The Cat and the Canary is a film released in 1979. It is an adaptation of John Willard

John Willard (playwright)

John Willard was an American playwright. His most famous work is The Cat and the Canary , a play that was made into the influential silent film of the same name in 1927.-External links: at the Internet Movie Database....

's 1922 black comedy

Black comedy

A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...

 play of the same name. The play has previously been filmed several times, the first being a 1927 silent film version

The Cat and the Canary (1927 film)

The Cat and the Canary is an American silent horror film adaptation of John Willard's 1922 black comedy play of the same name. Directed by German Expressionist filmmaker Paul Leni, the film stars Laura La Plante as Annabelle West, Forrest Stanley as Charles "Charlie" Wilder, and Creighton Hale as...

.

Plot synopsis

Annabelle West (Lynley) is a potential heir to a large fortune left behind by the deceased Cyrus West (Hyde-White). She goes to his mansion with other heirs and listens to the man's taped recording. On the recording, he scolds his relatives for being greedy and unpleasant. In the mansion, he leaves behind practical jokes, which the heirs must face on a rainy night. One of the heirs is anxious and may commit murder to have his way.

Cast

Actor	Role
Honor Blackman Honor Blackman Honor Blackman is an English actress, known for the roles of Cathy Gale in The Avengers and Bond girl Pussy Galore in Goldfinger .-Early life:...	Susan Sillsby
Michael Callan Michael Callan Not to be confused with Michael Callen.Michael Callan is an American actor.Born Martin Harris Calinieff in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Callan began his career as Mickey Calin, and it was with this name he appeared on Broadway in The Boy Friend , Catch a Star , and West Side Story .Callan's film...	Paul Jones
Edward Fox Edward Fox (actor) Edward Charles Morice Fox, OBE is an English stage, film and television actor.He is generally associated with portraying the role of the upper-class Englishman, such as the title character in the film The Day of the Jackal and King Edward VIII in the serial Edward & Mrs...	Hendricks
Wendy Hiller Wendy Hiller Dame Wendy Margaret Hiller DBE was an Academy Award-winning English film and stage actress, who enjoyed a varied acting career that spanned nearly sixty years. The writer Joel Hirschorn, in his 1984 compilation Rating the Movie Stars, described her as "a no-nonsense actress who literally took...	Allison Crosby
Olivia Hussey Olivia Hussey Olivia Hussey is an Argentinian actress who became famous for her role as Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli's Academy Award-winning 1968 film version of Romeo and Juliet. For this role she won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year - Actress as well as the David di Donatello for best actress...	Cicily Young
Beatrix Lehmann Beatrix Lehmann Beatrix Alice Lehmann was a British actress, theatre director and author.She trained at the RADA and made her stage debut as Peggy in a 1924 production The Way of the World at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. As well as her extensive theatrical career she appeared in films and on television...	Mrs. Pleasant
Carol Lynley Carol Lynley Carol Lynley is an American actress and former child model.-Life and career:Lynley was born Carole Ann Jones in New York City, the daughter of Frances , a waitress, and Cyril Jones. Her father was Irish and her mother, a native of New England, was of English, Scottish, Welsh, German, and Native...	Annabelle West
Daniel Massey Daniel Massey (actor) Daniel Raymond Massey was an English actor and performer. He is possibly best known for his starring role in the British TV drama The Roads to Freedom, as Daniel, alongside Michael Bryant...	Harry Blythe
Peter McEnery Peter McEnery Peter McEnery is an English stage and film actor. His daughter Kate, by his first marriage to British actress Julie Peasgood, is an actress....	Charlie Wilder
Wilfrid Hyde-White Wilfrid Hyde-White Wilfrid Hyde-White was an English character actor.-Early life and career:Wilfrid Hyde White was born at the rectory in Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire, the son of William Edward White, canon of Gloucester Cathedral, and his wife, Ethel Adelaide Drought...	Cyrus West