Silent Film Sources - Reviews

Adaptation by Robert F. Hill and Alfred A. Cohn. Scenario by Alfred A. Cohn. Story supervision by Edward J. Montagne. 

Titles by Walter Anthony. Photography by Gilbert Warrenton, ASC. Art Director, Charles D. Hall. Film Editor Martin G. Cohn. Supervising Film Editor, Lloyd Nosler. 

Directed by Paul Leni. 

A Universal Production. Copyright MCMXXVII by Universal Pictures Corporation. Carl Laemmle president. MPPDA 

Players: Laura LaPlante, Creighton Hale, Forrest Stanley, Tully Marshall, Gertrude Astor, Flora Finch, Arthur Edmund Carew, Martha Mattox, George Seigmann, Lucien Littlefield. 

As with his The Man Who Laughs, released the next year, Leni adds a visually striking prologue. The film opens with an ailing old man huddled in his mansion, then the outline of the house dissolves into the towering medicine bottles that keep him alive. They are replaced by greedy relatives, like "cats around a canary." Visually inventive, Leni uses lap dissolves to present simultaneous action, and double exposures to communicate sounds (a clock chimes midnight during the reading of the will). Despite the mostly interior action, you are seldom overly aware that this is a filmed play, as periodically the camera glides inside the large house. 

The dramatic elements of The Cat and the Canary sound familiar: it is a dark and windy night twenty years after the death of the eccentric millionaire. The family members arrive at the strange mansion to hear the will read at midnight. The entire estate is left to a young woman, but she has to be judged sane by a doctor, or the inheritance goes to unnamed heir. During the course of the night the lawyer disappears behind sliding panels, they see mysterious dark figures, discover secret compartments and hidden passageways, and learn that a lunatic from a nearby asylum is on the grounds. 

Often the play or film that originated what are now cliches collapses under their weight when seen through modern eyes. But despite a few gimmicks, The Cat and the Canary still works perfectly with an audience, delivering chills, thrills and suspense, balanced by comic relief. Unlike later films of the genre, the story does not tease that the strange events are the result of supernatural forces- this is a murder mystery. 

Laura LaPlante was Universal's leading actress at the time. Pretty but sexless, and not one of the great screen personalities, LaPlante was a good actress and always worked hard. The remainder of the characters are portrayed by Universal contract players. 

The Cat and the Canary has never been a "lost" film, but there have been very few good quality copies in circulation. The sharpness and contrast of the picture is important to convey Leni's use of shadows and detail, and this Image Entertainment release is by far the finest I ever seen on this neglected classic. The disc was produced by David Shepard. 

The Cat and the Canary, like The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), Merry-Go-Round (1925) and many other Universal silent features, is only available in Show-at-Home prints released in the 1920s and 30s. Unlike Kodascope prints (such as 1925's The Lost World), Universal Show-At-Home prints were always uncut and made from original negatives. The copy used for this laser release displays heavy use, though it is in fine condition without any major problems. The wear is not surprising since a Show-At-Home would have been one of the last prints made from the well-used original negative. The video edition wisely leaves most of the evidence of age intact, since excessive use of video noise reduction can reduce the sharpness of the image. The added tints are very light, but always appropriate and effective. Even though this is a late silent film, the projection speed of 22 frames per second seems natural. 

The music score is performed by Eric Beheim and the "Cyrus West Players" based on the original cue sheets by James Bradford and uses classical and theatrical standards. The score is orchestrated for electronic performance and while it doesn't always feature the tone and timber of real instruments, the result is more satisfying than an organ or piano. An organ would inevitably make The Cat and the Canary an ersatz horror film, when it is a suspense film. Surprisingly, the soundtrack includes a few sound effects- slamming doors, etc.- which are so subtle that you nearly miss them, but they add to the overall effect of the soundtrack. 

The back jacket of the laserdisc features a nice essay by Richard Peterson that places The Cat and the Canary within the context of other "Old Dark House" melodramas including The Bat and The Gorilla. These also originated as plays in the first half of the twenties, but were only filmed in the second half of the decade, then remade as early talkies. The 1930 remake of The Cat and the Canary was titled The Cat Creeps, and is considered to be a lost film, though the soundtrack survives. 

Filling out the disk is Haunted Spooks, a very funny Harold Lloyd two-reeler from 1920 produced by Hal Roach. Harold tries to win a rich girl from a rival suitor, and after losing her, he attempts suicide with remarkable lack of success. The final reel has Lloyd and ingenue Mildred Davis spending the night at the plantation she just inherited in a parody of the genre. The main house is "haunted" by Mildred's uncle, who spooks the couple and their somewhat stereotyped black servants. 

The film is built around spot gags rather than fully developed sequences, and some of the haunted house situations were further developed in Lloyd's Hot Water (1924). Lloyd is sufficiently comfortable with his abilities that he doesn't have to be the center of every gag, so the comedian does not wear out his welcome and the titles by H.M. Walker are still fresh. The image quality is excellent, and the fine music score was compiled and performed by Eric Beheim. (Review © 1997 David Pierce)