The Cat and the Canary

The Cat and the Canary is a 1939 American horror comedy film directed by Elliott Nugent starring Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard. It is a remake of the 1927 silent film The Cat and the Canary, which was based on the 1922 play of the same name by John Willard. The film's copyright was renewed in 1966. Plot Cyrus Norman was a millionaire who lived in the Louisiana bayous with his mistress Miss Lu. Norman died ten years previous, and now an American Indian man paddles the executor of Norman's estate, Mr. Crosby, through alligator-infested waters to Norman's isolated mansion, where his will is to be read at midnight. At the mansion, Crosby meets Miss Lu, who lives there with a large black cat. When he removes the will from a safe, he discovers that someone has tampered with it.