[This] adroitly atmospheric film is virtually an ideogram of narrative suspension and impact, and it's a lovely, musty, nightened place to visit.
The Cat and the Canary
The mystery thriller of the stage filmed with new effects!
1927 · 1h 24m · Passed
Comedy, Horror, Mystery
Directed by
Paul Leni
Overview
A group of potential heirs gather in a forbidding old house to learn which of them will inherit a fortune. Later, they learn that a flesh-rending maniac is loose.
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
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.
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.
Hugely entertaining.
Like most spoofs, it wears thin fairly quickly.
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