The Cat and the Canary
Brief Synopsis
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When an elderly man dies, some of his relatives gather to hear the reading of the will. When it is read by his attorney, the old man lets it be known how much he despised and loathed his worthless kin. As a result, his will is structured in such a way as to set up a dogfight between his potential heirs as to who will collect his fortune. A remake of the 1939 Bob Hope classic, but with the comedic elements removed and the suspense heightened.
Cast & Crew
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Radley Metzger
Director
Honor Blackman
Susan Sillsby
Michael Callan
Paul Jones
Edward Fox
Hendricks
Wendy Hiller
Allison Crosby
Olivia Hussey
Cicily Young
Film Details
Also Known As
Cat and the Canary
MPAA Rating
Genre
Comedy
Release Date
1979
Distribution Company
First Run Features; Gala Film Distributors Ltd
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 38m
Color
Color (Technicolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.85 : 1
Synopsis
The family of a recently deceased, eccentric millionaire gathers for the reading of his final will--but a dangerous criminal escapee from the psychiatric ward is on the loose.
Director
Radley Metzger
Director
Cast
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/HonorBlackman.16881.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Honor Blackman
Susan Sillsby
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/MichaelCallan.27272.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Michael Callan
Paul Jones
Edward Fox
Hendricks
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/WendyHiller.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Wendy Hiller
Allison Crosby
Olivia Hussey
Cicily Young
Beatrix Lehmann
Mrs Pleasant
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/CarolLynley.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Carol Lynley
Annabelle West
Daniel Massey
Harry Blythe
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/PeterMcEnery.127125.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Peter Mcenery
Charlie Wilder
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/WilfridHydeWhite.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Wilfrid Hyde-white
Cyrus West
Crew
Brian Bilgorri
Assistant Director
Steven Cagan
Music
Alan Carpenter
Assistant Director
Paul Carr
Sound Rerecording
Ray Corbett
Associate Producer
Mike Fox
Camera Operator
Richard Gordon
Producer
Roger Harrison
Editor
Mary Hillman
Makeup
Lorna Hillyard
Costume
John Hoesli
Art Direction
Monica Howe
Costumes
Tommy Manderson
Makeup
Radley Metzger
Screenwriter
Anthony Pratt
Art Direction
Anthony Sloman
Sound Editor
Alex Thomson
Photography
John Willard
Play As Source Material
Clive Winter
Sound Recording
Film Details
Also Known As
Cat and the Canary
MPAA Rating
Genre
Comedy
Release Date
1979
Distribution Company
First Run Features; Gala Film Distributors Ltd
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 38m
Color
Color (Technicolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.85 : 1
Articles
Wendy Hiller, 1912-2003
Wendy Hiller was born on August 15, 1912, in Bramhall, and raised in Manchester, where her father was a cotton-cloth manufacturer. Educated at Winceby House, a girl's school in Sussex, Hiller found herself drawn to the theater, and after completing secondary school, Wendy joined the Manchester Repertory Theater, where she was a bit player and later an assistant stage manager. In 1934, she earned critical acclaim and stardom when Manchester Rep cast her as the lead in the popular drama, Love on the Dole, written by her future husband, Ronald Gow. The play was such a hit, that Hiller would repeat her role in London and triumphed on Broadway.
Back on the London stage, she was playing the lead in George Bernard Shaw's St. Joan, when she caught the eye of the playwright himself. He cast her as the beloved cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion (contemporary audiences will no doubt be aware of the musical version - My Fair Lady) on stage in 1936 and in Anthony Asquith's screen adaptation two years later co-starring Leslie Howard. The film was a smash, and Hiller earned an Academy Award nomination for her striking and original Eliza. Shaw would cast her again as an heiress turned Salvation Army worker in the classic Major Barbara for both stage and the 1941 film version.
