Arsenic and Old Lace
Reviews
John Chard
Frenetic roller-coaster ride - Capra style! The Broadway show this film is based on ran for something like four years, such was the yearning for riotous rompathons in the 40s, and thus here the Capra adaptation is pretty much non stop mania. Led by the perfectly cast Cary Grant, the film barely pauses for breath, stopping only briefly to put a bit of creepy menace into the otherwise insane plot. Oh yes the plot, the elderly Brewster sisters are the dear hearts of the neighbourhood, but what folk don't realise is that they are poisoning elderly male visitors to their home to save them from being lonely! This sets us up for romps as nephew Mortimer (Grant) lurches from one incredulous scene to another upon finding out about his dear Aunt's penchant for murder. Peter Lorre & Raymond Massey add to the madness upon visiting the house, whilst John Alexander almost steals the film as the barmy uncle who thinks he is Theodore Roosevelt! But it's Grant's show all the way, rarely will you see an actor express so many faces of incredulity with such mirthful results as what Grant gives us here. A joyous performance from the great man. Directed with all the sharpness and knowing of tones we expect from Frank Capra, the film is an out and out joy. So be sure to wear a corset to stop your sides from splitting. 9/10
barrymost
There are thirteen bodies in the cellar! Oh, piffle. Drama critic Mortimer Brewster has just gotten married. But his newfound wedded bliss is interrupted by the disturbing discovery that his sweet old spinster aunts have been murdering lonely old men with their homemade elderberry wine, and burying the bodies in the cellar. This demented screwball comedy was the film that introduced me to Cary Grant. The utterly black comedic treatment never gets old, and the laughs never let up. Every time he gets another surprise, Grant puts on a slightly different flustered expression. Peter Lorre and Raymond Massey, as the villains of the piece, are very amusingly sinister, and the spinster aunts Brewster are utterly charming, in spite of their, uh, somewhat morbid hobby. It's a hilariously insane romp from the brilliant director of some of America's greatest films, Frank Capra. Do yourself a favor and watch it already! Prepare to laugh nonstop. As Mortimer Brewster says, "Insanity runs in my family. It practically gallops!"
Filipe Manuel Neto
**An extraordinary comedy that stands out for its unpretentiousness.** I didn't have high expectations when I decided to watch this film, and I think this increased the impact it ended up having even more: based on a successful play, the film is an extraordinary comedy full of bizarreness and mischief, without a single dead moment and full of twists and turns that make us laugh and amuse us. The script begins with the sudden marriage of Mortimer Brewster, a famous theater critic known for being a bachelor. When preparing his bags for his honeymoon trip, the young man discovers that the two elderly aunts he has been living with are two remorseless killers, who believe they are doing enormous good by speeding up the deaths of lonely men. and sad people who will knock on their door to rent a room and sleep. Furthermore, their brother, who lives in that house, firmly believes that he is President Theodore Roosevelt and is digging the Panama Canal in the basement. And as if the madness wasn't enough, Mortimer has a crazy, murderous brother. The dialogues and situations are memorable, and the humor is contagious. I can understand why Cary Grant didn't like the work he did in this film: he really exaggerates his performance, he's histrionic, he spends almost half the film hysterical. However, this is funny and the character, and the script, asked the character to be this way. The actor, despite himself, knew how to understand what the character was asking of him and act accordingly. Veterans Jean Adair and Josephine Hull don't disappoint, offering us a truly brilliant interpretation, and the same can be said of Raymond Massey. The film also features the participation and worthy efforts of Peter Lorre and John Alexander. On a technical level, the film is reasonably discreet and focuses on effectiveness. The setting – the house where everything happens – is the most striking element that catches our attention. Apparently, it was made entirely in the studios, and it was a colossal, huge set. The costumes are also good, and the cinematography is quite pleasant and well executed.
Movie Recommendation
Lost Horizon1937-03-03British diplomat Robert Conway and a small group of civilians crash-land in the Himalayas, where they are rescued by the inhabitants of the hidden, idyllic valley of Shangri-La. Protected by the mountains from the world outside, where the clouds of World War II are gathering, Shangri-La provides a seductive escape for the world-weary Conway.More...
The Philadelphia Story1940-12-05When a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself.More...
Camille1936-12-26Life in 1847 Paris is as spirited as champagne and as unforgiving as the gray morning after. In gambling dens and lavish soirees, men of means exert their wills and women turned courtesans exult in pleasure. One such woman is Marguerite Gautier, who begins a sumptuous romance with Armand Duval.More...
At Land1944-01-01A woman washes up on a beach and embarks on a surreal journey, encountering others and fragmented versions of herself in a quest for identity.More...
Bells Are Ringing1960-06-23Ella Peterson works in the basement office of Susanswerphone, a telephone answering service. She listens in on others' lives and adds some interest to her own humdrum existence by adopting different identities for her clients. They include an out-of-work Method actor, a dentist with musical yearnings, and in particular playwright Jeffrey Moss, who is suffering from writer's block and desperately needs a muse.More...
Lola1981-08-20Germany in the autumn of 1957: Lola, a seductive cabaret singer-prostitute exults in her power as a temptress of men, but she wants out—she wants money, property, and love. Pitting a corrupt building contractor against the new straight-arrow building commissioner, Lola launches an outrageous plan to elevate herself in a world where everything, and everyone, is for sale. Shot in childlike candy colors, Fassbinder’s homage to Josef von Sternberg’s classic The Blue Angel stands as a satiric tribute to capitalism.More...
