{"id":13348,"date":"2010-11-15T12:16:02","date_gmt":"2010-11-15T19:16:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=13348"},"modified":"2022-12-18T16:43:39","modified_gmt":"2022-12-18T23:43:39","slug":"cat-and-the-canary-the-1939","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=13348","title":{"rendered":"Cat and the Canary, The (1939)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;That will is practically an invitation to commit murder.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Cat-and-the-Canary-1939-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Cat-and-the-Canary-1939-Poster-198x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"198\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-59479\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Cat-and-the-Canary-1939-Poster-198x300.png 198w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Cat-and-the-Canary-1939-Poster-675x1024.png 675w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Cat-and-the-Canary-1939-Poster-84x128.png 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Cat-and-the-Canary-1939-Poster-178x270.png 178w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Cat-and-the-Canary-1939-Poster.png 731w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 198px) 100vw, 198px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nThe heir (Paulette Goddard) to an eccentric millionaire&#8217;s fortune must remain sane and survive the night in his house or risk losing her inheritance to another relative named in a secret will.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Bob Hope Films<\/li>\n<li>Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Inheritance<\/li>\n<li>Murder Mystery<\/li>\n<li>Old Dark House<\/li>\n<li>Paulette Goddard Films<\/li>\n<li>Play Adaptation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nThis adaptation of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Cat_and_the_Canary_(play)\">John Willard&#8217;s 1922 play<\/a> is notable for providing Bob Hope his starring debut, and for offering Paulette Goddard a chance to show off her sadly under-utilized comedic chops. The film&#8217;s &#8220;let&#8217;s scare the heroine to death&#8221; storyline &#8212; while imitated <em>ad nauseum<\/em> by countless later &#8220;old dark house&#8221; horror flicks &#8212; remains solidly suspenseful; you&#8217;re guaranteed to be kept in the dark (literally) about the identity of the killer. Director Elliott Nugent and cinematographer Charles Lang do a fine job keeping the proceedings appropriately spooky and atmospheric, though with Hope on board, there&#8217;s naturally plenty of corny levity (&#8220;Let&#8217;s all drink scotch and make wry faces.&#8221;). Hope and Goddard&#8217;s cinematic chemistry together was so successful that they co-starred in a similar outing the following year &#8212; <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=3140\"><em>The Ghost Breakers<\/em> (1940)<\/a>, also listed in Peary&#8217;s book. <\/p>\n<p><strong>NB:<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4796\">Paul Leni&#8217;s 1927 silent film<\/a> is another notable screen adaptation of this classic play, and well worth a look. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Paulette Goddard as Joyce<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/cat-and-canary-1939-goddard.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/cat-and-canary-1939-goddard.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13352\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Many genuinely creepy and\/or scary moments<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/cat-and-canary-1939-creepy.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/cat-and-canary-1939-creepy.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13353\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Charles Lang&#8217;s atmospheric cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/cat-and-canary-1939-cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/cat-and-canary-1939-cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13354\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Ernst Toch&#8217;s score<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, but it&#8217;s recommended. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0031143\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1939\/11\/23\/archives\/the-screen-paramount-finds-comedy-in-the-cat-and-the-canary-return.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/70463\/the-cat-and-the-canary#articles-reviews?articleId=1036643\">TCM Review (scroll down to second paragraph)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/allmovie.com\/work\/the-cat-and-the-canary-86824\">All Movie Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/RrSx_NUevD0\">Tired Old Queen at the Movies Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;That will is practically an invitation to commit murder.&#8221; Synopsis: The heir (Paulette Goddard) to an eccentric millionaire&#8217;s fortune must remain sane and survive the night in his house or risk losing her inheritance to another relative named in a secret will. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Bob Hope Films Comedy Inheritance Murder Mystery Old Dark House Paulette Goddard Films Play Adaptation Review: This adaptation of John Willard&#8217;s 1922 play is notable for providing Bob Hope his starring debut, and&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=13348\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13348"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88890,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13348\/revisions\/88890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}