Reviews of silent film releases on home video. Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved.

The Cat and the Canary (1927)

This motion picture represents one of the first of the subgenre that has come to be known as the Old Dark House film. Alongside Roland West’s The Bat (1926), The Cat and the Canary (1927) established in motion pictures the themes and traditions that had their genesis on the popular stage and culminated in fine sound films such as The Old Dark House (1932) and And Then There Were None (1945).

Over the years the formula has been repeated many times but even being able to guess the pat ending ahead of the conclusion doesn’t diminish the experience of The Cat and the Canary for the modern viewer. The film still exudes a freshness to it thanks to imaginative direction by Paul Leni and significant contributions from cast members Laura La Plante, Creighton Hale and Flora Finch.

There are no plot surprises: Laura La Plante stands to inherit millions, 20 years after her uncle’s death, if she is adjudged to be sane in accordance with Cyrus West’s will. Of course, the person next in line for the inheritance is responsible for attempts to make it appear as if she has gone nuts. However, along the way there are several amusing moments, thanks to Creighton Hale’s charming performance as Paul Jones, Flora Finch’s natty old maid character, and some fun animated intertitles.

Of Paul Leni’s direction we can say that some of the picture composition and lighting stands out as early, if not premiere, examples of the suspense cinema vocabulary. A single of shot of Martha Mattox as Mammy Pleasant, facing the camera close-up in the right-hand half of the frame, looking over her shoulder at the people out of focus in the background, stands out as an exciting early example of composition to create dramatic effect. There are several low-angle shots, and Leni also directly involves the audience in the suspense by making them privy to opening hidden doors that the film’s characters do not see until it is too late.

Mattox’s character may have been modelled by playwright John Willard on the real-life Mammy Pleasant of San Francisco history — a loyal black housekeeper for the Bell family, whose patriarch met a mysterious death.

As much as distinct moments of the film may be cinematically groundbreaking, there are also discernable tongue-in-cheek nods of homage from Leni to the German cinema. I venture to say that it is no accident that the doctor’s makeup is more than a little Caligarian.

— Carl Bennett

The film is accompanied by a small orchestra music score conducted by Robert Israel, compiled and edited by Gillian B. Anderson based on music cue sheets compiled for the original 1927 release.

Supplemental material includes an audio commentary by authors Stephen Jones and Kim Newman, and audio commentary by historians Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby; “Mysteries Mean Dark Corners,” a video essay by David Cairns and Fiona Watson (29 minutes); “Pamela Hutchinson on The Cat and the Canary,” an interview with writer and film critic Pamela Hutchinson (13 minutes); “Phuong Le on The Cat and the Canary,” an interview with film critic Phuong Le (9 minutes); “A Very Eccentric Man” and “Yeah, a Cat!” extracts from John Willard’s original play read by voice talents (5 minutes total); “Lucky Strike,” Paul Leni gives a full-throated endorsement to the product that got him through filming The Cat and the Canary (1 minute); and an insert booklet with writings by Richard Combs, Craig Ian Mann and Imogen Sara Smith.

This is our recommended home video edition of the film for North American collectors. It appears that this is the intended long-term USA release of this title.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

The film is accompanied by a small orchestra music score conducted by Robert Israel, compiled and edited by Gillian B. Anderson based on music cue sheets compiled for the original 1927 release. Another great musical presentation, enthusiastically performed with added sound effects.

Supplemental material includes an audio commentary by authors Stephen Jones and Kim Newman, and audio commentary by historians Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby; “Mysteries Mean Dark Corners,” a video essay by David Cairns and Fiona Watson (29 minutes); “Pamela Hutchinson on The Cat and the Canary,” an interview with writer and film critic Pamela Hutchinson (13 minutes); “Phuong Le on The Cat and the Canary,” an interview with film critic Phuong Le (9 minutes); “A Very Eccentric Man” and “Yeah, a Cat!” extracts from John Willard’s original play read by voice talents (5 minutes total); “Lucky Strike,” Paul Leni gives a full-throated endorsement to the product that got him through filming The Cat and the Canary (1 minute); and a 36-page insert booklet with writings by Richard Combs, Craig Ian Mann and Imogen Sara Smith.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

The film is accompanied by a small orchestra music score conducted by Robert Israel, compiled and edited by Gillian B. Anderson based on music cue sheets compiled for the original 1927 release. Another great musical presentation, enthusiastically performed with added sound effects.

