1944 Directed by Frank Capra
Mortimer Brewster, a newspaper drama critic, playwright and author known for his diatribes against marriage, suddenly falls in love and gets married; but when he makes a quick trip home to tell his two maiden aunts, he finds out his aunts' hobby - killing lonely old men and burying them in the cellar!
Cary Grant Priscilla Lane Josephine Hull Jean Adair Raymond Massey Peter Lorre John Alexander Jack Carson Edward McNamara James Gleason Edward Everett Horton Garry Owen Grant Mitchell Vaughan Glaser Chester Clute Charles Lane Hank Mann Spencer Charters John Ridgely Sol Gorss Lee Phelps Raymond Walburn Spec O'Donnell Leo White Edward McWade Jimmy the Crow
I’m pretty sure that in about 90% of the screwball comedies made in the 40s there is a character named Johnny. When I first saw Arsenic and Old Lace years ago, its over-the-top zaniness caught me completely off guard and I absolutely, positively hated it. This time I was committed to go into this with an open mind and try my best to enjoy it for what it is, even if comedy does age like milk. The first time I watched this it was Cary Grant’s performance that really turned me off but this time however, I realized that he is probably the best thing in it and is putting forth quite the effort. Regardless, I…
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 don't know what it is about the leads in Hitchcock films that make me dislike them until I see them out of Hitchcockland. It happened with James Stewart, who I found rather annoying in Rear Window, but when I saw him in It's a Wonderful Life I immediately got his wonderful appeal. And yes, it happened with Cary Grant in North by Northwest, but I now see why he was a superstar.
I didn't get the appeal of North by Northwest. And although he could really wear a suit, I just didn't like Cary Grant. Perhaps it was the tan. Or just the fact that he was the lead in a Hitchcock film I didn't like. Either way, I…
"What I mean is... Well... This is developing into a very bad habit!"
I don't know what I expected of this film, but I certainly wasn't anticipating a Halloween screwball comedy about two aunts poisoning old lonely men, an uncle who's convinced he's Teddy Roosevelt, and Cary Grant looking shocked and flustered 90% of the runtime.
3.75/5
Film #13 of Project 40
”CHAAAAAAARRGE!”
This is as manic, exaggerated and congested a comedy can get. Biggest surprise of Arsenic and Old Lace is its director, here Frank Capra who is better known for his sweet, lighthearted and humble comedies creates something that can only be matched by Dr. Strangelove when it comes to cynicism and sarcasm of dialogues and the out of control nature. Put Boris Karloff, Teddy Roosevelt, Dr. Einstein and a Cary Grant who is swinging between mental stability and insanity in one single room and you’ll have it, an erratic comedy that is funny and frightening at the same time.
Arsenic and Old Lace is a movie that step by step drags you into its…
Gawd, I love classic Hollywood. This flick oozes with style. All the little title cards, Cary Grant's aviators, the slightly canted close-ups, the mile-a-minute dialogue... excellent stuff. And that's just the first five minutes.
I love how madly off the rails it goes from there... it almost becomes a horror film, really.
Peter Lorre is excellent as the reluctant mad scientist and flunky to mad killer. And the crazy uncle who thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt (and all of the gags that leads to!) and the crazy wannabe-playwright cop!
This film is SO fun. I have a new favorite by Capra.
Frank Capra is #10 in my 100 Directors Project
Farewell to FilmStruck
Watched for the Classic Films Challenge ’18 under the prompt: "Watch a film directed by Frank Capra"
I like that Frank Capra avoided the inherent staginess of theater adaptations by having Carey Grant run around like a chicken with its head cut off. Good stuff.
“Don’t do that please. Oh, that won’t have any effect. Oh, it did! Isn’t that amazing?”
The Hateful Eight meets Burn After Reading
A multigenerational gap refracts even the dark comedy into hammy light humor—almost a televised Halloween special in parts—but this prefigures Coens all the way down, including their frequent deployment of Clooney as Grant’s aloof, wind-blown dope.
This is a dream. I mean that very literally; the whole thing feels like the plotting of a dream in hindsight. Impossibly kooky. I honestly don’t know how to rate this but 3 1/2 stars seems right because I love fall and graveyards and Brooklyn and Peter Lorre’s accent and the freedom (and entitlement) to murder. Plus I loved that gorgeous, shadowy shot of a body draped over another body and that horrific reference to fingernail trauma. Unfortunately I found screwball Cary Grant to be grating at times.
Gawd, I love classic Hollywood. This flick oozes with style. All the little title cards, Cary Grant's aviators, the slightly canted close-ups, the mile-a-minute dialogue... excellent stuff. And that's just the first five minutes.
I love how madly off the rails it goes from there... it almost becomes a horror film, really.
Peter Lorre is excellent as the reluctant mad scientist and flunky to mad killer. And the crazy uncle who thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt (and all of the gags that leads to!) and the crazy wannabe-playwright cop!
This film is SO fun. I have a new favorite by Capra.
Frank Capra is #10 in my 100 Directors Project
Farewell to FilmStruck
Watched for the Classic Films Challenge ’18 under the prompt: "Watch a film directed by Frank Capra"
I’m sorry, but this is EXHAUSTING.
It never modulates its tone. Cary Grant is dialed up to 100. It’s way, way too long.
It’s really too bad. The first part is funny, and the aunts are mostly hilarious. But, my god, the Teddy Roosevelt thing doesn’t work at all.
Like many others who were seemingly caught off-guard on here, if you aren't aware of anything about this before watching it, nothing really gives off the impression that you are about to witness an absolute zany comedy, tinged in a wonderfully macabre tone, but that's exactly what it is!! As an adaption of Joseph Kesselring's 1939 play of the same name, this felt like it could have easily have been a feature carried by the likes of the Marx Brothers, but yet it's actually done (and very well at that) by the typically serious Cary Grant!!
It was really enjoyable to be completely taken aback by how absurd this was......unfortunately, it was frustrating that it's ending came across as being…
One of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen. And it feels so far ahead of its time with the meta jokes about theatre and film and it’s super pitch black humor about serial killers. I laughed out loud a lot while watching.
Justin Wiemer 1,848 films
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Films about family.
Suggestions welcome.
