‘The Cat and the Canary’ or — A Cowardly Delight?

There’s a wonderful moment in ‘The Cat and the Canary’ (1939) when Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard cower in a dark room from an unseen assailant with only a pistol for protection. Hope, whilst frantically fumbling with the revolver, nervously cracks a gag that lands flat on its face.

“Here,” Hope says passing Goddard the loaded weapon. “I don’t need a gun with jokes like that.”

I’d been enjoying the film up until this point but that was the line that made me fall head-over-heels in love with it.

‘The Cat and the Canary’ is your typical spin on The Old Dark House formula where a group of wealthy idiots meet in a creepy mansion for the reading of a will leading to various members getting bumped off one by one throughout the night. Into this hoary mix is thrown the wise-cracking cosmopolitan couple of Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard allowing the two of them to shake-up conventions, comment on the plot and basically get all meta on everyone’s asses.

The result is a tonne of fun but what’s so remarkable about the film is that despite coming out 9 years before ‘Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein’ (1948) that this particular comedy/horror feels so incredibly modern and fresh. This is illustrated in another excellent moment when someone asks Hope if he believes in reincarnation and whether the dead can come back to life, to which he replies -

“You mean like the Republicans?”

Admittedly the film does have the feel of a pre-existing script they parachuted Hope and his army of gag writers into as opposed to a film specifically built around Hope’s persona but the film is so delightfully funny this becomes completely irrelevant to our enjoyment levels.

Director Elliott Nugent’s light touch provides exactly the right amount of atmosphere and style as well as, most importantly, effortlessly balancing the tone of both comedy and horror. Supporting cast are all really good fun and everyone is decked-out in some very nice costumes by the legendary Edith Head (I particularly loved the cut of Hope’s suit).

‘The Cat and the Canary’ is wonderful. It’s nimble, energetic, creepy and very funny. Hope and Goddard bounce off each other like over-excited ping-pong balls and some of Hope’s zingers are absolutely fantastic.

This is a great example of how comedy/horror films have been around for decades and if you look even further back, at the films and plays that influenced this one, then you realise the genre’s been around since story-telling began. And it makes total sense. After all, it’s an innate human reaction to either shriek or laugh when terrified out of your wits and deep down we’re all cowards. The only reason the human species has lasted this long is because we know when to run away from things.