Supplemental material includes an audio commentary by authors Stephen Jones and Kim Newman, and audio commentary by historians Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby; “Mysteries Mean Dark Corners,” a video essay by David Cairns and Fiona Watson (29 minutes); “Pamela Hutchinson on The Cat and the Canary,” an interview with writer and film critic Pamela Hutchinson (13 minutes); “Phuong Le on The Cat and the Canary,” an interview with film critic Phuong Le (9 minutes); “A Very Eccentric Man” and “Yeah, a Cat!” extracts from John Willard’s original play read by voice talents (5 minutes total); “Lucky Strike,” Paul Leni gives a full-throated endorsement to the product that got him through filming The Cat and the Canary (1 minute); and a 36-page insert booklet with writings by Richard Combs, Craig Ian Mann and Imogen Sara Smith.

Sight unseen, this is our recommended European home video edition of the film. North American collectors will need a region-free Blu-ray Disc player to view this edition.

United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region B Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.

This DVD edition of the timeless old dark house story has been mastered from the 2004 Photoplay Productions video presentation of The Cat and the Canary (1927). Producers Patrick Stanbury and Kevin Brownlow utilized original 35mm nitrate prints, with contributions from Det Danske Filminstitut, the Museum of Modern Art, and private collector Jan Zaalberg, for the video transfer.

The film is accompanied by an orchestral music score composed by Neil Brand and performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

Supplemental material includes a spare photo gallery (16 images).

This remains our recommended DVD home video edition of the film.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.
This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued and is . . .

Remastered from a very-good to excellent 35mm print, this DVD edition from David Shepard is such a leap forward in quality that we cheerfully doffed our copy of the 1998 Image edition noted below. The source print itself is marked by some emulsion scuffing (noticeable most in the intertitles and in a handful of other shots), fine vertical scratches, moderate speckling and dust, and a few moments of sprocket damage into the picture area (impressions from sprocket slippage in a previous run of the print).

The new natural-speed video transfer does an excellent job of holding image detail and greyscale ranges, producing a delicious viewing experience. The color toning is far more restrained and natural looking than the previous Image edition. In reevaluating the disc on upscaling, full HD equipment, the transfer remains pretty good for filmlike viewing, but the video rating might be demerited a half point for the softness of some of the shots which are only of very-good quality.

This updated edition features two music scores: an updated and rerecorded score by Eric Beheim based on the original 1927 score, and a new orchestral score by Franklin Stover, our personal listening preference.

Harold Lloyd’s two-reeler Haunted Spooks (1920) is a bonus on the DVD. See our Haunted Spooks on home video page for a review.

Overall, this DVD is a fine addition to any film lover’s collection. The suspense and the comic relief of the film will delight viewers throughout multiple viewings, not to mention its historic cinematic value. We highly recommend this remastered DVD home video edition of The Cat and the Canary.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.
This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued and is . . .

The private-collection 16mm reduction print used for the slightly windowboxed video transfer is very-good but a little worn. The cropping of the picture for television is generous, but some shots of handwritten letters will have the outer edges of the lettering cut-off on some TVs. The print’s overall tones are a little dark, but is not a bad thing for an old dark house film like this. The color toning appears to maintain the print’s original greyscale values very well, but the color itself is a bit oversaturated creating orangey sepiatones. The older transfer, originally prepared in 1997 for laserdisc and videotape, doesn’t hold the print details that newer digital transfers do (any freeze frame will reveal that). The film’s intertitles are rendered in still frames.

The original 1927 music score has been adapted and performed on MIDI synthesizers by Eric Beheim. While I delight in the availability of the original score, I once again lament the use of synthesizers instead of a small string quartet with piano. Analog film demands analog music, gentlemen.

Overall, this DVD has been far surpassed in quality by the 2005 Image edition noted above, and we no longer recommend this out-of-print disc.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
This Region 1 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued and is . . .

This DVD-R edition has been mastered from a VHS videotape copy of a video transfer from 16mm reduction print materials. The print is flat and a little dark, with plugged up shadows (passable for this kind of film), and more than a little emulsion scuffing. Between the substandard print and the lack of resolution in VHS, this edition is smeary soft in image details. Also, the discrepancy between the running time of this edition and the Image edition noted above can be attributed to either extra footage or the speed of the transfer. This edition has been transferred at a speed that replicates natural movement.

Most all of the synthesizer music score, credited alternately to Nu Vu Du Music or Kevin Slick, is horribly distorted and is a pain to listen to. You’ll think you’ve blown a speaker.

While the print used is just passable for 16mm, the VHS mastering of the disc greatly lowers its quality and the music cannot be listened to. We cannot recommend this DVD.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is also available directly from . . .

Other OLD DARK HOUSE FILMS of the silent era available on home video.

Other HORROR FILMS of the silent era available on home video.