The Cat and the Canary

CAT AND THE CANARY still is a great mystery/comedy film. With it's two young stars Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard, who go on to make yet another two films together, THE GHOST BREAKERS and NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH, there is great fun and thrills as they spend the night in a spooky old house with several guests that disappear or are found killed mysteriously. Paulette inherits the place through a will, including a jewel necklace which she promptly places under her pillow before going to bed. There is a scary scene with the damsel in distress in bed sleeping, and a hairy grotesque hand slowly starts to creep over her pillow. A wonderful performance by the supporting cast including Gale Sondergard as an evil-looking housekeeper, George Zucco, again in a thriller, and Elizabeth Patterson and Nydia Westman as the two dizzy relatives. This film put both of the leads over the top and onto major star caliber. Rarely on television, it can be seen around Halloween on American Classics.

Most of Bob Hope's films rely heavily on the humour of the times, with references to political and cultural events figuring in significantly. Sometimes this detracts from his films, because the humour is not always self-evident. Not is the case with his performance in the remake of Paul Leni's The Cat and the Canary. Hope has one great one-liner after another in this old dark house mystery-comedy. The story is pretty familiar: a group a relations must stay a night in a house, listen to a will, and then remain there for the evening to see if the inheritor remains sane throughout the evening. Of course, we the audience are treated to secret panels, an occasional murder, hooded culprits, and a great mystery. The Cat and the Canary works so well for a number of reasons. First, it is a very atmospheric film taking place in the swamplands of Louisiana. The film is by no means big budget but does do the most with what it has. The surrounding swampland have an authentic feeling to them and the house itself is magnificently eerie. The cast is quite good with Bob Hope saving the film from tiresome formula with his special brand of humour and his excellent timing. Despite his great performance, he is almost upstaged by Gale Sondergaard as a dark, brooding servant. George Zucco also has a nice supporting role. All in all a nice way to spend an evening.

The silents brought us a number of classic comedians who were skilled at making the audience laugh without uttering a word. With the advent of sound, some of these comedians found the transition hard and most still relied on their old silent routines for their jokes. Bob Hope was the first comedian who's mouth provided the punchline. The Cat and the Canary was his first leading part and yet it's not designed purely for his advantage, this is a great picture, both funny and exciting.

Bob Hope is the star. He's hilarious. He's sympathetic. He's also a coward, which isn't such an asset when you're staying in a house filled with escaped lunatics, suspicious servants, and numerous trapdoors. Hope plays a radio personality who involuntarily becomes the bodyguard to a woman, Joyce, who recently inherited a lot of money. The house is filled with other guests that are upset at having lost out on the inheritance. To make matters worse, if Joyce dies within a month, the money goes to whoever was the substitute inheritor and that person's name lies in an envelope safely hidden in a safe. As guests start dying, the tension increases, as does Hope's one-liner's. "I've got goosepumps. In fact, my goosebumps have got goosebumps."

Today, the plot seems like one from an episode of Scooby-Doo but it's still fun and surprisingly smart. The cast is small but solid and the murderer is never guessed until the end. A few red herrings are thrown in but when the guilty party is revealed, it does make sense, a necessity rarely used in Hollywood today.

As a vehicle for Hope it works a charm. As a movie in itself it should be recognised as a classic.

Bob Hope murder mystery/old dark house parody film with someone trying to knock off an heiress. A fiendish figure named The Cat appears but all is not what it seems. This was good fun..I quite enjoyed it although it could have benefited from a few more legitimate frights..certainly a good starting point for Hope who went on to make many more delightful films like this.

This tale of greedy relatives out to get a fortune had been filmed at least two times before Bob Hope took a crack at it, and the world is a better place for it.

Though not the perfect haunted house film, this is a very funny movie. One of the reason that this isn't perfect is that the wisecracks get in the way of the mystery, or if not the mystery, the suspense. Such is the danger of comedy thrillers, either its too funny so its not scary, or too suspenseful and the comedy destroys the tension at the wrong time, here its simply too much humor before it turns serious.

Fortunately here funny is good, so even if the suspense gets the short end of the stick, its still an enjoyable time at the movies. What more could you want, especially since it gives Bob Hope ample chance to do what he does best.

See this movie. Its a lot of fun. 8 out of 10.