An Exercise In Nonsense

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This had nice British cast and a remake of an old film that had been remade several times after the original silent production.Just look at the names: Edward Fox, Wendy Hiller, Olivia Hussey, Carol Lynly, Daniel Massey, Wilfrid Hyde White, Honor Blackman, Michael Callan - maybe not huge names, but all fine actors.This adaptation was too talky for me, especially for a murder story. It starts off promising in the first half hour but really peters out with all the gab and not nearly enough suspense or action. It looked like a modern English TV drama with a little profanity added. I was disappointed to see two very pretty faces of the 1960s, Lynley and Blackman, not look very good on the facial closeups. All the makeup they had on looked almost grotesque.

A family gathers at Glencliff Manor, their deceased uncle's mansion in England, for the reading of his will - 20 years after his death! It's a typically dark, wet and thundery night in 1934......the perfect weather for a will reading......and a murder (or two). For it also happens to be the same night an escaped, murderous mental patient, with a penchant for all things feline, sneaks in (via a catflap - sorry, couldn't resist) to dry off, lick his fur clean......and sharpen his claws!The family remains unaware of the cat's presence inside the mansion until an anxious mental hospital doctor, searching every nook and cranny for the cat, smashes through a ground floor window brandishing a gun. He urges the family to lock themselves into their rooms and wait for morning.But the cat attacks. And he breaks a nail...er, a claw or two in the process.Headlined by Honor Blackman, GOLDFINGER's Pussy Galore, and Carol Lynley, THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE's onboard singer extraordinaire - the latter having mastered an English accent for this role (Funny! When I was younger I thought Carol Lynley WAS English!) - CAT AND THE CANARY weaves thrills, murder, biting wit and choice dialogue into one satisfying hour and a half or so.Highly recommended.

This old theatrical warhorse gets another outing in what is (to date) the only colour version of a classic play.There are some pleasantly swish performances from a good cast and neat direction from Metzger. Film takes a while to get going but the last reel packs in the action.Wilfred Hyde-White's appearance on film is a nice touch and he even gets to "host" the end credits. But the best moment is Edward Fox's spectacular entrance and his scene-stealing thereafter : a moment to treasure, especially his delivery of the line "We're just up the road"! (It'll make sense when you watch it).

While most noted for his adult films, Radley Metzger proved he's not limited to the ol' in-and-out with this fourth remake of the oft-filmed reading-of-the-will format play. The plot is fairly typical stuff (a bunch of heirs, a will with loads of cash to be handed down, a history of insanity in the family), but a good cast, some clever plot twists and Metzger's usual adept hand at visual imagery (check out the shot where the maid recites a monologue through the reflection on a picture of the old man) make this a welcome change of pace to the dreary and remarkably similar Agatha Christie murder mysteries of the same time period.