Arsenic and Old Lace
Arsenic and Old Lace

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- 79/100 based on 73,184 votes

Mortimer Brewster is a newspaperman and author known for his diatribes against marriage. We watch him being married at city hall in the opening scene. Now all that is required is a quick trip home to tell Mortimer's two maiden aunts. While trying to break the news, he finds out his aunts' hobby; killing lonely old men and burying them in the cellar. It gets worse.... (Full plot summary below)

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Actors in Arsenic and Old Lace:

Cary Grant
Priscilla Lane
Josephine Hull
Jean Adair
Raymond Massey
John Alexander

Full Plot Details

Mortimer Brewster is a newspaperman and author known for his diatribes against marriage. We watch him being married at city hall in the opening scene. Now all that is required is a quick trip home to tell Mortimer's two maiden aunts. While trying to break the news, he finds out his aunts' hobby; killing lonely old men and burying them in the cellar. It gets worse.

Review & Comments

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Movie Reviews

Kansas City Kansan - 10/10 by Steve CrumCharge! off to see this classic Capra screwballer.
ReelTalk Movie Reviews - 8/10 by Donald J. LevitToday the stellar cast comes across as overacting, mugging into predictable pratfalls, blustering obtuseness and telegraphed laff lines.
Common Sense Media - 8/10 by Charles CassadyCary Grant serial-killer comedy classic is cozy and tame.
Variety - 8/10 by Variety StaffDespite the fact that picture runs 118 minutes, Frank Capra has expanded on the original play [by Joseph Kesselring] to a sufficient extent to maintain a steady, consistent pace.
Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN) - 8/10 by Bob BloomNot one of Capra's best. Grant is too hammy and out of control, and without Boris Karloff as Jonathan Brewster, the joke is lost.
User Review - 10/10 by Peterson HOne of my favorite screwball comedies from the '40's.
User Review - 10/10 by James KAbsolutely, relentlessly, ceaselessly and brilliantly hilarious from start to finish - which is for more than two hours. Belies its age and the culture it was birthed from with reckless humour and writing. Full of such rich performances, Cary Grant himself stars.
User Review - 10/10 by Rash HArsenic and Old Lace (1944) Beginner circles in film studies tend to use a lot of the same names and faces during the course of a semester. Certain figures who might be unimportant to the average audience are in fact pop-icons of cinema to the savy; names which become repetetive and overrated. Overrated of course may be too strong a word, but the point being there is always something better. Something better than Kubrick, Hitchcock or Hawks. Personally I put all three in my favourites when ever possible, but this doesn't stop me from trying to branch out and find something original. When that fails, I dismiss directors and look for novel method actors that "eclipse" the story (fucking Twilight fans, there you go). When that doesn't work - I take Cary Grant. Cary Grant is someone who I find endlessly fascinating. Whether it be comedy or the thrillers of his time period, he could take a role and spin it like no one else while always retaining that classic Hollywood Star quality, because audiences were paying to see Him to see him. On most occasions he did manage to dissapear into the storyboard around him, if not always into the character. He was a charmer most definitely, so when I think of Cary Grant I think of comedy. When Grant let loose, I was on board. And this is why Arsenic and Old Lace is one of my favourite films of all time. Arsenic and Old Lace is in some ways a twist on the screwball comedy, where commitment and marriage are key to the overall happiness of its players. Grant was an ace at this genre and he played it repeatedly like in The Philadelphia Story (1940) or My Girl Friday (1940). A definite example of type casting in American filmmaking that juxtoposes the second world war being fought by the countries allies. Back to the film! Grant is Mortimer Brewster, a notorious bachelor who has published books on the frivolity of marriage. Ironically (or typically) he is to be wed and has decided to come back to his hometown so he can show off his new wife to his geriatric nutcase aunts. Little does he know that his aunts have developed a strange and terrible habbit of killing old men and burying them in their cellar. Spoiler? No I don't think so, where do you think the films title comes from? A play? Okay, you're half right. Regardless, one of the finest parts of this film is that it isn't in anyway a crime thriller (although, as we will cover, it attempts to be). The aunts themselves are the kindest and most naive souls ever to be put in front of a camera; or stage as it was initially performed. You see, the aunts are not malevolent or murderous - neither do they consider what they've done a crime in itself. To them it is charity, bestowed on sick old men who have no one else in the world. Mercy killing then is the game, only it is established in such a way that no viewer would actually vouch for the arrest of the aunts. Namely, I think I love Arsenicand Old Lace because of its timelesness. Marriage and its values are questioned more today than ever. The threat of false information is everywhere, although not just in the form of relationships. Sometimes we must ask filmmakers for a satire that doesn't sacrifice its substance for a kick to the groin. The comedy here is done well and it is a perfect mirror to what I suppose we would have considered the modern family. Plus it's pretty fucking funny.
User Review - 10/10 by Scott FCary Grant at his comedic best. A man who can make you laugh by the look on his face, pure gold. Watched it with my grandparents when I wad a child and I own the DVD now. I will never be without a copy. No matter my mood, it always brings a smile to my face.
User Review - 10/10 by Judge LA hilarious dark comedy about a drama critic who finds out his two spinster aunts are not the innocent little old ladies they appear to be. This is one of Cary Grant's best roles, as Mortimer Brewster, the hysterical young man confounded by what he has found out about his nutty familly. But he is by far not the only enjoyable character in the film. His old murderous aunts are delightfully played by Jean Adair and Josephine Hull (who won an Oscar playing a similar role in the invisible rabbit film Harvey), and Peter Lorre, John Alexander (a crazy brother who believed he is Teddy Roosevelt), and Raymond Massey as criminally insane brother Jonathon are put in quality performances. Priscilla Lane as Mortimer's brand-new wife didn't have a whole lot to do besides look pretty and kiss Cary Grant every so often, but she does it well. Then again, who COULDN'T kiss Cary Grant and make it look convincing!?! Something I found interesing is the old ladies seem like the sweetest little grannies in the world, and while they never change demeanors throughout the film, by discovering their psychotic impulses, I found them more creepy and scary than sweet. Director Frank Capra did a wonderful job in making this film work. Sight gags are everywhere, one of the funniest being Teddy running up the stairs screaming "CHARGE!" every time he goes to his room.. And Mortimer's continual facial expressions of surprise and alarm are priceless. But the film is not just a visual treat. The dialogue is a riot. One of my favorite lines "Insanity runs in my family....it practically gallops!" If this film is not on your list of favorite comedies -- and damn close to the top -- I don't really have any use for you.

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