The Yellow Canary

The Yellow Canary
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Buzz Kulik
Produced by	Maury Dexter executive Robert L. Lippert
Written by	Rod Serling
Based on	novel Evil Come Evil Go by Whit Masterson
Starring	Pat Boone
Music by	Kenyon Hopkins
Cinematography	Floyd Crosby
Production company	Cooga Monga Productions
Distributed by	Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Release date	June 15, 1964
Running time	93 min.
Country	United States
Language	English

The Yellow Canary is a 1963 film thriller directed by Buzz Kulik. It stars Pat Boone and Barbara Eden, and it was adapted by Rod Serling from a novel by Whit Masterson, who also wrote the novel that was the basis for Orson Welles' Touch of Evil. The film was photographed by veteran Floyd Crosby and scored by jazz composer Kenyon Hopkins.

Andy Paxton (Boone) is an arrogant, obnoxious pop idol who is about to be divorced by his wife (Eden) and constantly abuses his staff, including his bodyguard, ex-cop Hub, his manager Vecchio and his valet, Bake.

Andy begins an engagement at the Huntington Hartford Theater in Los Angeles. He and Hub arrive home to find a maid Lisa hysterical - his infant son Bobby has been kidnapped and the son's nurse murdered. The ransom note has the code word "canary" and they summon the police, led by Lt Bonner (Klugman).

Andy doesn't tell the police about the code word out of fear that his son may be killed. A second message arrives demanding $200,000 ransom, which Andy manages to raise, and the money is delivered to an isolated beach but nobody comes to meet him.

Hub takes Andy to a lonely inn and tortures a woman into giving them the address of a man who might have been in touch with the kidnappers. They find the man, but he is dead.

After Bake is found murdered, Andy receives further instructions by telephone from the kidnaper and realizes that Hub is one of the few people who know their unlisted number.

Andy and Lissa return to the inn and rescue their baby, and Andy shoots the mentally deranged Hub as police cars surround the inn.

In 1961, Pete Levathes, head of 20th Century Fox, authorised the studio to pay $200,000 for the rights to Whit Masterton's novel Evil Come Evil Go. The film was always envisioned as a vehicle for Pat Boone, who had made a number of movies for Fox; he had a three picture deal with the studio at fee of $200,000 per movie, which would be credited to his production company, Cooga Mooga Productions.

Rod Serling, then at the height of his Twilight Zone fame, was paid $125,000 to write the script. With a star and writer of that calibre, it was originally estimated that the film would have a budget of between $1.5-2 million and be shot over ten weeks.Ann Margaret was mentioned as a possibility for the female lead.