The cat and the canary (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The cat and the canary |
| Original title | The Cat and the Canary |
| Country of production | Great Britain |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1979 |
| length | 89 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Radley Butcher |
| script | Radley Butcher |
| production |
Ray Corbett Richard Gordon |
| music | Steven Cagan |
| camera | Alex Thomson |
| cut | Roger Harrison |
| occupation | |
| |
The Cat and the Canary (The Cat and the Canary) is an English film by Radley Metzger. It is based on the play of the same name by John Willard . This had already been filmed in 1921, 1927 and 1939, each with the same original title but with different German titles.
action
Cyrus West, who died in 1914, decided not to have his will read aloud until 20 years after his death. He left a film message on which he read it himself, and which his housekeeper Mrs. Pleasant had kept. In 1934, six relatives come into question as possible heirs to his property and a valuable necklace, who gather at West's estate. West designates Annabell as sole heir. However, she can only inherit if she spends the next twelve hours with her relatives in West's estate. Should she die or be declared insane by the rest of the crowd, West's property would fall to the substitute heir named on another film document that was to be played at twelve noon the following day.
As a result, there is a tussle between Harry and Charlie because Charlie claims that Harry murdered one of his patients. A man in a dark cloak jumps in through the window. It's Hendricks, the chief psychiatrist of a nearby sanatorium. He informs the gathering that a dangerous insane man has fled the sanatorium who believes he is a cat. He likes to hide in houses and wait for the residents to sleep before killing them. After Hendricks leaves, those present search the house.
Meanwhile, Annabell watches the West's film message again, on which he gives a clue as to where the valuable necklace is hidden. Annabell discovers that the cork of the bottle of wine that was drunk while eating reads "ICE". Together with Paul, she concludes that the chain is in the freezer, which is where they finally find it. Annabell puts on the necklace to sleep, but while she sleeps, a stranger steals the necklace. She calls for help, but the thief cannot be found in her room, which was locked. They finally discover a secret passage behind the closet, where the body of Mrs. Crosby, the notary, is also located.
Annabell is taken to another part of the house and Paul searches the house again for the escaped man, who knocks him down while searching. The housekeeper saves him. Meanwhile, Susan is killed by the stranger and Annabell is kidnapped by him. He takes her through another secret passage into a secret basement room, where Annabell can tear a mask off his head and it turns out that it is Charlie. He claims he owes the inheritance because he has always been West's favorite. He also knows that he will be named on the second film. Hendricks enters the room and turns out to be Charlie's accomplice, who is a torture specialist.
Hendricks notes that Charlie's war medal, which Paul has found on Mrs. Crosby's body, is missing. Charlie wants to get her, and a fight with Paul begins. Mrs. Pleasant shoots Charlie. Paul then comes to Annabell's aid and shoots Hendricks. In the morning, Paul and Annabell say goodbye to the survivors and watch the second film that names Charlie as an heir.
production
The cast of the roles was turbulent. Peter McEnery was initially cast as Harry Blythe , but the role was given to Daniel Massey at short notice. Instead, McEnery then played Charlie Wilder , who was initially to be played by Horst Buchholz , but who left the project. The role of the housekeeper was u. a. Elisabeth Bergner offered. A male actor was originally intended for the role of the lawyer. However, when numerous actors refused, a female role was developed from it.
Filming was sometimes quick. Wendy Hiller only worked ten days and Wilfrid Hyde-White turned off his performance as the late Cyrus West within a day.
criticism
"Freshly staged detective thriller, even if its repertoire is based on familiar puzzles and suspense elements of the genre."
“Remake of a silent film classic from 1927 - ironic, well cast, but a bit sluggish. Suspense with all genre clichés. "
“The psycho thriller“ The Cat and the Canary ”varies the theme of“ Murder in a lonely country house ”in an amusing way. [...] mixes high tension with real British humor. Well-known plot, but with surprises. "
Web links
- The cat and the canary in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ This and That on german.imdb.com
- ↑ The cat and the canary. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ [1] ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from January 13, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
