangement but may be accomplished legally.

New Zealand
Auckland’s special housing area is subsidized by the Housing Foundation, providing homes for young families. Under their program, tenants pay rent on their homes for the first five years, then transition into paying mortgage payments. The Waimahia Inlet flagship development will see 282 new homes built over the next three years.

Nigeria
The Lagos State Home-Ownership Mortgage Scheme (LagosHOMS) is a rent-to-own housing program that targets people who currently cannot afford a mortgage, but given will be able to. Tenants are expected to pay rent for a period of time, after which they are invited to transition into mortgage payments. The program is designed with young professionals in mind, including teachers and junior public servants. The program has produced well over 200 new homeowners in the city.

title: Lease purchase contract


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Donald Luskin

Donald Luskin
Blogger. —Stormie 05:32, Oct 11, 2004 (UTC)
 * Notable. Over 500 unique Google hits. Two published books, and writes for National Review. Keep. --Slowking Man 06:25, Oct 11, 2004 (UTC)
 * Hmm, those two published books sounded dodgy to me, but it seems that they are real and from a reputable publisher (John Wiley & Sons).. if there are no "delete" votes within a day or so, I will withdraw this listing. —Stormie 07:02, Oct 11, 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep - a Google search shows 42,000 results, writes regularly for National Review Online as head of the "Krugman Truth Squad" and also has written for MSN Money - he's well known enough to have an article.Capitalistroadster 09:15, 11 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Can I vote to delete the person, but not the article? Keep the article.  (National Review?!) Geogre 14:57, 11 Oct 2004 (UTC)


text:
Ferociously Stoned

Ferociously Stoned is the debut album by American band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, released in November 1990 on Sub Par Records. It was subsequently re-released on the Daddies' own independent label Space Age Bachelor Pad Records in 1994.

Composition
Mixing thumping bass and heavy brass, Ferociously Stoned draws heavily from the punk rock and funk influences which dominated the Daddies' early music, though also features a prominent streak of the jazz and swing-inspired sounds which would soon become a hallmark of the band's style. While the album is driven primarily by funk and swing, Ferociously Stoned also features experiments in psychedelic pop ("The Lifeboat Mutiny"), disco ("Suicide Kings") and James Brown-style rhythm and blues ("You Better Move").

Release and reception
Following the success of the Daddies' 1989 demo tape 4 From On High which helped build the band a dedicated local cult following, Ferociously Stoned set a near-record for all-time advance sales in Eugene, Oregon's record stores, coming in second only to R.E.M. Upon release, the album became a regional success, remaining for over a year on The Rocket's Northwest Top Twenty list and receiving favorable reviews in The Oregonian and Alternative Press. At one point, the Daddies were planning an animated music video for the song "Teenage Brainsurgeon", though ultimately scrapped the idea due to production costs.

Ferociously Stoned was originally released on vinyl and CD by independent label Sub Par Records, the vinyl cover depicting three bikini-clad women clutching stones against a backwards American flag, and the subsequent CD release featuring only the band's name with censor bars over the words "Cherry" and "Poppin'". In March 1991, when the Daddies had temporarily shortened their name to "The Daddies" to alleviate the controversy surrounding their name, the album was re-released with the shortened band name and new cover art featuring a skeleton in formal wear, modeled after the Grateful Dead's "Uncle Sam" skeleton. In 1994, coinciding with the release of the Daddies' second album, Rapid City Muscle Car, Ferociously Stoned was re-issued on CD, restoring the band's full name and including the tracks from their 1989 demo tape 4 From On High as bonus content.

Track listing
All songs written and composed by Steve Perry (MC Large Drink).

Personnel

 * Cherry Poppin' Daddies
 * M.C. Large Drink (Steve Perry) – vocals
 * John Fohl – guitar
 * Dan Schmid – bass
 * Brian West – drums
 * Chris Azorr – keyboards
 * Brooks Brown – alto saxophone
 * James Phillips – tenor saxophone
 * Dana Heitman – trumpet

 * Additional musicians
 * Tim Arnold – drums on tracks 12 – 15
 * James Gossard – guitar on tracks 12 – 15
 * Pat Dixon - Bass Trombone on tracks 13 - 14
 * Patrick Detroit - Baritone Saxophone on tracks 13-14

