The Cat And The Canary (1927)
Directed by Paul Leni
Image Entertainment DVD/Netflix Instant Watch
THE FILM
(I wish I had written this before my review of The Bat Whispers. I've backed in when I should be heading out.)
The old, dark house at midnight awaiting the reading of the will in the midst of an apocalyptic storm. A group of rather eccentric people. The young woman who is in grave danger. The escaped lunatic prowling around the grounds. They're all here. This is THE classic Old Dark House (ODH) film, based on a play from earlier in the 20s. It has a whole lot of staginess to it but there are quite a few wonderfully strange (and very cinematic) moments...the long halls with the billowy curtains, the opening montage about Cyrus West and the grotesque hand reaching across the bed to grab the young woman's necklace as she rests in bed. But, in the end, the stage source material that has not shaken the "Stage" aspect of itself, mixed with the fact that this is a silent film, makes for some slow-going adventures.
Whereas The Bat Whispers keeps constantly trying to move things in different directions, Cat's director Paul Leni seems to have random bursts of creative power that get shackled in by the play. I think the part I found the trickiest to watch was the very long stretch when all the characters are introduced and the will is read. Atmospheric, sure. Hampered by the fact that no one can actually speak? Oh yes. It takes a lot of time for everything to be put in place. It's halfway into the film before the heroine is shown to her bedroom. I'm pretty sure that, on the stage, the comic chicanery of the characters was a scream. In the film, I don't know if it was even that funny when it came out. It seems very half-hearted to me. Leni's heart feels like it is in the strange moments.
I love silent comedy. From 1995-1998, I watched almost everything I could find. I used to go to The Silent Theater on Melrose and Fairfax three to four times a month. I think silent films lend themselves to beautiful and horrific images and absolutely perfect comedy. I think that drama and verbal comedy (that's what a chatty stage play to silent film would be…The Saphead is another example) just have problems. Any back-story takes ages to come out with the intertitles. Everything is introduced very slowly so everyone gets on board. We all have to know the exact same things about the characters for everything to work. Whereas, with comedy, all we need is the wacky guy and the banana peel. I try and put myself in the place of the viewer in the 1920s. But, all I can think is: Why does the drama have to go so slow when the comedy can go so fast?
The Cat and The Canary presents all the ODH elements perfectly. It's the source material that cancels some of the thrill out. For every great, creepy or strange moment, there are two moments that make me shrug and wonder when the next lovely bit is arriving. The house is kickass. The hallways are superb. And, that hand is creepy. I wish they had been able to just write their own, cinematic, story.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
I watched this on Netflix Instant Watch. It had a lovely multi-instrumental score. The print looked fine. Not the best looking silent film I've ever seen but always watchable.
EXTRAS
None.
FINAL THOUGHTS
If you are interested in ODH films, you must watch this. This is the Template that others would expand upon to make some wonderful films. I don't want you to think that this film doesn't have its moments. It does, quite a few of them. But, personally, I found the stagey scenes so laborious that the wonderful cinematic moments didn't always make up for them. I wouldn't watch this again (and I've watched it twice) but I am anxious to see The Bat Whispers again. I think that makes Bat My ODH Of Choice (MODHOC).
— Dan Budnik, 11.18.10 |
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