Bob Hope/Paulette Goddard “Old Dark House” Comedies Coming to Blu-ray
Kino Lorber Studio Classics announced yesterday that they will release The Cat and the Canary (1939) and The Ghost Breakers (1940) individually on Blu-ray on September 15th. These two “Old Dark House” comedies helped cement the stardom of both Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard, who were early in their film careers during the original release. The Cat and the Canary is my personal favorite Bob Hope film, so I look forward to adding these titles to my collection.
Below are the full details from the Kino Lorber Studio Classics Facebook page:
Coming September 15th!
Two Classic Comedies Starring Bob Hope & Paulette Goddard!
The Cat and the Canary (1939)
- Audio Commentary by Author/Film Historian Lee Gambin
- Theatrical Trailer
- Optional English Subtitles
B&W, 75 Minutes, 1.37:1, Not Rated
Comedy legend Bob Hope (My Favorite Brunette, Road to Morocco) is at his very best in the hilarious comedy-thriller The Cat and the Canary. A decade after the death of an eccentric millionaire, his remaining relatives gather for the reading of the will at his abandoned mansion set deep in the Louisiana bayous. Tension builds after his niece Joyce (Paulette Goddard, The Ghost Breakers) is named the sole inheritor and it is revealed that one of the other relatives will get everything if the heiress goes insane within the next 30 days. The timid Wally (Hope) vows to protect Joyce who must spend the night in the haunted mansion along with her jealous relatives, a creepy maid and a homicidal maniac who has just escaped from a nearby sanitarium. An equal mix of both frights and fun, this unforgettable classic has become the gold standard for the horror-comedy genre. Directed by Elliott Nugent (Nothing But the Truth) and based on the classic John Willard (The Mask of Fu Manchu) play.
The Ghost Breakers (1940)
- Brand New 2K Master
- Audio Commentary by Author/Film Historian Lee Gambin
- TRAILERS FROM HELL with Larry Karaszewski
- Theatrical Trailer
- Optional English Subtitles
B&W, 85 Minutes, 1.37:1, Not Rated
Screen greats Bob Hope (My Favorite Blonde, Road to Utopia) and Paulette Goddard (Nothing But the Truth, Reap the Wild Wind) co-star in another comedy-thriller, a year after their smash hit The Cat and the Canary. Ghosts and gags collide in this witches’ brew of laughs, with Bob Hope as a Manhattan radio commentator who finds himself marooned on an island of the walking dead! Larry Lawrence (Hope), sought in connection with a murder he did not commit, eludes New York police by hiding in a steamer trunk. Soon the trunk (and Larry) are aboard a ship bound for Cuba, where the trunk’s owner, pretty Mary Carter (Goddard), is sailing to take possession of a recent inheritance: a “haunted” castle. Sensing that Mary is in danger, Larry and his valet Alex (Willie Best, Whispering Ghosts) precede her to the island, which is inhabited by a ghost, a zombie and perhaps even a flesh-and-blood fiend. There’s romance, comedy and chills as Hope and Goddard contend with earthly and un-earthly foes—and try to keep from ending up as ghosts themselves. Director George Marshall (Murder, He Says) also directed the 1953 remake, Scared Stiff, starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. The stellar cast includes Paul Lukas (The Lady Vanishes), Anthony Quinn (Zorba the Greek) and Paul Fix (El Dorado).