 * Production
 * Produced and arranged by the Cherry Poppin' Daddies and Bill Barnett
 * Engineered by Bill Barnett and Michael Edwards
 * Mixed at Gung Ho Studios by Bill Barnett, except "Dirty Mutha Fuzz", mixed by Michael Edwards
 * Mastered by Bill Barnett

title: Ferociously Stoned


text:
Talk:Vajont Dam

Two seperate reasons for altering the water level
There seems to be some confusion from contributors about the water level of the dam and the cause of the disaster. There were two things going on:

Firstly, the engineers were using the water level in an attempt to control the rate of the landslide. By raising the water level, they believed that they could increase the rate of the landslide, and by lowering it, that they could slow it again. This theory was based on observations during the early days of the filling, when the movement of the landslipped area could be controlled this way.

The other issue was that a "safe" water level had been determined if a catastrophic landslide should occur. The SADE engineers had predicted that, if a total landslip should suddenly occur, the subsequent displacement wave would top the dam if the water level was less than 20m from the crest. Therefore SADE recommended that the "safe" water level should not exceed 25m from dam crest. The point is that this "safe" water level had nothing to do with controlling or preventing the landslide; it was protection against the worst case scenario - a sudden and uncontrollable landslide.

Although the engineers had exceeded this "safe" water level in their attempt to speed up the inevitable landslide process, when the landslide started moving too quickly they began lowering it again. It's important to note they managed to lower the level back to the "safe level" again before the landslide took place. This is why engineers were standing on the crest of the dam as spectators - they thought it was safe.

It was totally irresponsible for ENEL to go above this "safe" level, but this act was not the cause of the disaster because at the time of the disaster the water was back down to the "safe" level. The causes were that (1) the SADE tests had not predicted the correct size of the displacement wave, and (2) Throughout the filling, the geological model of the landslip area, and their theory for controlling the landslip, were flawed.--Jason210 (talk) 12:56, 5 December 2012 (UTC)

Updated
I have made edits to the text, to include the two essential points that were missing. These are: (i)The water level of the dam was lowered to the recommended safe level to prevent a wave topping the dam by 9th October 1963; and (ii)The actual cause of the flood was the high speed of the landslide, which SADE had failed to predict correctly in their earlier model.

I also took away the bit about the displacement wave causing an air pressure wave like that of a "nuclear bomb", since I can find no evidence for this and no citation was given to support the claim. Eyewitness accounts from Erto e Casso did not report such a blast, although in Longerone eyewitnesses describe a strong wind preceding the flood, which many mistook for a squall or storm.--Jason210 (talk) 23:49, 23 October 2012 (UTC)

Name
Is there any information on the origin of the name? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mwahcysl (talk • contribs) 10:26, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

 * From the Vajont torrent. GhePeU (talk) 19:00, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

In the local language it means "goes down". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.43.135.62 (talk) 18:16, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Current status?
Apparently the dam was abandoned and the area filled with rock. Perhaps this could be checked and added to the article if correct. (See e.g. )-- era (Talk | History) 16:36, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

 * The "filled with rock"-part happened exactly on 3-Oct-1963 22:39 - the Monte Toc landslide. I don't see why anyone should fill the valley, with its arable topsoil, with rock after the landslide.
 * Yes, it WAS that huge (250 e6m³ of rock coming down with speeds up to 110 km/h, if I remember correctly). --2003:C8:4714:600:49CE:C61F:D371:4268 (talk) 22:17, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

Rewriting
I have rewritten most of this page - it basically included only geological information, on what is instead one of the worst disasters in the history of Italy, and one of the worst of mankind in terms of engineering failures. It was really too cold-hearted, and omitted most of the information necessary to understand the actual causes of the failure. (If anyone is interested in more detailed geological information, there is plenty of it in the equivalent page on the Italian wikipedia - I'm not a professional geologists so I'm not going to translate it.) I have provided sources but I have not sourced each and every sentence as it would make the page too heavy, however if anyone has questions just ping me and I can provide the appropriate sources. Vbertola (talk) 16:56, 4 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Here's a good digest in English written by an academic (Prof David Petley, University of Durham, UK, who has published papers on the disaster).  Many photos and a great explanation for the layman. 86.147.162.38 (talk) 08:37, 17 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Last archived version is http://web.archive.org/web/20161222062706/http://www.landslideblog.org/2008/12/vaiont-vajont-landslide-of-1963.html --2003:C8:4714:600:49CE:C61F:D371:4268 (talk) 22:25, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

