Hope and Goddard double bill

This delightful and hugely entertaining double feature stars Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard as a double act thrown together for two supernatural adventures. There’s thrills, chills and comedy aplenty in these two Paramount releases – now available 2K restored and for the first time on Blu-ray.

First up is THE CAT AND THE CANARY (dir: Elliott Nugent; 1939) which is a remake of the 1927 silent film although the story, based on a play of the same name by John Willard, was remade again in 1978 for a UK-version. It’s interesting to note that despite a similar basic plotline, each of the three films offers a very different setting, with the 1927 version taking place in a creaky old mansion in New York State and the UK version in the English rural countryside. By contrast, this 1939 version takes place in a decaying old mansion deep in Cajun country, to be precise in the alligator infested Louisiana bayous. How very inspiring! It is here that we make the acquaintance of the mysterious Miss Lu (Gale Sondergaard) who, with her gothic attire, gives the Woman In Black a run for her money! Miss Lu is the former mistress of millionaire Cyrus Norman, once master of the creaky old mansion but after he passed away ten years ago, Miss Lu and her beloved black cat found themselves the sole inhabitants of the estate. That is about to change because Mr. Crosby (George Zucco), the executor of said estate, arrives in a paddleboat to read the will at midnight though to his dismay, he discovers that someone has tampered with the will upon removing it from the safe. Soon, the late Mr. Norman’s relatives arrive after a perilous journey across the swamp. First up is Joyce Norman (Paulette Goddard) – officially the sole heir to the Norman estate complete with its antiques etc, followed by Fred Blythe (John Beal), Aunt Susan (Elizabeth Patterson), Cicily Young (Nydia Westman), Charles Wilder (Douglass Montgomery) – a former flame of Joyce who still has the hots for her, and last but not least chipper motormouth Wally Campbell (Bob Hope) who remembers Joyce from their school days and is surprised to see her again after such a long time: “Say, when did you grow up and become pretty?”

Just before the will is read, several gong beats can be heard and Miss Lu matter of factly informs the group that only seven of the eight guests will survive the night. There is truth in what she says because Mr. Norman’s will had been set up in two parts – reason being that due to the insanity which has plagued the Norman family for generations, the current sole heir (in this case Joyce) will only inherit the estate if she remains sane for the next thirty days. If this is not the case then the entire estate will go to the person named in the second part of the will though so far, that name must be kept a secret. Suffice to say that this scenario provides the perfect setting for a night to remember albeit for all the wrong reasons… after all, what wouldn’t Joyce’s relatives do in order to drive her insane and thereby increase the chances of becoming the heirs themselves? Add to that the unexpected arrival of security warden Hendricks (John Wray) who warns the assembled guests that a dangerous madman called ‘The Cat’ has escaped from the local lunatic asylum and is now on the loose in the area and, complete with secret underground passages, you get the perfect recipe for a horror-comedy par excellence. Talk about Southern Gothic! Oh, did I mention there’s romance a-brewing between Joyce and Wally?

Next up is THE GHOST BREAKERS (dir: George Marshall; 1940) and once again we are treated to the inspired coupling of Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard though this time round the story is more complex and with numerous locations. That said, Goddard still sports the same hair-do from the previous film and even seems to wear the same, puff-sleeved dress. We begin in Manhattan where zany and fast-talking broadcaster Larry Lawrence (Bob Hope) is about to expose underworld boss Frenchy Duval (Paul Fix) via a radio broadcast. Later that night and during a mighty thunderstorm with lashing rain (Larry: “Say, is Basil Rathbone throwing a party?”) the popular broadcaster receives a rather angry phone call from Frenchy who summons him to his hotel room to ‘put a few facts straight’. In a parallel storyline, young Mary Carter (Paulette Goddard), who happens to stay in the same hotel and opposite Frenchy’s suite, receives a visit from Mr. Parada (Paul Lukas), a deeply shady Cuban solicitor who shows her the deed to her inheritance (a mansion with a plantation in Cuba) though he warns her that due to its bloody history (the plantation owner was a notorious slave trader and murderer) the mansion is haunted. Minutes later she receives a phone call from a certain Ramon Mederos (Anthony Quinn) who also warns her and wishes to meet her in the reception hall though Mary pays no attention to either of the two men and is adamant in travelling to Cuba by ship, her massive trunk already packed and ready to be collected. A short while later, Larry arrives in the hotel to confront Frenchy and face the music while his loyal black valet Alex (Willie Best) waits in the car downstairs, but not before handing Larry a loaded gun “just in case”. Unfortunately and due to a mix up involving Frenchy, some of his gang members and the strange Senior Mederos, a shoot-out ensues which leaves Ramon dead and Larry the prime suspect as he has been spotted by a fellow hotel dweller with said gun in his hand. What was the connection between the dead man and Frenchy anyhow? If indeed there was one at all. Of course, Larry is innocent but the cops and Frenchy’s henchmen have a different opinion, forcing Larry to enter Mary’s hotel suite. Luckily, she recognises him as the famous broadcaster that he is and allows him to hide in her suite while the police are searching all the rooms on the premise, not realising that Larry takes the word ‘hide’ to another level by, yes, hiding in her massive trunk. It’s only when his concerned valet Alex enquires about his master’s whereabouts that they realise what has happened but by this time the trunk, with Larry in it, has already found its way onto the ship bound for Cuba.

Now the trio are forced to make the best of the situation. On board and to her surprise, Mary bumps into the charming Geoff Montgomery (Richard Carlson), an old acquaintance of hers – but why is he on the ship bound for Cuba? In fact, he too tries to talk Mary out of accepting her inheritance with his tales of ghosts, zombies and Caribbean superstitions while the sudden arrival of an angry Francisco Mederos (also played by Anthony Quinn), the brother of the murdered Ramon, equally fails to unnerve her. When the ship finally docks in the port of Havana, Mary, Larry and Alex charter a small boat which brings them to a tiny island on which the imposing mansion and former plantation makes for a spooky welcome… Soon, the trio find themselves confronted with glow-in-the-dark ghosts, catatonic zombies, a huge old portrait of a Hispanic lady who bears an uncanny likeness to Mary, a fearsome underground torture chamber and the sudden re-appearance of Geoff Montgomery! Is the mansion really haunted or is it all a sinister plot to scare Mary away? Oh, did I mention there’s romance a-brewing between Mary and Larry?

This is terrific fun and the interaction between Bob Hope and Willie Best is a total hoot – in fact, their relationship is less like valet and master and more like two buddies. Best almost steals the show with his goofy capers and his (deliberate) accent which is a mishmash of Southern drawl and Afro-Caribbean slang. Of course, there’s also the magical chemistry between Hope and Goddard! If Hope took the mick out of the Republicans with some barbs in ‘The Cat and The Canary’ then here he takes the mick out of the Democrats. Charles Lang was responsible for the cinematography on both films and Arthur Hornblow Jr. produced.

The first print run (2000 copies) of this 1-disc double feature will be presented in a Limited Edition O-card slipcase with Collector’s booklet. Bonus features include various audio commentaries, trailers, ‘The Ghost Breakers’ 1949 radio adaptation plus Reversible sleeve.