Others in the cast include Gale Sondergaard and George Zucco. Like most of Hope’s early films, this is an ensemble piece. It’s an interesting film because both performers are just about to break out as stars but haven’t yet done so. The 1939 version is one of Hope’s first movies (he’d started at Paramount a year earlier) and the first of three that would pair him with Paulette Goddard. (A 1930 talkie version by Universal called The Cat Creeps is now lost). The original is regarded as much more of a classic than the Paramount 1939 remake, which is sillier. Originally a 1922 hit play, The Cat and the Canary went on to become a Universal silent film in 1927, becoming one of that studio’s earliest horror films and helping to establish many conventions of the genre. (It also features Martha Raye and Ben Blue, among others). Fields are the main reasons for seeing this picture.
This and some typically hilarious turns by W.C. But it did provide the world with the introduction to what would become his permanent theme song “Thanks for the Memories”, and a magical scene that it is. It’s the sort of business that could have been given to any number of comedians of the day, and many of his jokes as M. It’s early in the evolution of his comedy character - here he is broken out of “alimony jail” so he can be master of ceremonies for a broadcast on an ocean liner, all the while on the lam from three ex-wives. This was Hope’s feature film debut, though he had been making shorts for Vitaphone and Educational for four years.
Another post in honor of Bob Hope’s birthday - Here are some thoughts on 20 random Bob Hope movies (not counting the ones he made with Crosby, which I wrote about here).
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