Do you want to see ‘The Cat and the Canary’?

Add to Netflix

The Cat and the Canary (1927)

tomatometer

All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 6.9/10
Reviews Counted: 6
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 1

No consensus yet.

No Reviews Yet...

Release Date: Sep 9, 1927 Limited

audience

liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 1,041

My Rating

Added to your Facebook Timeline. — undo

Movie Info

Frank Willard's barn-storming stage melodrama Cat and the Canary was filmed four times over a fifty-year period. This silent 1927 version stars Laura LaPlante as one of several potential heirs to a huge fortune. Brought to a foreboding mansion on the 20th anniversary of their eccentric benefactor's death, the heirs must sit in silence as the lawyer (Tully Marshall) recites the terms of the will. The legacy hinges upon three sealed letters, each to be opened at a strategic point in the evening.

Unrated, 1 hr. 10 min.

Mystery & Suspense, Horror

Directed By: Paul Leni

In Theaters: Sep 9, 1927 Limited

On DVD: Nov 13, 1998

Universal Pictures

Cast

Laura La Plante
Annabelle West
Creighton Hale
Paul Jones
Forrest Stanley
Charles Wilder
Tully Marshall
Roger Crosby the Lawyer
Gertrude Astor
Cecily Young
Arthur Edmund Carewe
Harry Blythe
Flora Finch
Susan Sillsby
Martha Mattox
Mammy Pleasant
Lucien Littlefield
Dr. Patterson
George Siegmann
Hendricks
Joe Murphy
Milkman
Billy Engle
Taxi Driver

Critic Reviews for The Cat and the Canary

All Critics (10) | Top Critics (2) | Fresh (5) | Rotten (1) | DVD (1)

Not exactly a horror film, at least by any strict definition. But it is a great deal of fun.

September 20, 2008 Full Review Source: Goatdog's Movies

| Comment

Michael W. Phillips, Jr.

Goatdog's Movies Source: Goatdog's Movies

Stylishly well-executed old-fashioned horror-suspense thriller that's laced with a macabre humor.

June 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews

| Comment

Dennis Schwartz

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Transposing the expressionist panache of Weimar cinema, Leni responded with one of the most influential classics of the Hollywood horror genre.

July 22, 2005 Full Review Source: Boulder Weekly

| Comment

Thomas Delapa

Boulder Weekly Source: Boulder Weekly

The classic old dark house film. Still great.

November 30, 2002 Comment

Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Cat and the Canary

View All

This isn't just one of those average murder mysteries where the family vies for the inheritance of the old man's will, it's actually got ghosts and a ghoulish hand creeping everyone out, and a guy who's on the look out for a maniac that escaped from the loony bin. This movie is creepy and funny, I enjoyed it, and I recommend it.

December 23, 2010

AJ Verser

Super Reviewer

An early horror-comedy that takes place in old mansion. Several people gather 20 years after a benefactor's death to hear the reading of the will to learn who will inherit the great fortune. People start dying; hilarity ensues.

September 5, 2009