Twenty years after the death of eccentric and solitary billionaire Cyrus West, his relatives gather at his home for the reading of his will. The relatives discover that they have been disinherited in favour of a distant relative, Annabelle (Laura La Plante), provided her sanity is proven. Various events, including a murder, turn the family reunion into a nightmare, putting a strain on the nerves of the young heir-designate…
With ‘The Cat and the Canary’, German director Paul Leni, one of the masters of expressionist cinema, made his first American film. He was called to Hollywood by Carl Laemmle, thus kick-starting the great season of fantasy films made in the 1930s by Universal. Leni’s film boasts numerous remakes, from the one directed by Rupert Julian in 1930 to the version with Bob Hope in 1939.
subject: John Willard
script: Alfred A. Cohn, Robert F. Hill
photography: Gilbert Warrenton
mounting: Martin G. Cohn, Lloys Nosler
scenography: Charles D. Hall
other titles: Il Gatto e il Canarino, Il Castello degli Spettri, La Volonté du mort
color: Bianco & Nero
taken from: dalla "mystery comedy' di John Willard "The Cat and the Canary"
production company: UNIVERSAL PICTURES, DVD: EXA CINEMA
music by: Hugo Riesenfeld (non accreditato)
Su gentile concessione dell'Ente dello Spettacolo