Seiche?
Are there any sources describing the wave as a seiche as it doesn't match either our article or my understanding? I have seen it described an 'impulse water wave', which makes sense or as a tsunami, which it resembles. A seiche is a standing wave and a large seiche in a reservoir water body could over-top a dam, but that is not what happened at Vajont. Mikenorton (talk) 17:41, 8 October 2010 (UTC)

Width of the dam
"...27 m (89 ft) thick at the base and 3.4 m (11 ft) at the top." Base and top width are interchanged. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.76.202.142 (talk) 16:07, 12 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Are they? I thought it was correct - that the material - front-to-back in the direction of water flow - is 27m thick at the base and 3.4m thick at the top. The article says thick but you are talking about width - the width across the valley perhaps? The article does not say "width" or "wide" or whatever at this point, just "thick", which I'd understand as correct. Whether it is clear enough is a different matter - presumably you would think not, if my guess about a misunderstanding is correct! :) Best wishes DBaK (talk) 17:46, 12 March 2013 (UTC)

Italian Wikipedia article
If anyone's interested, I'm trying to improve our article on the Vajont dam disaster in Italy. Not surprisingly the Italian Wikipedia article is better than ours, but so far I just have a rough translation of the Italian article:

 * Original article
 * Rough English translation

FT2 (Talk 07:24, 21 September 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 7 external links on Vajont Dam. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20090729032357/http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/projects/geoweb/participants/Dutch/VTrips/Vaiont.HTM to http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/projects/geoweb/participants/Dutch/VTrips/Vaiont.HTM
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20120930084101/http://www1.lastampa.it/redazione/cmsSezioni/cronache/200810articoli/37192girata.asp to http://www.lastampa.it/redazione/cmsSezioni/cronache/200810articoli/37192girata.asp
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20060813030258/http://www.land-man.net/vajont/vajont.html to http://www.land-man.net/vajont/vajont.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20140308141643/http://en.lswn.it/press-releases/international-year-of-planet-earth-global-launch-event-12-13-february-2008/ to http://en.lswn.it/press-releases/international-year-of-planet-earth-global-launch-event-12-13-february-2008/
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20060813030258/http://www.land-man.net/vajont/vajont.html to http://www.land-man.net/vajont/vajont.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20091112220524/http://deastore.com/libro/vajont-l-onda-lunga-quarantacinque-anni-lucia-vastano-ponte-alle-grazie/9788879289702.html to http://deastore.com/libro/vajont-l-onda-lunga-quarantacinque-anni-lucia-vastano-ponte-alle-grazie/9788879289702.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20090729032357/http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/projects/geoweb/participants/Dutch/VTrips/Vaiont.HTM to http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/projects/geoweb/participants/Dutch/VTrips/Vaiont.HTM

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 04:56, 13 January 2018 (UTC)

Photographies
Please, if there isn't copyright, someone can upload on commons the photographies from these Italian sites about the most important protagonist about that disaster: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18. Thank you very much. --87.14.24.94 12:55, 21 September 2019 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.14.24.94 (talk)

Height of the wave
Hi, I recently repeated the claim that the wave overtopped the dam by 250m which is given in the introduction to the article and a photo subtext on Reddit, but another user pointed out that there was never such a wave. As you can see in this simulation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK2T_ICe8v8 the water washed up the hill on the other side 140-250m, but didn't overtop the dam by such a substantial amount. I'd like to ask some more experienced wikipedian to correct the error, because I fear to destroy the layout should I try it. Best regards 2001:16B8:265A:9E00:A5E3:959B:A130:27E2 (talk) 23:42, 13 October 2019 (UTC)

Category:Dam failures in Europe in Vajont dam
Please make sure that the Category is re-inserted after it is (hopefully) created following Articles_for_creation/Redirects_and_categories. A totally unrelated user gave me the link to the requests page, which should have been included in the edit summary of you deleting the Category.

This is it for now, I am returning to my Wiki Break. I virtually created one article, improved three, two of them substantial, during a time of >~6h, including lectorate more like 12-18h. For that trouble, registered Wikipedia users couldn't even be bothered to create a category that already contains 10 pages or point me to the Creation Wizard.

