This DVD edition of the timeless old dark house story has been mastered from the 2004 Photoplay Productions video presentation of The Cat and the Canary (1927). Producers Patrick Stanbury and Kevin Brownlow utilized original 35mm nitrate prints, with contributions from Det Danske Filminstitut, the Museum of Modern Art, and private collector Jan Zaalberg, for the video transfer.

The film is accompanied by an orchestral music score composed by Neil Brand and performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

The disc is supplemented by a photo gallery (16 images).

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Remastered from a very-good to excellent 35mm print, this DVD edition from David Shepard is such a leap forward in quality that we cheerfully doffed our copy of the 1998 Image edition noted below. The source print itself is marked by some emulsion scuffing (noticeable most in the intertitles and in a handful of other shots), fine vertical scratches, moderate speckling and dust, and a few moments of sprocket damage into the picture area (impressions from sprocket slippage in a previous run of the print).

The new natural-speed video transfer does an excellent job of holding image detail and greyscale ranges, producing a delicious viewing experience. The color toning is far more restrained and natural looking than the previous Image edition. In reevaluating the disc on upscaling, full HD equipment, the transfer remains pretty good for filmlike viewing, but the video rating might be demerited a half point for the softness of some of the shots which are only of very-good quality.

This updated edition features two music scores: an updated and rerecorded score by Eric Beheim based on the original 1927 score, and a new orchestral score by Franklin Stover, our personal listening preference.

Harold Lloyd’s two-reeler Haunted Spooks (1920) is a bonus on the DVD. See our Haunted Spooks on home video page for a review.

Overall, this DVD is a fine addition to any film lover’s collection. The suspense and the comic relief of the film will delight viewers throughout multiple viewings, not to mention its historic cinematic value. We highly recommend this remastered DVD home video edition of The Cat and the Canary.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.

The private-collection 16mm reduction print used for the slightly windowboxed video transfer is very-good but a little worn. The cropping of the picture for television is generous, but some shots of handwritten letters will have the outer edges of the lettering cut-off on some TVs. The print’s overall tones are a little dark, but is not a bad thing for an old dark house film like this. The color toning appears to maintain the print’s original greyscale values very well, but the color itself is a bit oversaturated creating orangey sepiatones. The older transfer, originally prepared in 1997 for laserdisc and videotape, doesn’t hold the print details that newer digital transfers do (any freeze frame will reveal that). The film’s intertitles are rendered in still frames.

The original 1927 music score has been adapted and performed on MIDI synthesizers by Eric Beheim. While I delight in the availability of the original score, I once again lament the use of synthesizers instead of a small string quartet with piano. Analog film demands analog music, gentlemen.

Overall, this DVD has been far surpassed in quality by the 2005 Image edition noted above, and we no longer recommend this out-of-print disc.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

This budget DVD edition has been mastered from a VHS videotape copy of a video transfer from 16mm reduction print materials. The print is flat and a little dark, with plugged up shadows (passable for this kind of film), and more than a little emulsion scuffing. Between the substandard print and the lack of resolution in VHS, this edition is smeary soft in image details. Also, the discrepancy between the running time of this edition and the Image edition noted above can be attributed to either extra footage or the speed of the transfer. This edition has been transferred at a speed that replicates natural movement.

Most all of the synthesizer music score, credited alternately to Nu Vu Du Music or Kevin Slick, is horribly distorted and is a pain to listen to. You’ll think you’ve blown a speaker.

While the print used is just passable for 16mm, the VHS mastering of the disc greatly lowers its quality and the music cannot be listened to. We cannot recommend this DVD.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Other OLD DARK HOUSE FILMS of the silent era available on home video:
The Bat (1926)
Haunted Spooks (1920)
Midnight Faces (1926)
Seven Footprints to Satan (1929)