By – Gareth Jones

For fans of German Expressionism,  early examples of Gothic Cinema, Comedic Horror genre

I am currently teaching a course on Gothic Cinema, and I must confess that I had never seen a version of The Cat and the Canary before teaching the class. We all have blindspots in our viewing and sadly this was one of mine. I have now rectified that by watching and assigned to my students the first silent version from 1927 by the great German director Paul Leni, and the first sound version from 1939 starring Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard.  Both have their charms, but I am going to focus for this review on the silent version.  I am pleased to report that there were many laughs and they greatly enjoyed it.  In fact, they all immediately made the connection to one of their favorite films, and one of my own family’s, Clue. If you like that, you should seek out this film.

Of course, silent films were rarely truly silent and The Cat and the Canary is a fantastic example of how scores during that era incorporated sound effects.  In this case, I was delighted to hear the wind blowing through the curtains, the chimes of a clock, and the knocking on the door. These sounds all took on additional significance because of how they were integrated into the story and structure of the film.

The film is based on a popular play, but Paul Leni and crew do a sensational job translating it to film.  It rarely feels stagey as some adaptations did during the early days of cinema.  By 1927 (the same year of The Jazz Singer) film had reached a pinnacle of technology and artistry.  Leni takes full advantage of double exposures, moving cameras, rack pulls, interactive intertitles, and so much more.  Just a few years later, with the requirement of early sound technology, much of this would be hindered.  Leni uses all the tools to tell his story including one of the funniest fake cats in film history. Leni also brought over all of the great German expressionist approaches to lighting, make-up, and studio production.  He was most well known for his contribution to the horror genre, Waxworks. Following the success of The Cat and the Canary he also made The Man Who Laughs starring the incomparable Conrad Veidt.  Both of these films were made for Universal Studios and set the stage for the sound Universal Monsters series.  Sadly, Lemi would not see that influence or be able to contribute himself as he died at the age of 44 from a tooth infection.

The story is a template for so many future films. It is the original “Old, Dark House” plot. It tells the story of a group of relatives gathering after the death of Cyrus West, who they all think was crazy, to hear the reading of the will.  Once they are gathered, the will is read and people begin to disappear and die. West’s mansion is a giant Gothic castle, with long corridors, hidden passages, and creepy basement, all of which will be used to great effect.  We meet our comedic coward, Paul, played with Harold Lloyd glasses by Creighton Hale.  This role helped define his future career.  The heroine is Annabelle West played by Laura La Plante and she is luminous in the role and perfectly balanced with the humor of Hale.  As the rest of the cousins gather, we are also introduced to Cyrus West’s servant Mammy Pleasant, who is anything but pleasant as she lets each person into the home. Her appearance will be immediately recognizable to any fans of Rebecca by Hitchcock.  That is just one of many ways that this film influenced future cinema.  James Whale fully admitted that he took specific sequences from this film for his own masterpiece The Old Dark House.   

You can readily find The Cat and the Canary on YouTube, but I suggest you seek out the Kino Lorber version which has the great opening sequence designed by Paul Leni. He started out as a graphic designer in the film industry before becoming a successful director and here he shines with a magnificent opening title sequence.  Gothic to the core.