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‘There it is.’
1939’s The Cat and the Canary is the third film version of John Willard’s stageplay,
4th if you count George Melford’s Spanish language version of 1930’s The Cat Creeps,
both of which are now lost, and cards on the table; I’ve avoided it for years because I love the 1927 silent version so much.
Which is foolish because it’s lots of fun and it’s right there on Youtube.
Although this is very much tailored for Bob Hope, playing actor Wally Campbell.
‘Introducing your favourite and mine, Wally Campbell’
it still retains the old Dark House charm of the original,
‘It reminds me of a lot of murder mysteries and melodramas I’ve played in.’
Featuring the classic set up of family gathered for a will reading.
‘We’ll read his will in the library at midnight, just ten years from the time he died.’
Ominous pronouncements.
‘There are 8 people in this room, one will die before morning.’
While a maniac stalks the grounds.
‘One of our patients got away from us this afetrnoon’
Alongside Hope is Paulette Goddard, the plucky heroine and the apparent target of the killer,
making the most of a role that could easily have left her as Hope’s straight woman.
'Of all the ridiculous things I have seen before in my life.'
‘Except there’s a maniac loose in the house and we’ll all be murdered in their beds.’
There’s also a supporting cast of eccentrics and possible suspects.
‘Murder’s committed frequently for less money than old Cyrus left’
The classic set pieces are instantly recognisable from the earlier films,
this silent version is also on Youtube by the way.
The standard tropes of the genre are present and correct #
'Thank heaven I can tell you...'
and Hope is on form in cowardly hero mode.
‘Even my goose pimples have goose pimples’
with the wise cracks coming thick and fast and hitting his usual bases.
‘What’s your game?’
‘My game? Oh I shoot between 90 and 100.’
Mention must also be made of genre favourite George Zucco, in a surprisingly straight role.
‘Mr Norman was afraid that inheiritng the fortune might prove too much for an unbalanced brain.’
and Gale Sondergaard as housekeeper Miss Lu.
‘What are you doing in there?’
‘Waiting.’
Stealing scenes with an underplayed balance of creepy and comical.
‘My friends, from the other world, there is always murmors.’
Now I have finally seen it, this is well-crafted by people who could do this sort of thing in their sleep.
‘There are spirits all around you.’
and at just under an hour and a quarter it doesn’t outstay its welcome,
which is good because I’m not sure it could sustain a whisker longer,
‘Here, I don’t need a gun with jokes like that.’
It doesn’t measure up to the silent version directed by Paul Leni – who also directed The Man Who Laughs, check out our special on that -
which is a classic of the genre, this, for the most part, lacks the style and the visual inventiveness.
Although the final act, while brief, has more atmosphere than the rest of the film put together and adds some genuine tension to the laughs.
The plot is largely incidental, don’t even hope to try to follow the clues,
'Find the number beneath the vine, the sparking gems with be thine.'
just sit back and enjoy, you’re in safe hands.
‘Yes, gruesome isn’t it.’
Incidentally this is also the subject of a recent Blu ray release, paired with The Ghost Breakers,
which reteamed Hope and Goddard a year later for another spooky comedy,
'Belive me, the Cat and the Canary was a pink tea compared to this picture.'
'It all starts on one terrible night...'
Also well worth your time, but not on Youtube.
Thanks for watching. Are you a fan of this film? Which version do you prefer – there’s a 1978 one as well.
Let us know in the comments below.