BD 284 The Cat and the Canary

[Finch]

Paul Leni's original silent film announced by Eureka today as their first North American title alongside Black Mask but it will also be released in the UK.

SPECIAL FEATURES
Limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Graham Humphreys [2000 copies]
1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray from a 4K digital restoration of the original negatives supplied by MoMA
DTS-HD MA 5.1 score by Robert Israel; compiled, synchronised and edited by Gillian B. Anderson, based on music cue sheets compiled and issued for the original 1927 release
Brand new audio commentary by author Stephen Jones and author / critic Kim Newman
Brand new audio commentary by Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby
Mysteries Mean Dark Corners – brand new video essay by David Cairns & Fiona Watson
Pamela Hutchinson on The Cat and the Canary – brand new interview with writer and film critic Pamela Hutchinson
Phuong Le on The Cat and the Canary – brand new interview with film critic Phuong Le
A Very Eccentric Man & Yeah, a Cat! – extracts from John Willard’s original play
Lucky Strike – Paul Leni gives a full-throated endorsement to the product that got him through filming The Cat and the Canary
A collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Richard Combs, Craig Ian Mann, and Imogen Sara Smith

[TMDaines]

I thought this was quite an underwhelming start until I realised it was the Leni silent. Looking forward to this one.

[What A Disgrace]

April 22.

• Limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Graham Humphreys [2000 copies]
• 1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray from a 4K digital restoration of the original negatives supplied by MoMA
• DTS-HD MA 5.1 score by Robert Israel; compiled, synchronised and edited by Gillian B. Anderson, based on music cue sheets compiled and issued for the original 1927 release
• Brand new audio commentary by author Stephen Jones and author / critic Kim Newman
• Brand new audio commentary by Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby
• Mysteries Mean Dark Corners – brand new video essay by David Cairns & Fiona Watson
• Pamela Hutchinson on The Cat and the Canary – brand new interview with writer and film critic Pamela Hutchinson
• Phuong Le on The Cat and the Canary – brand new interview with film critic Phuong Le
• A Very Eccentric Man & Yeah, a Cat! – extracts from John Willard’s original play
• Lucky Strike – Paul Leni gives a full-throated endorsement to the product that got him through filming The Cat and the Canary
• A collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Richard Combs, Craig Ian Mann, and Imogen Sara Smith

[Finch]

The artwork is a little too busy but very nice work by Graham Humphreys regardless. The extras look very solid, too. Despite being US-based, I was still able to place my order for the UK edition on Eureka's site. I was wondering if they might end that practice or introduce shipping charges but not so far.

[Maltic]

Tbh, the Leni films themselves don't actually excite me more than the Universal and Columbia programmers Eureka have also been putting out, but the extra extras and the quality of the presentations tend to make them the superior releases.

[Maltic]

For some reason, Sun Myung Moon's The Washington Times has a review of this.

[therewillbeblus]

I thought this was pretty great. The film milks some creative opportunities for comedic gags inherent in the silent medium, and at times it's edited in a manner that evokes modern approaches to suspense. I'd already seen Radley Metzger's sloppy and uninteresting 70s adaptation, but while that film was more focused on packing information into the story to elicit a sense of atmosphere (destined to fail on delivery), Leni successfully creates a captivating ambiance from trusting his strengths and making a few deliberate choices to trust the audience's responses to varying tonal touches. I haven't seen the Nugent talkie, but this really feels like the best possible product from the source material.