Monday, May 4, 2015

THE CAT AND THE CANARY / Universal Pictures - 1927

I've set our Way-Out Machine for Hollywood 1927, when things were way simpler. Our silent feature is based on the 1922 play by John Willard, it's all about the relatives of Cyrus West that have to wait 20 years after his death for the inheritance will to be read. This is another OLD DARK HOUSE style tale that was so very popular back then.

The original music was nothing to write home about, so, we're sans a sound clip...

Well, 20 years has passed since crazy old Cyrus West has died and it's time for all the relatives to be summoned to his estate and have the will read.

Of course, everyone arrives at night because it's a lot spookier. This black cat stops traffic!

Okay, here are four of the guys that have arrived for the reading of the will, one is The Cat. Do you know which one of them likes to eat Canaries?! We'll find out the answer at the end.

This is a horror comedy with lots of funny lines ending up on the dialogue cards!

Paul hides under the bed in the girls' room and gets an eyeful as they change into their nightgowns. He gets caught and has to leave the room through the window!

This is an actual dialogue card when one of the women gets really pissed off!

The Cat is loose in the house and looking for a little birdie to play with!

Later, a doctor comes to the house to examine Annabelle, who has been named the inheritor of Cyrus West's estate. He's there to determine if she is sane enough to receive the inheritance. It looks like he's the crazy one, though!

I love this make up job, it's really out there! The Cat is closing in on Annabelle but she doesn't know it quite yet. Paul got in a whirlwind of a tussle with the monster and was knocked out.

Here's The Cat moving in for the kill, closer and closer he comes!..

But, the cops show up and The Cat gets caught in the act! So, if you chose dude number 2 as the murderer, you're right! We will be back Wednesday for more dirt from The Dungeon!..

4 comments:

Dr. Theda said...

Cool post ... never seen this one , but was familiar with it and had seen some stills...
enjoyed the "dialogue cards"....

TABONGA! said...

Yeah, there were some nice hand painted cards, the guy responsible for them got a top billing credit!

Abraham said...

This Paul Leni film is one of my all-time favorites. It was his Hollywood debut after leaving Germany. Some of the visuals he pulls out are (for the time) absolutely eye-popping. A shame that he died so young — he might've become one of the greats of the 40s/50s horror. It's not surprising that it's considered a classic of the early Universal horrors.

TABONGA! said...

Wow Abraham, that is really very unfortunate about Paul Leni, I see your point...

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