Now I know again why I left Wikipedia all those years ago. Thanks for reminding me again. --2003:C8:4714:600:49CE:C61F:D371:4268 (talk) 22:07, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

The Northern Italy Vajont Dam
Why is it not mentioned that The Design Engineer CARLO SEMENZA's decision to keep the reservoir depth at 450 Feet NOT FOLLOWED ??????????? 107.77.234.112 (talk) 13:54, 1 February 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:Vajont Dam


text:
Cat People (1982 film)

Cat People is a 1982 American supernatural horror film directed by Paul Schrader and starring Nastassja Kinski, Malcolm McDowell, John Heard, and Annette O'Toole. It is a remake of the 1942 RKO Radio Pictures film of the same name. Giorgio Moroder composed the film's score (the second Schrader film to be scored by Moroder, after American Gigolo), including the theme song, which features lyrics and vocals by David Bowie. Wilbur Stark and Jerry Bruckheimer served as executive producers.

Plot
A prologue set in an undisclosed, primitive human settlement shows a sacrificial maiden being tied to a tree. A black panther approaches and rests its paws on her, and the scene fades to black. Another girl with feline features approaches a similar big cat in a cave, without incurring its attack.

A close-up of her face segues to that of similarly featured Irena Gallier, who travels to present-day New Orleans from Canada to reconnect with her brother Paul. Irena was raised in foster care after they were orphaned. Paul, who spent his childhood in psych wards, is now involved in a church and lives with his Creole housekeeper Female (pronounced "Femolly").

That night, a prostitute named Ruthie walks into a fleabag motel to meet a john, but instead finds a black panther that mauls her foot. The police and zoologists Oliver, Alice and Joe capture the panther. Meanwhile, Irena wakes to find Paul missing. Female guesses he went to the mission and urges Irena to enjoy New Orleans on her own.

Irena visits the zoo, is drawn to the newly captured panther and stays after closing hours. She is discovered by Oliver, the zoo's curator, who takes her to dinner and offers her a job in the gift shop. Irena reveals she is a virgin in conversation with Alice, who shares a romantic history (and is still in love) with Oliver and sees her as a rival. One day the panther tears Joe's arm off during a routine cage cleaning. Joe bleeds to death and Oliver resolves to euthanize the cat, only to find it missing. In its cage lies a puddle of melted flesh like the one found by the prostitute.

Paul turns up and makes a sexual advance towards Irena. She flees, flags down a police car and has second thoughts about turning Paul in, but a police dog catches a strong scent from the house and a detective is called in. In Paul's basement, police find shackles, bones and remains of dozens of corpses. They figure Paul is a serial killer who fed corpses to a captive black panther, and call in Oliver and Alice to investigate. On the run from Paul, Irena takes refuge in a frustrated romance with Oliver, fearing the consequences of physical intimacy.

Paul visits Irena again and explains their shared werecat heritage, thus revealing himself as the escaped panther. Mating with a human transforms a werecat into a black panther, and only by killing a human can it regain human form. He tells her their parents were siblings because werecats are ancestrally incestuous and only mating between werecats prevents the transformation. Paul resumes his sexual advances, hoping Irena will accept their predicament, but she does not. Paul transforms, attacks Oliver and is shot by Alice. Oliver starts a necropsy on Paul. A green gas emanates from the surgical cut and a human arm and hand reach up from within the corpse. Before Oliver can document this, Paul's corpse melts into a pool of green slime.

Irena's feline instincts start to emerge, and she stalks and nearly attacks Alice twice. She later sleeps with Oliver and transforms into a panther but she flees, sparing his life, and is later trapped on a bridge by police. Oliver arrives in time to see her jump off the bridge. Realizing where she is headed, he confronts Irena at a secluded lake house. She has regained human form by killing the house's caretaker. Irena tells Oliver she did not kill him because she loves him, and begs him to kill her. When he refuses, she begs him to make love to her again so she can transform and "be with [her] own kind". Oliver reluctantly agrees. He ties Irena naked to the bedposts by her arms and legs in preparation for when she changes into the panther. They then have sex one last time and the last thing seen is Irena starting the change.

Some time later, Oliver is again in a one-sided relationship with Alice. He stops at the cage holding the "recaptured panther" – Irena, now permanently trapped in her panther form. Oliver reaches through the bars, casually hand-feeds and strokes the now-docile Irena's neck before she glances at him and roars with dignity.

