The Cat and the Canary (1927)

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Frank Willard's barn-storming stage melodrama Cat and the Canary was filmed four times over a fifty-year period. This silent 1927 version stars Laura LaPlante as one of several potential heirs to a huge fortune. Brought to a foreboding mansion on the 20th anniversary of their eccentric benefactor's death, the heirs must sit in silence as the lawyer (Tully Marshall) recites the terms of the will. The legacy hinges upon three sealed letters, each to be opened at a strategic point in the evening. Also crucial to the inheritance is the insistence that all the heirs spend the night in the creepy old mansion. Nervous Creighton Hale appoints himself LaPlante's protector--a far from simple job, given the many hidden panels and revolving doors which festoon the house. When the lawyer is murdered, LaPlante is the principle suspect. Cat and the Canary was remade as The Cat Creeps in 1930, and under its own title in 1939 (with Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard) and 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Starring:: Laura La Plante, Creighton Hale, (more)

Director(s):: Paul Leni

Format(s):: DVD
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Synopsis of The Cat and the Canary

Theatrical Feature Running Time:: 85 mins

Complete Cast of The Cat and the Canary

Laura La Plante - Annabelle West
Forrest Stanley - Charles Wilder
Gertrude Astor - Cecily Young
Flora Finch - Susan Sillsby
Lucien Littlefield - Dr. Patterson
Joe Murphy - Milkman

Creighton Hale - Paul Jones
Tully Marshall - Roger Crosby the Lawyer
Arthur Edmund Carewe - Harry Blythe
Martha Mattox - Mammy Pleasant
George Siegmann - Hendricks
Billy Engle - Taxi Driver

Director(s):: Paul Leni

Writer(s):: Alfred A. Cohn, Robert F. Hill

Producer(s):: Paul Kohner, Kevin Brownlow, Patrick Stanbury

Categories:: Mystery & Suspense, Horror

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	Joanne L.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

This is a very fun mystery melodrama. Many versions have been made of this film, but this is by FAR the best! Laura La Plante gives an awsome performance. The original soundtrack was never made to fit the film and now there is a new soundtrack that finally fits to the film perfectly and takes the film to much higher level. The scenes have been color enhanced to create different visual moods, making it a true artistic masterpiece. And the neat thing is that they have included another choice in audio tracks, a repaired version of the original soundtrack, so you get to hear it both ways. And there's an extra added film short, Haunted Spooks, starring Harold Lloyd.

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	Christain S.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

I saw this movie at a Halloween horror movie festival in Chicago and was floored! I couldn't believe how inventive it was for a movie of that time period. I LOVE all silent fims but this was one of the most interesting ones I'd ever seen. It was very shadowy and mysterious, as well as being quite funny at some moments. There was also a lot of really well used "special" effects -- (special for back then) and were even used during the reading parts, which I thought was really cool. I've just ordered this to see what it's going to be like with the color added as well as with the new soundtrack. (In the theatre, there was a man accompanying the movie with an organ, though I don't know if he was playing the original music.) If you like old movies and/ or mysteries -- check this out!

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	MAXEY O.

0 out of 0 people found this review helpful

Wow, it was not bad at all. I halfway guessed what was going on midway during the movie but not entirely. Don't let the silent movie keep you from enjoying it. I did.

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The Cat and the Canary (1927)

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