Any "old dark house" story should have lots of creepy atmosphere and THE CAT AND THE CANARY is no exception. I grew up on the Bob Hope/Paulette Goddard version made in '39 which had all the familiar ingredients we expect in this horror genre, as well as a comedy suited to the talents of Hope and Goddard. And, of course, to make it even more credible, it had Gale Sondergaard as the sinister housekeeper and George Zucco as Mr. Crosby, the lawyer. Unfortunately, like the stage play, it never did have a plausible or really satisfactory solution to the mystery. That weakness is also evident here in the silent version.
LAURA LA PLANTE is the distant cousin Annabelle West about to inherit a fortune if she can spend one night in the mansion after the reading of the will by lawyer TULLY MARSHALL, and CREIGHTON HALE (with the spectacles looking a bit like Harold Lloyd) is Paul, the role that Bob Hope played in the later version, a bumbling man in love with the heroine.
TCM is showing the silent version with a busy Theramin background score and sepia-tone photography in a restored Photoplay version.
The main drawback is that none of the characters are fleshed out and the murderer's character is never fully established at all. But the photography is amazing considering when the film was made and altogether it makes for a pleasurable viewing experience.
Highly recommend that anyone who likes this sort of thing ought to check out the Hope/Goddard version to see how the sound version compares to the original. Both versions opt for comedy over horror.
LAURA LA PLANTE is the distant cousin Annabelle West about to inherit a fortune if she can spend one night in the mansion after the reading of the will by lawyer TULLY MARSHALL, and CREIGHTON HALE (with the spectacles looking a bit like Harold Lloyd) is Paul, the role that Bob Hope played in the later version, a bumbling man in love with the heroine.
TCM is showing the silent version with a busy Theramin background score and sepia-tone photography in a restored Photoplay version.
The main drawback is that none of the characters are fleshed out and the murderer's character is never fully established at all. But the photography is amazing considering when the film was made and altogether it makes for a pleasurable viewing experience.
Highly recommend that anyone who likes this sort of thing ought to check out the Hope/Goddard version to see how the sound version compares to the original. Both versions opt for comedy over horror.