The opening of "The Cat and the Canary" is amazing. A layer of dust and cobwebs are wiped away to reveal the opening credits. The mansion is first seen as a tall, distorted silhouette, a series of shadowed spires emerging out of the darkness. The towers of the mansion fade away to a series of glass bottles. Mr. Cyrus West, the ill millionaire watched over by his greedy family, the metaphorical canary, appears in the bottles while cats leer hungrily at him. We cut to a POV shot of someone walking through the shadowy halls of manor, the huge white curtains billowing in the wind. As far as classic Gothic horror imagery goes, this is a buffet.
This wasn't the first 'old dark house' movie. D.W. Griffin's "One Exciting Night" predates it and the genre existed on the stage first. If you're looking for a compilation of clichés, this one provides. We've got greedy relatives gathering in a spooky mansion, awaiting the reading of a will. Some are trust-worthy, while others are duplicitous. The mansion has secret doorways, including one in a bookcase. There's an escaped homicidal maniac. Someone tries to discredit the sole female benefactor with old fashion gas-lighting. A dead body falls out of a secret compartment. The villain even wears a fedora. This is clichés 101 and how you feel about that depends on how you feel about classic horror in general.
Another hallmark of the 'old dark house' genre is incorporating laughs with thrills. The leading man, Paul (Creighton Hale), hides under beds, gets vexed by giant bed springs, runs around hallways, gets spooked by the creepy maid, and bounces around. It's not hilarious. Another problem is the large cast. The main characters are developed to basic ideas while the supporting cast doesn't even get that much. Laura La Plante as the main heroine does nothing but gets threatened. She's the dullest of the damsel in distress type. The movie ships these two cousins without question which is a little weird. Aunt Susan (Flora Finch) reminded me of Una O'Conner in "Bride of Frankenstein." It's as funny in '27 as it was in '35. The movie drags in its latter half. Since the supporting cast is so thinly devised, you can't guess, nor care, who the killer is.
The film isn't without merit. Beyond the amazing opening, there's a cool shot of Paul hiding under bed, lights reflecting in his glasses. The shot of a hand appearing out of the wall, over La Plante's sleeping face, is great. An appearance by a sinister doctor doesn't add to the story but is a weird, off-putting moment. The Cat, the villain, is actually pretty cool looking. One of the fun things about the movie is how it plays with the silent movie titles. Words like 'Ghosts!' and "Help!' are presented in wiggling or growing text, while a series of swears are presented by comic book exclamation.
"The Cat and the Canary" isn't a great movie but it was, no doubt, influential. Universal made two sound remakes in 1930, one in English, one in Spanish, both of which are lost now. Paramount remade it as a farce starring Bob Hope in '39, probably the most famous version. A British version was produced in the 1960s, somehow by a studio other then Hammer. This isn't discussing all the films that took its clichés and ran with it. Despite all of this, the movie isn't discussed too much today, probably do to the lack of an iconic presence like a Chaney or a Karloff. Some bits are brilliant, even if the overall film doesn't really come together.
This wasn't the first 'old dark house' movie. D.W. Griffin's "One Exciting Night" predates it and the genre existed on the stage first. If you're looking for a compilation of clichés, this one provides. We've got greedy relatives gathering in a spooky mansion, awaiting the reading of a will. Some are trust-worthy, while others are duplicitous. The mansion has secret doorways, including one in a bookcase. There's an escaped homicidal maniac. Someone tries to discredit the sole female benefactor with old fashion gas-lighting. A dead body falls out of a secret compartment. The villain even wears a fedora. This is clichés 101 and how you feel about that depends on how you feel about classic horror in general.
Another hallmark of the 'old dark house' genre is incorporating laughs with thrills. The leading man, Paul (Creighton Hale), hides under beds, gets vexed by giant bed springs, runs around hallways, gets spooked by the creepy maid, and bounces around. It's not hilarious. Another problem is the large cast. The main characters are developed to basic ideas while the supporting cast doesn't even get that much. Laura La Plante as the main heroine does nothing but gets threatened. She's the dullest of the damsel in distress type. The movie ships these two cousins without question which is a little weird. Aunt Susan (Flora Finch) reminded me of Una O'Conner in "Bride of Frankenstein." It's as funny in '27 as it was in '35. The movie drags in its latter half. Since the supporting cast is so thinly devised, you can't guess, nor care, who the killer is.
The film isn't without merit. Beyond the amazing opening, there's a cool shot of Paul hiding under bed, lights reflecting in his glasses. The shot of a hand appearing out of the wall, over La Plante's sleeping face, is great. An appearance by a sinister doctor doesn't add to the story but is a weird, off-putting moment. The Cat, the villain, is actually pretty cool looking. One of the fun things about the movie is how it plays with the silent movie titles. Words like 'Ghosts!' and "Help!' are presented in wiggling or growing text, while a series of swears are presented by comic book exclamation.
"The Cat and the Canary" isn't a great movie but it was, no doubt, influential. Universal made two sound remakes in 1930, one in English, one in Spanish, both of which are lost now. Paramount remade it as a farce starring Bob Hope in '39, probably the most famous version. A British version was produced in the 1960s, somehow by a studio other then Hammer. This isn't discussing all the films that took its clichés and ran with it. Despite all of this, the movie isn't discussed too much today, probably do to the lack of an iconic presence like a Chaney or a Karloff. Some bits are brilliant, even if the overall film doesn't really come together.