Build a movie plot around this: Who does Oliver confide in about their marital problems? Alice
Irena Gallier (Natassia Kinski) is a young woman whom was raised by adoptive parents and is, for the firsttime since childhood, meeting her older brother Paul living in New Orleans. Paul (Malcolm McDowell) meets Irene when she arrives at the airport and drives her home to his apartment. Paul lives by himself with only his housekeeper Female (pronounced Fee-MAL-ee) (Ruby Dee) to look after him. Irena and Paul are descended from a line of 'cat people,' people who turn into panthers after mating and who must then kill in order to take human form again.Irena knows nothing about this side of her ancestry. She is still a virgin, so she has no idea what sex will do to her. On the other hand, Paul has been living with this knowledge for years and has worked out a system whereby he uses hookers as his prey. In fact, on Irena's first night in New Orleans, Paul arranges for a hooker (Lynn Lowry) to meet with him at a cheap hotel. Unfortunately (for Paul) but fortunately (for the hooker), the hooker escapes with her life and Paul is left in his panther form, trapped in a hotel room. Curator OliverYates (John Heard) and his assistants, Alice Perrin (Annette O'Toole) and Joe Creigh (Ed Begley Jr), from the New Orleans Zoo, are called to capture the black panther and put him behind bars.With Paul gone, Irena decides to spend her first full day in New Orleans by seeing the sights. First, a taxi ride through the French Quarter; then a stop at the zoo where she is fascinated by the new panther, so fascinated that she is still there sketching him 1-1/2 hours after the zoo has closed. When Oliver startles Irena, she drops her sketch pad and runs for the trees, winding up on top of one. Oliver coaxes her down. After noticing that Irena feels excessively warm, Oliver takes her inside and puts a cool cloth on her forehead. Thinking her exhaustion might be due to hunger, they decide to get something to eat. During the dinner conversation, Oliver learns that Irena is looking for a job and hires her to work in the zoo's gift...