Fresh
[This] adroitly atmospheric film is virtually an ideogram of narrative suspension and impact, and it's a lovely, musty, nightened place to visit.
Michael Atkinson, Village Voice
The Cat and the Canary
The mystery thriller of the stage filmed with new effects!
1927 · 1h 27m · Passed
Comedy, Horror, Mystery
Directed by
Paul Leni
Overview
Rich old Cyrus West's relatives are waiting for him to die so they can inherit. But he stipulates that his will be read 20 years after his death. On the appointed day his expectant heirs arrive at his brooding mansion. The will is read and it turns out that Annabelle West, the only heir with his name left, inherits, if she is deemed sane. If she isn't, the money and some diamonds go to someone else, whose name is in a sealed envelope. Before he can reveal the identity of her successor to Annabelle, Mr. Crosby, the lawyer, disappears. The first in a series of mysterious events, some of which point to Annabelle in fact being unstable.
Director and cast
- Paul Leni Director
- Laura La Plante as Annabelle West
- Creighton Hale as Paul Jones
- Forrest Stanley as Charles Wilder
- Tully Marshall as Roger Crosby
- Gertrude Astor as Cecily
- Flora Finch as Susan
- Arthur Edmund Carewe as Harry
- Martha Mattox as Mammy Pleasant
- George Siegmann as The Guard
- Lucien Littlefield as Ira Lazar
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
94%
Tomatometer
Fresh
What makes Canary sing is Leni's pioneering mix of spooky expressionism and light comedy, fabulous camera work, and nice turns from Laura La Plante, Creighton Hale, and Martha Mattox.
Tim Purtell, Entertainment Weekly
Fresh
It is not only in actual cinematic effects that Mr. Leni's work is telling; there are sequences in the story which reveal his absolute command of the players.
Mordaunt Hall, New York Times
Fresh
Hugely entertaining.
Tony Rayns, Time Out
Fresh
Like most spoofs, it wears thin fairly quickly.
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
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