MovieChat Forums > The Cat and the Canary (1939) Discussion > Cat and The Canary (1939) DVD Region 2

Cat and The Canary (1939) DVD Region 2

posted 20 years ago by elliot-31
16 replies | jump to latest

Ummm. Just got the movie on Region 2 (UK) DVD. The film is worth five stars but the terrible quality print is only worth one star. It looks like an off air recording on a VHS cassette that you have played a hundred times - there are loads of drop-outs at the beginning! The UK DVD is produced through a company called Orbitmedia. I would avoid anything else they produce like the plague.

I think the only way of seeing this film released in a quality presentation on home video/DVD is to write to Paramount in America and lobby for the movie to be placed on their preservation list - which it isn't! (Ironically, Beverly Hills Cop 3 is! Who will want to see Beverly Hills Cop 3 in 100 days time, let alone 100 years?!)

Get scribbling, fellow Cat and The Canary (1939) fans!

Paramount Studios
5555 Melrose Avenue
Hollywood, CA 90038

323.956.5000

[–] hoochbone 20 years ago

I totally agree with the above, the quality of the dvd is atrocious!

I have this I taped on vhs, when the BBC screened it 3 years ago on a tuesday afternoon due to a golf tournament cancellation.

The quality of the recording wipes the floor with the piece of crap Orbitmedia have put out on DVD - Avoid it like the plague!

I emailed orbitmedia with the question on why the quality was so dire, and their reply was that there was no existing quality print available??? What a load of garbage, there must be a quality print out there, as the bbc airing proved it.

Isn't there some legal wrangle preventing it from being released in USA?

[–] mascisman 19 years ago

Believe it or not, according to the All Movie Guide there is no DVD available of the Bob Hope version (although there ARE DVDs of the silent version AND the 1978 remake). Well, obviously there IS a DVD version --the Orbitmedia one you mention-- but not an "official" Paramount release. If you look at all the crap they are putting out on DVD, I just don't understand why they're holding this one back. (Waiting for the 100th anniversary?) So I just make do with my VHS copy (actually I've transferred it on to DVD myself just to have it handy). It is a crying shame. (And a wonderful movie -- still funny and, yes, scary still. And isn't Paulette Goddard luminous?)

[–] hoochbone 19 years ago

I totally agree with you - travesty it isn't released, we'll just have to sit it out:(

And isn't Paulette Goddard luminous?)

Isn't she just mate :)

I love the scene at the beginning of The Ghostbreakers when she opens the window in the hotel room as it's thundering and lightning outside and says "Exciting Isn't It"

She was absolutely Gorgeous!

Chaplin was one lucky guy.

[–] WeeTotyMau5 18 years ago

For years I tried and failed to find this movie, all the times I had seen it over and over on TV, yet n'er was it to be found. My old boss had this well worn copy of it on VHS video that I watched daily at work (I worked in a small video store.....aaahh life was grand then, hehe!) til some old guy came in and asked my boss if he wished to swap it for some crap he had, which he did!!! Much to my consternation!! So when the my ex-hubby bought me a VERY expensive copy on VCD from the U.S. and the region 2 DVD came out, I rejoiced and thought my prayers had been answered, but yes the copy is dire and I cannot understand WHY Paramount won't release it, unless I am missing something? I mean, I believed it to be in the public domain! :-S

[–] ryaninthefalls 18 years ago

http://www.amazon.com/Cat-Canary-Elliott-Nugent/dp/B0000V6S5K/sr=8-1/qid=1167974156/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-9976569-9311135?ie=UTF8&s=dvd

[–] WeeTotyMau5 18 years ago

Thanks muchly.

Already bought this one on DVD, not the best quality in the world, but it'll do.....for now....

[–] Balibari 18 years ago

I have this version too. I don't know why but often when DVD's are this ropey it's because the film in question is out of copyright. This means any old company can release a DVD of it so long as they can source the film from a version that isn't 'owned' by someone. The version on this DVD will probably have come from a TV network somewhere. The Ghost Breakers (sequel) is the same poor quality - at one point a colour menu even appears at the top of the screen.

As I said, I don't fully understand it all but in the case of better known films that fall into this copyright grey area, like Nosferatu for example, there are multiple releases available. Several of these are a horrible quality version that's public domain. Others are 'proper' releases that a company has spent time restoring, grading and polishing. The work done by that company makes that version their own, no longer public domain, whilst the 'raw' versions aren't in violation of any copyright.

The link below is to a website that hosts many of these copyright-free films. You can download them free (and totally legally). Nosferatu, Night of the Living Dead and Last Man Alive are some of the classics available there. So is Santa Claus Conquers the Martians which I heartilly recommend.

http://www.archive.org/

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] WeeTotyMau5 18 years ago

I recommend the Archive.org website at every turn 'cause I love it so much!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I never drink...wine."

[–] Eurydice2 17 years ago

Have a potato.....

[–] twi-zon 17 years ago

The fact that someone put this on DVD, no matter how atrocious it looks, answers a question I have often wondered--Is this movie lost? I thought that Bob Hope's death in 2003 might have led to it being released, but no! After all, "The Ghost Breakers" is on DVD, and it will scare you if you let it. Perhaps this film is lost in the red-tape jungle; maybe it will come out in time. I'll save a spot in my DVD collection for it, "Island of Lost Souls," and "Murders in the Zoo."

[–] twi-zon 17 years ago

Well, imagine my surprise when I found out that "The Cat and the Canary" IS finally available on DVD. This is the Paramount disc, not the Orbitmedia version. Still, I have problems with it. This film fell into a copyright jungle many years ago, and it is possible that the negative no longer exists. So, I'll tolerate the less than sharp picture and the uncentered credits running off both sides of the screen. But, why didn't Paramount add an audio track? I'm not deaf, but sometimes the dialogue is hard to understand. I suppose we should be glad to have it at all. That must have been the studio's thinking.
Film: ***
DVD: **

[–] ktvalve 17 years ago

Does anyone know how the paramount copy compares to the awful uk region 2 version? ,it really is heartbreaking we cant see a pristine version of this great film,I remember when the Karloff film "the ghoul" first started turning up on video after years of being a lost film ,the print was so bad it made the film seem slow and boring ,then MGM found a pefect copy and watching it seemed like a different film .Cat has some great camera work and crys out for a good reissue and restoation.

[–] pikachu_fan_number_9 16 years ago

Actually, Paramount no longer owns the rights. Universal (which produced the 1927 version) does now. I searched at the LOC Copyright Catalog and it showed that this was one of the films in the EMKA package.

So, you must contact Universal if you want to see this film on DVD in great quality (they just might release it as a double feature with the 1927 version).

[–] christopher_sargeant 16 years ago

http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/509064/The-Ghost-Breakers-The-Cat-And-Canary/Product.html

Playcom (see link) is advertising a double DVD package of both Cat and the Canary plus, the Ghost Breakers. Does anyone know if the quality is good on this edition?

[–] sjahson 16 years ago

The 2 dvd digipack is the same dire prints put out by orbit media!