The Cat and the Canary/The Ghost Breakers

Running Time: 160

Genre: Feature, Classic

Certificate: PG

Language: English

Double bill of horror comedies starring Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard. In 'The Cat and the Canary' (1939), a decade after the death of millionaire Cyrus Norman, attorney Crosby (George Zucco) summons six potential heirs to the Norman mansion for a reading of the will. Once there, Joyce Norman (Goddard) is informed that she is the sole heir, provided she is able to maintain her sanity for the next month. When Miss Lu (Gale Sondergaard), the housekeeper, relays her spiritual premonition that one of the guests will die that very night, it begins a panicked night of paranoia, intrigue and murder. With the other heirs attempting to stop Joyce from fulfilling the terms of her inheritance, only Wally Campbell (Hope) strives to help Joyce survive the night mentally and physically intact. In 'The Ghost Breakers' (1940) Mary Carter (Goddard) inherits a supposedly haunted mansion in Cuba and is determined to claim her rightful home despite anonymous warnings and death threats. Meanwhile, radio broadcaster Larry Lawrence (Hope) finds himself tied up in the murder of a gangster and aims to flee New York. Seeking refuge in a random trunk, Larry soon finds himself on a ship bound for Cuba. Freed from the trunk by his valet Alex (Willie Best) and now free to roam the ship, Lawrence meets Mary and vows to help investigate the mansion.