me in 1944 when i try to distract myself from the horrors of WWII by going to the local Cinema to see the latest Cary Grant Picture and realize it’s about how Women Be Poisoning: gee ........... hope this doesn’t ..... awaken anything in me ...........

for film club

(archibald leach was a young boy with a rough upbringing and demons. his wife said that his childhood made her cry. his older brother died, his father was an alcoholic, and his mother suffered from depression.)

cary grant was smirks and surprise and wide eyes. he was charm with a dash of a rogue and a sprinkling of a scoundrel. he was funny and more than a bit of a clown but he never forgot the hints of sadness buried deep underneath. he was slicked back hair and a suit and a tie and perfectly pressed shoes. he was flirting with the ladies late at night, leaning against the table, skipping down the road. he was dashing and he was exciting and he was perhaps the greatest movie star we've ever seen.

(somewhere along the line, archibald leach changed his name and the legend began.)

Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant) is wishing the old adage "You can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family" wasn't true right about now because his family is proving to be nuttier than a fruitcake! As the family antic's come to a head on Halloween Mortimer (Cary Grant) is slowly losing his own sanity!

Cary Grant was absolutely brilliant! His facial expressions were hilarious! His comedic timing was impeccable! Of course he had a strong supporting cast which include the likes of Josephine Hull and Jean Adair whom knocked it out of the ballpark in their roles as the lunatic spinster aunts whom have adopted a macabre new hobby!

Also featuring Raymond Massey as Mortimer's estranged brother Jonathan with a penchant for sadistic behavior! Whom decides to have an unannounced family reunion with his bug eyed sidekick Doctor Einstein (Peter Lorre) in tow!

Comedy, chaos and escalating mayhem ensues in this wonderful black comedy compliments of Director Frank Capra!

i never knew cary grant had so many facial expressions

This was absolutely outrageous! I honestly thought this was just another romantic comedy my god I did not know what I have gotten myself into. Cary Grant was oozing with electric charisma here and I find myself delighting in all of his comedic antics. Easily one of the most absurdly hilarious films I have ever found myself taking great pleasure in.

That’s kind of a problematic poster...

I haven't watched it in years. I still really enjoy it. It was based on Joseph Kesselring's 1941 play of the same name. The dialogue is great and admittedly the story is a bit ridiculous but that doesn't stop me from enjoying this film so much.

74/100

Starts slow, quite annoying to watch for the first hour, but still so damn funny. Cary Grant's expressions throughout the movie is hilarious.

Arsenic and Old Lace is better than Hereditary. It is not open to discussion. Anyone who disagrees should be haunted by a Boris Karloff look-alike.

John says: Started off pretty solid, put me to sleep though.

Reza says: Sorry Cary, it’s not working for me.

Absolute top mugging by Cary Grant, and I love it!!

Perhaps the most important element of a farce is momentum - rising crescendos of slapstick and door slamming that culminate in explosive confrontations or breathless near-misses. It's comedic timing on the feature length scale, and when done right, the result is a puzzle box of gags that's as (seemingly) intricate as it is hilarious.

This one doesn't get it right.

All the pieces are there and the stakes are hilariously high - I don't think I've ever seen a farce so blithely murderous. Toss in some gleefully cartoonish performances from Grant, Lorre, and Mortimer's *iconic* Christian killer aunts, and baby, you've got yourself a stew going. But this needed to be a lot denser or a lot shorter to maintain its momentum. Plus, I can forgive the dated mental illness stigma, but I wish it wasn't SO central to the plot, ya know?

I still hate your personality, Frank Capra. But I liked your movie