 The plot had become too familiar, as film historian Douglas Brode notes, and it "seemed likely the play would be put away in a drawer [indefinitely]." Yet Elliott Nugent's film, The Cat and the Canary (1939), proved successful. Nugent "had the inspired idea to openly play the piece for laughs." The film was produced by Paramount and starred comedic actor Bob Hope. Hope played Wally Campbell, a character based on Creighton Hale's performance as Paul Jones. One critic suggests that Hope developed the character better than Hale and was funnier and more engaging. In later years, Universal themselves acquired the rights to the 1939 version.
