The two geniuses of "Cat People"

It is one of my favorite ironies in film history:
After suffering through the controversial backlash associated with Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane," RKO pictures vowed to henceforth promote showmanship over genius.
Then, what do they do? They unleashed two more film geniuses from the most unlikely of sources, their "B movie" division.
Val Lewton, a Russian-born producer, and Jacques Tourneur, a French-born director, combined to stunning effect in the 1942 psychological horror classic "Cat People."
The film stars Simone Simon as a woman who fears passion will unveil a deadly cat persona hidden within her.
I have watched "Cat People" twice in the past two days. It is easily one of my favorite films.
Lewton's genius was his imagination, spinning a truly chilling yarn through subtle means that heighten the horror to almost unbearable levels. We fear most what we cannot see, Lewton reasoned, quite correctly.
Lewton's genius was also his ability to corral the best-possible collaborators for such films as "I Walked With a Zombie" and "The Seventh Victim." Lewton nurtured such emerging directors as Robert Wise ("West Side Story," "The Sound of Music"), Mark Robson ("Peyton Place," "Valley of the Dolls") and Tourneur.
Tourneur's genius was the use of light and shadow.
His craft is striking in "Cat People" and reaches its apex in "Out of the Past."
In both films, Tourneur's cinematographer was Italian-born Nicholas Musuraca. Musuraca's work, notably in the celebrated swimming pool scene from "Cat People" (pictured) is remarkable.
RKO meant to dispense with genius. They failed magnificently with "Cat People," thanks to Lewton and Tourneur.