The Cat And The Canary

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DVD details

Actor: Gale Sondergaard, George Zucco
Primary Contributor: Bob Hope
Primary Contributor: Paulette Goddard
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown)
Format: Black & White, Full Screen, NTSC
Running Time: 74 unknown-units
Studio: Nostalgia Home Video

DVD Reviews of The Cat And The Canary

DVD Review: 5 star film - one star copy
Summary: 4 Stars

On the night of the 10th anniversary of the death of Cyrus Norman the remaining heirs gather at his mansion in the middle of the Louisiana bayous in order to discover who will inherit his millions.

Those present are: Lawyer Crosby (George Zucco); Miss Lu, the housekeeper (Gale Sondergaard); Susan Tilberry (Elizabeth Patterson); Cicily Young (Nydia Westman); Fred Blythe (John Beal); Charlie Wilder (Douglass Montgomery); our beautiful damsel in need of protection Joyce Norman (Paulette Goddard) and, of course, our hero Wally Campbell (Bob Hope - seven little foys).

The Will states that, due to the inherited strain of insanity, that the heir must spend the night in Old Man Norman's room. Should they not survive the night, or if they loose their mind, then the inheritance will pass to a second heir (whose name is in a second envelope). Since no-one knows who the alternative heir is, they all have a vested interest in seeing the heir dead or insane.

They are forced to stay on the island until the following morning. As they settle in a guard from the nearby asylum arrives at the house to warn them that a maniac known as "The Cat" is on the loose.

This was Bob Hope's first screen appearance as the bumbling coward who tries to be a hero.

This film is a classic black and white comedy/thriller, but it is in need of care and restoration because the copies produced from the original source are not of the greatest quality - the picture is a little fuzzy and grainy, and the sound has an underlying hiss. To be honest, it looks like it has been copied from my old video tape. These copying faults let down what is a 5 star film.

DVD Review: Great film, awful DVD
Summary: 2 Stars

I agree with everyone else that this is a great film, but this DVD is unwatchable on a video projector. This is a second-or-third generation 3/4" video tape copy and is totally smeared and fuzzy. And this piece of doo-doo cost me $19.

I thought this was an official release, but somehow this Paramount film has apparently fallen into public domain. I only hope that some other video company can track down the negative and do a proper transfer. Until then, you can watch this on your laptop in a tiny window. It shouldn't look as bad as it does on my 6' screen.

If you've got a mojo for a Bob Hope horror comedy, his next film was "The Ghostbreakers" and is available from MCA in great condition.

DVD Review: disc memory
Summary: 5 Stars

early Hope. Just for the ancients. It was delivered on time and exactly as advertized

DVD Review: Cat and Canary Review
Summary: 4 Stars

The Cat and the Canary is one of Bob Hope's early films, and is very entertaining. I took a chance on it, having never seen it and I'm glad I did. There is plenty of Hope's brand of humor along with some spooky scenes, and of course Paulette Goddard looks as good as always. The plot isn't complex, but then again it is a comedy with some very good actors & actresses in it, so the humor, the acting and the interesting characters (a lot of these) make this a worth-while buy. One thing I like about Hope is that I can watch some of his films a 2nd or 3rd time and catch a quick joke that I missed the last time. He's fast and has great timing. See if you can keep up. Overall, perhaps not the greatest film of it's decade, but it is a very nice one, quite funny, and best of all, it entertains, which is what a good film should do.

DVD Review: The Cat & the Canary
Summary: 4 Stars

The Cat & the Canary was the eleventh film Bob Hope appeared in. It's the old haunted house theme that has what would be called, today, cliches. That doesn't detract from the film because they weren't really cliches for 1939. In some of the scenes it almost feels like Hope is doing radio, it's typical Hope, he's ever the coward. Hope's co-star, Paulette Goddard, only makes her ninth appearance in a movie.

The film takes place in a haunted house in an isolated Louisiana bayou. The cast is brought there to hear the reading of the will of the man who had owned the house & had died ten years previous. Wallie Campbell (Bob Hope) is an actor that's related to the deceased as are all of the characters that have been summoned to attend. Joyce Norman (Paulette Goddard) is the one that gets named sole heir. Wallie & Joyce had previously dated in high school & one can tell that Wallie is still smitten.

The problem at hand isn't just the will. It seems that the relatives have had a history of madness running in their genes. A second heir has been named in a sealed envelope; no one knows the name except the lawyer, Crosby (George Zucco), this second heir will inherit if the first proves to be mad or dies prematurely. Miss Lu (Gale Sondergaard has been the caretaker. Sondergaard makes her normal sinister presence & she makes a perfect suspect. Also on hand are Charlie Wilder (Douglass Montgomery) who's the nice guy, always willing to help; Fred Blythe (John Beal) who's always angry & accusing everyone else which makes him a likely suspect; there's Aunt Susan (Elizabeth Patterson) & her niece, Cicily (Nydia Westman).

The film has a monster, hidden passages, eyes peeping out from a painting, secret panels, etc. It's entertaining stuff that Hope fans will enjoy.

The condition of the film, as other reviewers have mentioned, isn't great but it IS very watchable, it's just a tad out of focus looking. There aren't any bonus features & here's hoping that one day someone will get around to restoring this film.

Description of The Cat And The Canary

Take one gloomy mansion in the Louisiana bayou, add a group of relatives gathered for a will reading and marked for elimination by a mysterious killer, and sprinkle in some classic Bob Hope one-liners ("Do you believe in reincarnation, that the dead come back to life?" "You mean, like the Republicans?"), and you get this lively updating of the "old dark house" chiller. Paulette Goddard co-stars as the heiress who catches Hope's eye; with Gale Sondergaard, George Zucco. 74 min.

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