JohnHowardReid It's marvelous how closely the 1939 Bob Hope version follows this one. I'd assumed that Hope's antics were written into the script, but in point of fact that particular character is if anything even more of a slapstick comic here. He is forever backing into furniture or finding himself in a risqué situation under a bed or wrestling with stray objects like falling books or enormous bed-springs. Of course, he redeems himself in the final reel by rescuing the fair heroine. Just like Hope! True, Creighton Hale doesn't develop the character nearly as fully as Hope, although he spends just about as much time on screen. He isn't as funny nor as engaging. Not that it matters so much here, for this "Cat and the Canary" is primarily a director's movie.Bobbed, fair-haired Laura La Plante makes a winningly sympathetic heroine. She receives excellent support from Tully Marshall's lawyer, Martha Mattox's sinister housekeeper and Lucien Littlefield's weirdly menacing doctor. A young Forrest Stanley and attractive Gertrude Astor also impress.Although the story-line is now familiar to us — since the Hope movie follows it so slavishly — director Paul Leni has joined forces with Universal's legendary art director Charles D. Hall and cinematographer Gilbert Warrenton to make it doubly exciting. In fact some of the effects are so bizarre, and the weird atmosphere is so masterfully created, that even a 2017 audience responded with such enthusiasm to a television showing, the station was forced to re-broadcast it twice within the next few months. Here's a rare classic that can entertain, startle and be seen as innovative and highly imaginative, nearly 80 years after it originally thrilled audiences. Leni's "Cat and the Canary" fully deserves its cult reputation.Available in a worn but quite watchable DVD from Alpha.

Patti-Gaston This movie set the bar for the "who-done-its" and may very well be the inspiration for the game of "Clue". The death of a rich uncle brings the family to a crumbling and of course, dark mansion for a reading of the will. The uncle who was driven crazy by his greedy family put a stipulation on the will that it could not be opened until 20 years after his death. As the family gathers together along with the family lawyer a second will is discovered in the locked safe with the original will. This mysterious second will claims a second heir if the first one cannot meet the conditions of the first will. The condition set by Uncle Cyrus was the sanity of the heir must be proved by a doctor. You can all guess what happens next, all sorts of spooky goings on that test the sanity of the heir including lawyers disappearing through secret passageways, diamond necklaces being stolen in the middle of the night and lunatics escaping from the asylum and taking up residency in the mansion. A terrific thriller, dark and brooding, terrific overacting by the lead character and inheritor of the fortune, Annabelle West and the brilliant portrayal of the housekeeper named Mammy. The movie is made better by the fact that it is a silent film. I highly recommend watching it with the lights on.

Spondonman This is one of those must-see-at-least-once haunted house films, being one of the originals. I've seen it more than a few times. It took me years to track it down on VHS, nowadays it seems everywhere on digital platforms. It was very well done, a very pleasant comedy and well worth while and yet imho is nowhere near as good as the 1939 remake, that is if comparisons between silents and talkies are permitted. To me it's the same story therefore the two are comparable, although the 1979 version is probably best utterly forgotten if not completely forgivable for being such a time waster.Various quirky guests assemble at huge spooky mansion at midnight exactly 20 years after the death of their eccentric relative Cyrus West to hear the reading of his Will and who gets his money. It always struck me as odd that the greedy relatives didn't initially contest the bizarre rule, after all some of them might have joined him Upstairs in the intervening 2 decades! Creighton Hale and Laura La Plante played the lead characters of Paul and Annabelle excellently – but unfortunately without the same sparkle Bob Hope and Paulette Godard had when playing Wally and Joyce 12 years later. However, the 1927 version had some nifty camera-work, inventive intertitles, some witty moments (especially Aunt Susan encountering the wide eyed Paul under her bed!) and nice sets with a lovely atmosphere that all still manages to suck you completely into the plot. I would add that the version I just saw ran 93 minutes with a rather stale soundtrack, I thought the tape I watched in the '90's was more sympathetic at 126 minutes long - there's apparently a wide range of versions now available on DVD so a little care in choosing seems required. As I'm still searching for the Perfect Copy this applies to me too!All in all an enjoyable and essential silent film to see even if you don't like the genre; if you do then I would particularly recommend the remake as one of the best films ever made.

ferbs54 During the course of this film, one of the characters utters the line "Gosh, what a spooky house," and boy, does that line ever ring true! The original "old dark house" story, "The Cat and the Canary" (1927) was based on a John Willard stage play of 1922 and has been filmed no less than four times as of this date. The film shows us what happens when a dead man's will is read in a creepy old house on the Hudson to a bunch of oddball relatives, one of whom, Laura LaPlante, inherits a fortune with the proviso that she passes a sanity test. And poor Laura's sanity IS put to the test that very night, what with an escaped madman on the loose, a possible ghost running around, hands coming out of the walls, mysterious disappearances, and a house full of secret passages, swing-out bookcases and so on. Despite some comedic bits that border on the inane but never quite cross that fine line, "The Cat and the Canary" is genuinely creepy in parts. It also features excellent photography, interesting camera angles, expressionistic and surrealistic backdrops, some blatant symbolism, fascinating use of superimposed images and an appropriately strange score. The dialogue cards are at times very imaginative, and this crisp-looking print has been nicely color tinted for our viewing pleasure. As usual in many silents, the comedic, cowardly character proves to be more than he initially appears. But I'm not giving anything away here; most viewers will never guess who the murderer/ess is in this film. It's a classic, historic winner, not at all creaky, and even suitable for the kiddies. I do recommend it.