Coming Soon. His greedy family descends upon him like "cats around a canary", causing him to become insane. Sign up here. [32] The term is derived from English director James Whale's The Old Dark House (1932), which was heavily influenced by Leni's film,[16] and refers to "films in which murders are committed by masked killers in old mansions. Please enter your email address and we will email you a new password. [36] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 96% based on 25 reviews. Paul vanishes as the secret passage closes behind him. Just confirm how you got your ticket. "[19], Leni used similar camera effects found in German expressionist films such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari to set the atmosphere of The Cat and the Canary. This movie is creepy and funny, I enjoyed it, and I recommend it. As the appointed time arrives, West's lawyer, Roger Crosby (Tully Marshall), discovers that a second will mysteriously appeared in the safe. After his performance in The Cat and the Canary, Stanley played lesser roles in films such as Show Boat (1936) and Curse of the Undead (1959) and the television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Studio 57, and Gunsmoke.
Add the first question. A group of potential heirs gather in a forbidding old house to learn which of them will inherit a fortune. While Annabelle sleeps, the same mysterious hand emerges from the wall behind her bed and snatches the diamonds from her neck. Paul Leni (the director) has a great deal of prowess on films like these, and it has been admitted by others.First, the sets are realistic, making this film a believable "journey back in time" (it was made over 70 yrs. [13], The villain Charles Wilder was played by Forrest Stanley, an actor who had been cast in films such as When Knighthood Was in Flower (1922), Bavu (1923), Through the Dark (1924) and Shadow of the Law (1926). [12] Tully Marshall played the suspicious lawyer Roger Crosby, Martha Mattox was cast as the sinister and superstitious housekeeper Mammy Pleasant, and Gertrude Astor and Flora Finch played greedy relatives Cecily Young and Aunt Susan Sillsby, respectively. "[9] She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame before her death in 1996 from Alzheimer's disease.
"[1] The play has been filmed five other times, with the most notable in 1939 starring comedic actor Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard. [3] Although the first sound films produced by Universal, neither was as influential on the genre as the first film and The Cat Creeps is lost. 94% TOMATOMETER Total Count: 16 74% Audience Score User Ratings: 1,155. Flora Finch (Aunt Susan) is funny as the gossiper, and Creighton Hale as Paul is cute. Hope played Wally Campbell, a character based on Creighton Hale's performance as Paul Jones. [14], The film contained a supporting cast referred to by one film historian as "second-rate"[15] and "excellent" by another. Before he can reveal the identity of her successor to Annabelle, Mr. Crosby, the lawyer, disappears. MacCaffrey, Donald W., and Christopher P. Jacobs. This page was last edited on 8 October 2020, at 21:23. A mad, disfigured composer seeks love with a lovely young opera singer. The film is part of a genre of comedy horror films inspired by 1920s Broadway stage plays. The 2005 "Special Edition" contains an original score by Franklin Stover. Paul and Annabelle return to her room to search for the missing envelope, and discover that Crosby's body is missing. There is also quite a lot of fine comedy relief which relieves without destroying the necessary tension and suspense. Annabelle inherits her uncle's fortune, but when she and her family spend the night in his haunted mansion they are stalked by a mysterious figure. The second will may only be opened if the terms of the first will are not fulfilled. In 15th-century Paris, the brother of the archdeacon plots with the gypsy king to foment a peasant revolt. 15 of 19 people found this review helpful. There are no approved quotes yet for this movie. She has little to do, and so the question becomes 'What will be done with her?'" The guard tells Cecily, "He's a maniac who thinks he's a cat, and tears his victims like they were canaries!" According to critic John Howard Reid, "He is forever backing into furniture or finding himself in a risqué position under a bed or wrestling with stray objects like falling books or enormous bed-springs. Add Article. Copyright © Fandango. Directed by German Expressionist filmmaker Paul Leni, the film stars Laura La Plante as Annabelle West, Forrest Stanley as Charles "Charlie" Wilder, and Creighton Hale as Paul Jones. Which Thriller Would Make the Worst Name for a Retirement Home? But he stipulates that his will be read 20 years after his death.
The caretaker of the West mansion, Mammy Pleasant (Martha Mattox), blames the manifestation of the second will on the ghost of Cyrus West, a notion that the astonished Crosby quickly rejects. When Cyrus' lawyer (Tully Marshall) is found dead, Annabelle fears she is the next target.
La Plante played roles in more than 50 films before starring in The Cat and the Canary. Nevertheless, Willard was convinced and the play was adapted into a screenplay by Alfred A. Cohn and Robert F.
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Horror. [11] Hale's role in The Cat and the Canary was to provide comedic relief. Interview with Richard Gordon, in Tom Weaver, "Laura La Plante Dies at 92; Archetypal Damsel in Distress", The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1003747-cat_and_the_canary, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cat_and_the_Canary_(1927_film)&oldid=982552729, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. the skeleton double-exposure, the subtitles occasionally moving like a ghost) is very enjoyable, too.About the acting, first get this straight: Much of the acting is quite normal.
"[3] Film historian Jan-Christopher Horak explains that a "matched dissolve from an image of the mansion and its oddly shaped towers to the oversized bottles of medicine that the dearly departed has been forced to consume functions as a double image of a prison, dwarfing the old man who sits alive with his will in a corner of the frame. The Cat and the Canary is the product of early 20th-century German Expressionism. [7] According to film historian Gary Don Rhodes, her part in The Cat and the Canary was typical for women in horror and mystery films: "The female in the horror film ... becomes the hunted, the quarry. But he stipulates that his will be read 20 years after his death. Much of it is very funny (contrary to common belief).
This isn't just one of those average murder mysteries where the family vies for the inheritance of the old man's will, it's actually got ghosts and a ghoulish hand creeping everyone out, and a guy who's on the look out for a maniac that escaped from the loony bin. Ron Kerrigan. The action is rapid, and is stepped up nicely to the thrill and horror moments, and then stepped down with humorous touches, in just the right proportion. Warrenton mused, "He beat that thing worse than the Salvation Army beat a drum. The Cat and the Canary is one hour and forty minutes long and was released in theaters on September 9, 1927. A criminal on the run hides in a circus and seeks to possess the daughter of the ringmaster at any cost. Using sorcery, he brings the creature to life in order to protect the Jews of Prague from persecution. It is a highly exciting, hysterical bit of melodrama, however conventional it may be in its essential plot. [39][40] Nugent "had the inspired idea to openly play the piece for laughs. "[18] This, however, was not the case for Leni's film. All rights reserved. Richard Scheib notes that "Leni's style is something that lifts The Cat and the Canary up and away from being merely a filmed stage play and gives it an amazing visual dynamism. The Cat and the Canary 1927. Laemmle was struck by Leni's departure from expressionism by the inclusion of humor and playfulness during grotesque scenes. When a proud noble refuses to kiss the hand of the despotic King James in 1690, he is cruelly executed and his son surgically disfigured. Wilder is the person named in the second will; he hoped to drive Annabelle insane so that he could receive the inheritance.
One critic suggests that Hope developed the character better than Hale and was funnier and more engaging. Book Review: "American Gothic" By Jonathan Rigby; Expanded And Updated Edition, 'Godfather' Star Abe Vigoda Passes Away at Age 94, Interrupted Voyages: Two Rarities at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival.
In this one the humor is visual, and the tone is more consistent.
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