Themes
Director Schrader has said, in relation to the erotic and horror aspects of Cat People, that the film "contains more skin than blood". He has described the film as being more about the mythical than the realistic. He has likened the relation between Oliver and Irena to Dante and Beatrice, putting the female on a pedestal.

Production
British based American producer Milton Subotsky bought the rights to Cat People from RKO and began developing a remake. Subotsky eventually passed the property to Universal. Initially, Roger Vadim was set to be the director of the remake. Alan Ormsby, the screenwriter of the remake, stated that the film went through three earlier scripts, two of which were written by Bob Clark. According to Ormsby, Vadim was very concerned that the film would appear sexist, as the woman who was sexually intense had to be destroyed. Ormsby changed this in the remake to have a male character who has the same problem.

In the early 1980s, Universal Pictures hired director Paul Schrader to direct the remake. The remake was announced and began shooting in April 1981. According to cinematographer John Bailey, Schrader paid homage to the stalking scene in the original with a scene featuring Annette O'Toole's character jogging through a park as she appears to be stalked. Bailey and Schrader also remade the swimming pool scene. Bailey recalled that the two carefully studied the original scene, taking note of how the shadows reflected against the pool. Bailey stated that the pool sequence was the most similar of the homages, remarking that the primary reason for this was that "we didn't think we could do it any better".

The Blu-ray features interviews with Kinski, McDowell, Heard and O'Toole as well as director Schrader and composer Moroder. McDowell indicated that he was somewhat reluctant to make the film at first because he recalled the original film as "not being very good" but was convinced by Schrader's take on the material with its focus on the erotic horror elements. McDowell also revealed that the scene where he leaps on the bed in a cat-like fashion was shot with him jumping off the bed. They then ran the film backward. Heard discussed how he almost turned down the role because he believed it was a porno movie. He also recalled that he felt very awkward, particularly during the nude scenes. O'Toole discussed the fact that they used cougars that were dyed black because leopards are impossible to train.

Release
The film was released theatrically in the United States by Universal Studios on April 2, 1982. It grossed approximately $7 million at the U.S. box office.

Home video
The film has been released twice on DVD in the United States; once by Image Entertainment in 1997 and again by Universal in 2002 on the film's 20th Anniversary.

Shout! Factory's division Scream Factory released the film in January 2014 on Blu-ray, when they announced on their Facebook page that they were releasing films from the 1980s in early 2014.

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 65% based on reviews from 60 critics, with a weighted average of 6.2/10. Its consensus reads: "Paul Schrader's kinky reimagining of Cat People may prove too grisly and lurid for some audiences, but its provocative style and Nastassja Kinski's hypnotic performance should please viewers who like a little gasoline with their fire". On Metacritic, the film has a score of 62% based on reviews from 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a three and a half out of four star rating: "Cat People is a good movie in an old tradition, a fantasy-horror film that takes itself just seriously enough to work, has just enough fun to be entertaining, contains elements of intrinsic fascination in its magnificent black leopards, and ends in one way just when we were afraid it was going to end in another".

Variety also gave the film a positive rating by praising Nastassja Kinski's performance: "Kinski was essential to the film as conceived, and she's endlessly watchable". Leonard Maltin awarded the film a mixed two out of a possible four stars, calling it "sexy, bloody, technically well crafted, but uneven and ultimately unsatisfying". However, Nastassja Kinski stated, when being interviewed by her friend and actress Jodie Foster, in Film Comment that she disliked the film, describing it as "slick" and "manipulative". This surprised Foster, who asserted she thoroughly enjoyed the film.

Christopher John reviewed Cat People in Ares Magazine #13 and commented that "Cat People is distinguished as one of the year's top science fantasies for several reasons: aside from its superior camera work, tight story line and the rest, the movie told a story that mainstream filmmakers shy away from – a sexual story".

Awards and nominations
The film was nominated for three prestigious awards:
 * Saturn Awards
 * Best Actress (Nastassja Kinski)

 * Golden Globe Awards
 * Best Original Motion Picture Score (Giorgio Moroder)
 * Best Original Motion Picture Song (David Bowie)

Soundtrack
The soundtrack album was released by MCA Records the same week as the film. The theme song, "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)", was performed by David Bowie, who wrote the lyrics to music composed by Giorgio Moroder. The song was released as a single in 1982.

