RELEASE DATE: 1927
RATED: Unrated
REVIEWED BY: The DarkSider
The film begins by telling us about a rich fellow named Cyrus (CAN YOU COUNT SUCKAS) West. One fine day he decided to pass on from the stress of his family members hounding him about his money. Personally, I would have told them to get the f*ck out but then again, I�m not Cyrus West. After describing himself a canary to the pack of cats that is his family, the old man passes on.
However, luckily for his benefactors he leaves a will to be read twenty years later at midnight. Why at midnight...standard operating spooky film nonsense procedure. The night arrives and the lawyer, Mr. Crosby, opens the safe containing a moth amongst three envelopes...gasp! He confronts the house�s servant Mammy Pleasant about it and she claims that he is the only person with the code.
Anyhow, the night of the will reading the quite unstable family start to roll into the gothic mansion. Allow me to take out my Romper Room mirror to find out whos there. Theres snippy Aunt Susan, fur covered Cecily, dropped on his as a baby (hey don�t yell at me, thats what they said in the film) all around nice guy Paul, and suave gentlemen/arch rivals Charlie and Harry. The last to arrive is the film�s focus Annabelle West.
Moving on, the will is read by Mr. Crosby and it turns out Annabelle gets the grand prize. However, there is a catch otherwise the last hour of the movie wouldn�t come into play. She has to be examined by a doctor in the morning to prove she is sane. Hmmmm...wonder how one does that...I guess if you�re not flinging poo when he arrives thats a good sign. If she is not proven sane by the doctor, the estate goes to another person who�s name is listed in an unknown envelope.
After the will reading, a picture of Cyrus West falls down when Aunt Susan claims he was crazy. Mammy Pleasant relaxes everybody by letting them know bad things are afoot in the circle K. All the guests are shown to their room and Mr. Crosby follows Annabelle to inform her of some more stuff regarding the will. He gives her a third envelope which is the key to finding the West diamond collection. However, before he can tell Annabelle who the benefactor in the other envelope is, a pair of hands with long fingers pulls him into the wall.
Annabelle, obviously forgetting the stipulation of her end of the bargain, screams about he disappeared to her house mates. Aunt Susan claims Annabelle knows where he went due to the fact Mr. Crosby had the name of the other benefactor. However, everyone pretty much goes their separate ways off to bed.
During the night, Annabelle reads about the location of the West diamonds. A note from Cyrus claims there is a hidden button on the fireplace which will reveal where they are located. All the while, some guy known simply as The Guard, arrives at the house claiming to be looking for an escape mental patient. They agree to let him stay because...well...he had a straight jacket with him...and they�re a bit stupid ok.
Annabelle successfully finds the diamonds (which look like something you�d get out of those supermarket machines where you insert a quarter and crank a knob) and goes to bed with them on. While she rests, the hands come out of the wall and yank them off causing Annabelle to go nuts once again. All he breaks loose when Annabelle finds the secret opening which reveals the dead body of Mr. Crosby. The group rushes to phone the police but finds out that the wires had been cut.
Having enough of the nonsense, Aunt Susan runs out of the house and finds a coachman. She bums a ride and eventually meets up with the cops who agree to check out the house. Meanwhile, the doctor arrives to examine Annabelle. Instead of doing the whole �everything is fine here doc� routine, Annabelle informs him of the oddities going on in the house.
Luckily for Annabelle, Paul finds the deformed culprit in a secret passage and battles him. The cops arrive and arrest the perp who happens to be Charlie in disguise. Turns out that it he was the other benefactor in case Annabelle went crazy and he hired The Guard to help him. The movie ends with Annabelle very much sane and Paul apparently with a new piece of Annabelle ass.
The film is very hokey but theres something about it that screams out to like it . The mansion in the movie sets a good tone and the film�s atmosphere is very dark throughout. The film does try desperately to be funny but often comes off as annoying. Still, who am I to say what was funny back in the late 20s. The world was on the verge of a depression after all.
The Cat and The Canary is a fun silent film that is filled with melodrama and macabre. So in silent film language let me end the review with �......................�.
Nothing really much to report here about the whole Cat vs Canary battle but Sylvester and Tweety did a much better job with it years after this movie was made...
1.) The Cats (aka The Benefactors) - A bunch of money grubbers who will do anything to get a rich relative�s fortune by attending a twenty year get together. Then again, isn�t that premise for just about any 20 year family reunion?
