Born in the Russian Empire in 1904, Val Lewton (born Vladimir Ivanovich Leventon) moved with his mother and sister to Berlin in 1906, then to the United States in 1909. He wrote for newspapers, magazines, novels, pornography, etc. —often using pseudonyms to disguise their origin (the name Val Lewton was one such pseudonym, used first for some novels in the 1930s, then revived later in his career to take writing credit for two movies). In 1933 he got a job with David O. Selznick, where he spent many years as a story editor and jack-of-all-trades. Then in 1942 RKO hired him to head their new horror unit, where he made many famous and well-respected B-movies, for very low costs and high profits. In 1946, he “graduated” to A-movies, but increasing health problems, trouble working with big-money Hollywood, and other factors combined to force him to produce only three more movies before his death in 1951.
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Biography from TMDB.
- May 7, 1904
- March 14, 1951 (aged 46)
- Yalta, Taurida Governorate, Russian Empire [now Crimea, Ukraine]
- Producer and writer
- 12 on MovieCove · 18 credits in all
What are Val Lewton's films like?
Across their 10 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Morality and Bonds.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 10
Light 2 · Serious 1 · Dark 7
Grounded 2 · Stylized 8 · Heightened 0
A split, not a type: Gentle 1 · Charged 2 · Intense 7
Steady 6 · Shifting 4 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 9 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 0
Slow burn 6 · Even-paced 4 · Relentless 0
Casual 3 · Engaged 7 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 1 · Affecting 7 · Heavy 2
A split, not a type: Resolved 4 · Open-ended 2 · Ambiguous 4
Moods and endings
- Happy2
- Bittersweet7
- Tragic1
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Val Lewton's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 4 of their 12 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on HBO Max (3).
Subscription and free streaming for Val Lewton's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
18 credits, 12 with a MovieCove page; 1 appearance as themselves is hidden until asked for.
Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all films
Apache Drums(1951)
Midcredits score: 63rd percentile of all films
Please Believe Me (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1950)
My Own True Love (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1948)
Bedlam(1946)
Midcredits score: 73rd percentile of all films
Isle of the Dead(1945)
Midcredits score: 59th percentile of all films
The Body Snatcher(1945)
Midcredits score: 88th percentile of all films
Youth Runs Wild (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1944)
Mademoiselle Fifi (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1944)
Midcredits score: 68th percentile of all films
The Ghost Ship (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1943)
The Seventh Victim(1943)
Midcredits score: 70th percentile of all films
The Leopard Man(1943)
Midcredits score: 71st percentile of all films
I Walked with a Zombie(1943)
Midcredits score: 81st percentile of all films
Cat People(1942)
Midcredits score: 87th percentile of all films
A Star Is Born(1937)
Midcredits score: 90th percentile of all films
No Man of Her Own(1932)
Midcredits score: 65th percentile of all filmsThe Year's Work (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 18 titles, 17 of them dated from 1932 to 2005.
Biggest box office
The Curse of the Cat People (1944)
Highest rated
The Body Snatcher (1945)
Most popular right now
Cat People (1942)
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do Val Lewton's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 72nd percentile, the median of all 12; across their 10 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 72nd percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up5
- 50th to 74th7
Shape of the crowd
None of their 12 titles divides audiences: 12 are Crowd Pleasers.
- Crowd Pleaser12
Reviewers score the dialogue 56/100 and the plot and story 52/100 in their films, across 10 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a writer.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Val Lewton work with?
People who share at least 2 of Val Lewton's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Roy Webb shares the most, 7.
Directors
- Mark RobsonShared titles: Bedlam (1946), Isle of the Dead (1945), I Walked with a Zombie (1943), The Leopard Man (1943), The Seventh Victim (1943), Cat People (1942)See all 6 shared titles with Mark Robson
- Jacques TourneurShared titles: I Walked with a Zombie (1943), The Leopard Man (1943), Cat People (1942)See all 3 shared titles with Jacques Tourneur
- Robert WiseShared titles: The Body Snatcher (1945), The Curse of the Cat People (1944)See all 2 shared titles with Robert Wise
Writers
- Ardel WrayShared titles: Isle of the Dead (1945), I Walked with a Zombie (1943), The Leopard Man (1943)See all 3 shared titles with Ardel Wray
- DeWitt BodeenShared titles: The Curse of the Cat People (1944), The Seventh Victim (1943), Cat People (1942)See all 3 shared titles with DeWitt Bodeen
Actors
- Boris KarloffShared titles: Bedlam (1946), Isle of the Dead (1945), The Body Snatcher (1945)See all 3 shared titles with Boris Karloff
- Tom ConwayShared titles: I Walked with a Zombie (1943), The Seventh Victim (1943), Cat People (1942)See all 3 shared titles with Tom Conway
- Elizabeth RussellShared titles: Bedlam (1946), The Curse of the Cat People (1944)See all 2 shared titles with Elizabeth Russell
- Jason Robards Sr.Shared titles: Bedlam (1946), Isle of the Dead (1945)See all 2 shared titles with Jason Robards Sr.
Composers, cinematographers and editors
- Roy WebbShared titles: Bedlam (1946), The Body Snatcher (1945), The Curse of the Cat People (1944), I Walked with a Zombie (1943), The Leopard Man (1943), The Seventh Victim (1943), Cat People (1942)See all 7 shared titles with Roy Webb
- Nicholas MusuracaShared titles: Bedlam (1946), The Curse of the Cat People (1944), The Seventh Victim (1943), Cat People (1942)See all 4 shared titles with Nicholas Musuraca
- Lyle BoyerShared titles: Bedlam (1946), Isle of the Dead (1945)See all 2 shared titles with Lyle Boyer
- J.R. WhittredgeShared titles: The Body Snatcher (1945), The Curse of the Cat People (1944)See all 2 shared titles with J.R. Whittredge
Producers
- Jack J. GrossShared titles: Bedlam (1946), Isle of the Dead (1945), The Body Snatcher (1945)See all 3 shared titles with Jack J. Gross