Track listing
All compositions by Moroder, lyrics by David Bowie on "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)".

Side one
 * 1) "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" – 6:41
 * 2) "The Autopsy" – 1:30
 * 3) "Irena's Theme" – 4:18
 * 4) "Night Rabbit"  – 1:57
 * 5) "Leopard Tree Dream" – 4:01

Side two
 * 1) "Paul's Theme (Jogging Chase)" – 3:52
 * 2) "The Myth" – 5:09
 * 3) "To the Bridge" – 2:49
 * 4) "Transformation Seduction" – 2:43
 * 5) "Bring the Prod" – 1:58

Personnel

 * Bob Badami – music editor
 * Brian Banks – additional keyboards, Synclavier II programming
 * Steve Bates – assistant engineer, mixing assistant
 * David Bowie – vocals on "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" & humming vocal on "The Myth"
 * Alexandra Brown – backing vocals
 * Keith Forsey – drums, percussion
 * Brian Gardner – mastering
 * Craig Huxley – blaster beam
 * Charles Judge – Prophet 5 and Jupiter 8 programming
 * Laurie Kanner – production coordinator
 * Michael Landau – guitar
 * Sylvester Levai – keyboards, arranged by
 * Paulette MacWilliams – backing vocals
 * Tim May – guitar
 * Giorgio Moroder – producer, guitar, bass, mixing
 * Brian Reeves – engineer, mixing
 * Lee Sklar – bass
 * Stephanie Spruill – backing vocals
 * Trevor Veitch – musical contractor
 * Allen Zentz – mastering (Bowie's vocals)

title: Cat People (1982 film)


text:
Talk:Roger Williams

Avenue in Highland Park, Illinois
Maybe add Avenue in Highland Park, Illinois to the list of tributes. . Jidanni (talk) 13:56, 27 November 2022 (UTC)

Roger Williams Medical Center
Roger Williams Medical Center in providence, Rhode Island should be added to the list of tributes

ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Williams_Medical_Center 68.9.117.40 (talk) 14:29, 10 March 2023 (UTC)

"Native American" vs "Indian", etc.
@Dilidor: Per our previous discussion at Talk:New England Colonies, I disagree with your attempts to remove all uses of the term 'Native American' from this article. The sources cited in the 'Slavery' subsection use both 'Indian' and 'Native American'. I am also curious why systematically removed the word 'escapee' from that section. Could you explain your rationale? CoatGuy2 (talk) 17:30, 8 August 2023 (UTC)

 * I have addressed the Indian question sufficiently in our previous conversations. An "escapee" would be the person or thing being escaped from; an "escaper" would be the person who escapes. "Escaper" strikes me as odd and intrusive, perhaps not even a legitimate word, so I strove to reword those phrases. Hope that clarifies.
 * Dilidor (talk) 17:46, 8 August 2023 (UTC)
 * 1. Per Merriam-Webster: escapee (noun): one that has escaped
 * 2. You've answered the question, but I'm not convinced by your answers. '"Native American" simply means "a person who was born in America"'. I don't think there's any confusion in an average reader's over what Native American means; it's certainly no more confusing than 'Indian', which could mean American Indian, West Indian, or East Indian (i.e. South Asian). I'm quite certain that most readers don't think of the Nativist definition when they hear 'Native American'. 'in historical articles it is customary to use the terminology that was contemporaneous to the topic'. Contemporaneous language obviously isn't universally applied to a wide swath of articles; try applying the contemporaneous language to Chinese Exclusion Act and Booker T. Washington outside of direct quotes and proper nouns and see where it gets you. Aside from that, what you describe as contemporaneous language is actually just the language of the colonists; erasing all synonyms for 'Indian' may very well bias the language toward the colonists' perspective, given that Native Americans use a variety of terms to describe themselves. Since we're at an impasse across several pages, I'm going to submit this issue to Dispute resolution noticeboard. CoatGuy2 (talk) 21:53, 8 August 2023 (UTC)
 * Follow up: the closer at DRN noted to have a look at the Naming_conventions_(ethnicities_and_tribes) guidelines, which state Native American in most Wikipedia articles and categories refers to the Indigenous peoples of the United States.... You should probably discuss your preference for wholesale changes to 'Indian' before you continue making them across a wide swath of articles. CoatGuy2 (talk) 13:33, 9 August 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Roger Williams