For Immediate Release
KINO TO RELEASE A NEWLY-RESTORED VERSION OF PAUL LENI'S THE CAT AND THE CANARY (1927) AND A FIVE-DVD SET NAMED AMERICAN SILENT HORROR COLLECTION
Kino International is proud to release on DVD one of the most influential American horror films: Paul Leni's THE CAT AND THE CANARY (1927). Meticulously restored by Kevin Brownlow and Patrick Stanbury (Photoplay Productions) from original nitrate prints, this color tinted edition of Paul Leni's "old dark house" classic also features a new orchestral score by Neil Brand, here performed by members of The City of Prague Philharmonic.
Kino's new edition of THE CAT AND THE CANARY will also be available in a five-DVD set named AMERICAN SILENT HORROR COLLECTION. Besides the aforementioned film, this all-new set will feature Paul Leni's THE MAN WHO LAUGHS (1928), John Stuart Robertson's DR JEKYL & MR. HYDE (1920), Wallace Worsley's THE PENALTY (1920), and the documentary KINGDOM OF SHADOWS (1998), a film exploring the evolution of the horror genre in world cinema.
Written and directed by Bret Wood, KINGDOM was narrated by Academy Award Winner Rod Steiger and brings clips from over 50 seminal horror films, like Nosferatu, The Golem, Dante's Inferno, Waxworks and Electrocuting an Elephant. This previously unreleased DVD is exclusively available in the AMERICAN SILENT HORROR box set and will not be sold separately.
Both THE CAT AND THE CANARY (SRP $ 24.95) DVD and Kino's AMERICAN SILENT HORROR COLLECTION (SRP $ 49.95) are set to prebook on September 11, 2007, with a street date of October 9.
THE CAT AND THE CANARY
 A decaying mansion and a stormy night provide the archetypal setting for mystery and chaos when a pack of greedy relatives gather for the reading of a twenty-year-old will. But before the west fortune can be handed down, the family must endure a night in the cavernous manor, unnerved by the news that an escaped lunatic is at large.
Produced for video by Kevin Brownlow and Patrick Stanbury from Photoplay Productions, a British company specialized in restorations of silent era films for theatrical, television, and home video presentations, Kino's exclusive release of this Photoplay restoration presents the pristine and daring visuals of Leni's THE CAT AND THE CANARY as they were first seen in 1927. This DVD was produced with the support of The Danish Film Institute in Copenhagen, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, and with additional material granted by Jan Zaalberg.
A wellspring of all old-dark-house mysteries, this deliberately artificial horror classic is filled with atmospheric tricks and photographic innovations. Besides featuring highly stylized imagery, THE CAT AND THE CANARY further established the ingenuity of one of the first filmmakers brought from Germany to work at Carl Laemmle's Universal Studios � a man who infused American cinema with expressionist flair and unprecedented cinematic panache.
Perhaps unaware that he was setting the very aesthetic grounds for the future of the horror genre, Paul Leni (1885-1929), who also directed Waxworks (1924) and this collection's THE MAN WHO LAUGHS, worked as a set designer and theorist before acting as a film director. In the early 1920s, Leni wrote extensively about the use of set designs that transcended photographic reality:
"I have tried to create sets so stylized that they evince no ideas of reality ... It is not extreme reality that the camera perceives, but the reality of the inner event, which is more profound, effective and moving than what we see through everyday eyes." � Paul Leni
Besides standing on their own as outstanding cinematic achievements, both THE MAN WHO LAUGHS and THE CAT AND THE CANARY display the many ways in which Paul Leni's expressionistic vision has infused � and created� the basic grammar of American horror cinema.
KINGDOM OF SHADOWS: The Rise of the Horror Film
With Scenes from More Than 50 Classic Thrillers
Narrated by ROD STEIGER
Narrated by Academy Award™ Winner Rod Steiger (In the Heat of the Night, On the Waterfront, The Loved One), KINGDOM OF SHADOWS is a haunting, sometimes shocking documentary that explores the evolution of horror in world cinema�a danse macabre of religion, science, carnivals, sex, nightmares, monstrosity and death.
More than fifty thrillers (the best-known as well as the most obscure) are surveyed, including Nosferatu, The Golem, Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages, The Student of Prague, Electrocuting an Elephant, The Phantom of the Opera, Dante's Inferno, The Bells, Waxworks, Warning Shadows, and Leaves from Satan's Book.
KINGDOM OF SHADOWS explores the sources of our fears and reveals the birth of the frightful conventions from which the modern-day horror movie has evolved, including the menacing shadows of the German Expressionists, the sympathetic monsters of Lon Chaney ("The Man of a Thousand Faces") and the psychological terrors envisioned by Edgar Allan Poe. Essential viewing for every aficionado of silent movies or classic horrors, KINGDOM OF SHADOWS illuminates one of the most fascinating chapters of film history.
U.S. 1998 B&W/Color 70 Min.
Full-frame (1.33:1) / Narrated by Rod Steiger
Written & Directed by Bret Wood
Music Composed & Performed by Joseph Turrin
Special Thanks to Felicia Feaster, Tim Lanza, Douglas Robinson, David Shepard
Paul Leni's THE MAN WHO LAUGHS
Conrad Veidt stars as a tortured clown who travels from village to village with a permanent smile carved on his face. Based on Victor Hugo's novel and cited by Batman creator Bob Kane as the inspiration for The Joker.
DVD EXTRAS:
- An original 20-minute documentary on the making of the film.
- Rare footage of Conrad Veidt at home.
- Extensive gallery of rare photographs and art.
U.S. 1928. 110 min. B&W.
John Stuart Robertson's DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE
This first great American horror film follows prominent London physician Dr. Jekyll, who, while exploring the dual nature of man,
transforms into the murderous Mr. Hyde.
DVD Extras: Stan Laurel short DR. PYCKLE & MR. PRIDE.
Excerpts from other 1920 version.
Illustrated essay on origins of story, more.
U.S. 1920. 84 min. B&W /tinted.
Wallace Worsley's THE PENALTY
In one of his most diabolical roles, Lon Chaney stars as a criminal mastermind who carries out a gruesome vengeance upon the doctor who
amputated his legs.
DVD Extras: Tour Chaney's Makeup Kit, Rare Chaney Footage, more.
U.S. 1920. 82 min. B&W.
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