The ensuing years could very well have been Hiller's time for screen stardom, yet despite her blazing acting ability, regal presence and distinctive voice, her film forays were too few, as she concentrated on the stage and spending time with her husband Gow and two children. Still, when she did make a film appearance, it was often memorable: a materialist turned romantic in Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's glorious, I Know Where I'm Going! (1945); a lonely hotelkeeper in Delbert Mann's Separate Tables (1958), which earned her an Academy Award as best supporting actress; an obsessive mother in Jack Cardiff's Sons and Lovers (1960); a unfaltering wife to Sir Thomas More in Fred Zinneman's brilliant A Man for All Seasons (1966); and as a compassionate nurse who cares for the deformed David Merrick in David Lynch's The Elephant Man (1980).
Ill health became an issue for Hiller in her later years, but she made one elegant return to the camera when she was cast as a former society beauty who is interviewed 50 years after her fame in Moira Armstrong's The Countess Alice (1992). In a performance that was touching, but never maudlin, Wendy Hiller proved that few could match her for presence, integrity and dignity. Her contribution to her craft did not go unnoticed, as she was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1975. She is survived by her son, Anthony, and daughter, Ann.
by Michael T. Toole
![Wendy Hiller, 1912-2003](https://prod-images.tcm.com/img/film-participant-detail/Featured-Artilce_Placeholder.png)
Wendy Hiller, 1912-2003
Dame Wendy Hiller, one of Britain's most distinguished actresses of screen and stage and whose career highlights include being George Bernard Shaw's favorite leading lady, and an Oscar winner for her performance as a lonely spinster in Separate Tables (1958), died at her home in Beaconsfield, England, on May 14. She was 90.
Wendy Hiller was born on August 15, 1912, in Bramhall, and raised in Manchester, where her father was a cotton-cloth manufacturer. Educated at Winceby House, a girl's school in Sussex, Hiller found herself drawn to the theater, and after completing secondary school, Wendy joined the Manchester Repertory Theater, where she was a bit player and later an assistant stage manager. In 1934, she earned critical acclaim and stardom when Manchester Rep cast her as the lead in the popular drama, Love on the Dole, written by her future husband, Ronald Gow. The play was such a hit, that Hiller would repeat her role in London and triumphed on Broadway.
Back on the London stage, she was playing the lead in George Bernard Shaw's St. Joan, when she caught the eye of the playwright himself. He cast her as the beloved cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion (contemporary audiences will no doubt be aware of the musical version - My Fair Lady) on stage in 1936 and in Anthony Asquith's screen adaptation two years later co-starring Leslie Howard. The film was a smash, and Hiller earned an Academy Award nomination for her striking and original Eliza. Shaw would cast her again as an heiress turned Salvation Army worker in the classic Major Barbara for both stage and the 1941 film version.
The ensuing years could very well have been Hiller's time for screen stardom, yet despite her blazing acting ability, regal presence and distinctive voice, her film forays were too few, as she concentrated on the stage and spending time with her husband Gow and two children. Still, when she did make a film appearance, it was often memorable: a materialist turned romantic in Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's glorious, I Know Where I'm Going! (1945); a lonely hotelkeeper in Delbert Mann's Separate Tables (1958), which earned her an Academy Award as best supporting actress; an obsessive mother in Jack Cardiff's Sons and Lovers (1960); a unfaltering wife to Sir Thomas More in Fred Zinneman's brilliant A Man for All Seasons (1966); and as a compassionate nurse who cares for the deformed David Merrick in David Lynch's The Elephant Man (1980).
Ill health became an issue for Hiller in her later years, but she made one elegant return to the camera when she was cast as a former society beauty who is interviewed 50 years after her fame in Moira Armstrong's The Countess Alice (1992). In a performance that was touching, but never maudlin, Wendy Hiller proved that few could match her for presence, integrity and dignity. Her contribution to her craft did not go unnoticed, as she was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1975. She is survived by her son, Anthony, and daughter, Ann.
by Michael T. Toole
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1979
Re-released in United States on Video August 17, 1999
Released in United States 1979
Re-released in United States on Video August 17, 1999