At the Circus1939-10-20Jeff Wilson, the owner of a small circus, owes his partner Carter $10,000. Before Jeff can pay, Carter's accomplices steal the money so he can take over the circus. Antonio Pirelli and Punchy, who work at the circus, together with lawyer Loophole try to find the thief and get the money back.More...
Boeing, Boeing1965-12-22Living in Paris, journalist Bernard has devised a scheme to keep three fiancées: Lufthansa, Air France and British United. Everything works fine as long as they only come home every third day. But when there's a change in their working schedule, they will be able to be home every second day instead. Bernard's carefully structured life is breaking apartMore...
People Will Talk1951-08-29Successful and well-liked, Dr. Noah Praetorius becomes the victim of a witchhunt at the hands of Professor Elwell, who disdains Praetorius's unorthodox medical views and also questions his relationship with the mysterious, ever-present Mr. Shunderson.More...
Secret Agent1936-05-31After three British agents are assigned to assassinate a mysterious German spy during World War I, two of them become ambivalent when their duty to the mission conflicts with their consciences.More...
Deadline2009-10-05A screenwriter travels to an abandoned house to finish a script on time, but a series of strange events lead her to a psychological breakdown.More...
Love Crazy1941-05-23Circumstance, an old flame and a mother-in-law drive a happily married couple to the verge of divorce and insanity.More...
Uncle Vanya1970-10-01Serebryakov, a retired professor and his beautiful, much younger second wife, Yeléna, visit their country estate, which funds their urban lifestyle. Vanya, brother of the Professor's first wife, who manages the farm estate, and the local Doctor Astrov, both fall under Yelena's spell, while complaining of the endless ennui of their provincial existence. Astrov is an experienced physician who performs his job conscientiously, but has lost all idealism and spends much of his time drinking. Sofya, the Professor's daughter by his first wife, who works to keep the estate going with her uncle Vanya, meanwhile suffers from lack of esteem over what she sees as her own lack of beauty, and from an unrequited love for Dr. Astrov. Matters are brought to a head when the Professor announces his intention to sell the estate, Vanya and Sofya's home, to achieve a higher income for himself and his wife.More...
Alice's Restaurant1969-08-20After getting kicked out of college, Arlo decides to visit his friend Alice for Thanksgiving dinner. After dinner is over, Arlo volunteers to take the trash to the dump but finds it closed for the holiday, so he dumps the trash in the bottom of a ravine. This act of littering gets him arrested and sends him on a bizarre journey.More...
For Pete's Sake1974-06-26Henrietta Robbins borrows money from a loan shark to finance her husband's investment in the stock market. However, when their stock plummets, she scrambles to find a way to pay the money back.More...
The Big City1963-09-27After her husband loses his job, a housewife from a middle-class, conservative family in Calcutta gets a job as a salesperson.More...
I Was a Male War Bride1949-08-26After marrying an American lieutenant with whom he was assigned to work in post-war Germany, a French captain attempts to find a way to accompany her back to the States under the terms of the War Bride Act.More...
Penelope1966-11-10When Penelope gets married to banker James Elcott, she finds him too preoccupied with work to pay much attention to her, so she robs his bank in disguise. After she confesses to her psychiatrist, Greg Mannix, he offers to return the money for her, as he is secretly in love with her. However, he abandons the money when the police approach. Penelope becomes determined to admit to the crime, but neither James nor the police believe her story.More...
A Gathering of Eagles1963-06-21Rock Hudson plays an Air Force Colonel who has just been re-assigned as a cold war B-52 commander who must shape up his men to pass a grueling inspection that the previous commander had failed, and had been fired for. He is also recently married, and as a tough commanding officer doing whatever he has to do to shape his men up, his wife sees a side to him that she hadn't seen before.More...
Here Comes the Groom1951-09-20Foreign correspondent Pete Garvey has 5 days to win back his former fiancée, or he'll lose the orphans he adopted.More...
Similar Movies
Things to Do in Denve...
1995-12-01Five different criminals face imminent death after botching a job quite badly.Mon Oncle
1958-05-10Genial, bumbling Monsieur Hulot loves his top-floor apartment in a grimy corner of the city, and cannot fathom why his sister's family has moved to the suburbs. Their house is an ultra-modern nightmare, which Hulot only visits for the sake of stealing away his rambunctious young nephew. Hulot's sister, however, wants to win him over to her new way of life, and conspires to set him up with a wife and job.La Dolce Vita
1960-02-05Episodic journey of journalist Marcello who struggles to find his place in the world, torn between the allure of Rome's elite social scene and the stifling domesticity offered by his girlfriend, all the while searching for a way to become a serious writer.The Hole
2001-04-20Four teenagers at a British private school secretly uncover and explore the depths of a sealed underground hole created decades ago as a possible bomb shelter.Shaft
2000-06-15New York police detective John Shaft arrests Walter Wade Jr. for a racially motivated slaying. But the only eyewitness disappears, and Wade jumps bail for Switzerland. Two years later Wade returns to face trial, confident his money and influence will get him acquitted -- especially since he's paid a drug kingpin to kill the witness.Wild at Heart
1990-08-17Young lovers Sailor and Lula hit the road to start a new life together away from the wrath of Lula’s deranged, disapproving mother, who has hired a team of hitmen to cut the lovers’ surreal honeymoon short.Being John Malkovich
1999-10-29One day at work, unsuccessful puppeteer Craig finds a portal into the head of actor John Malkovich. The portal soon becomes a passion for anybody who enters its mad and controlling world of overtaking another human body.Shaft's Big Score!
1972-06-08John Shaft is back as the lady-loved black detective cop on the search for the murderer of a client.Monster
2003-12-24An emotionally scarred highway drifter shoots a sadistic trick who rapes her, and ultimately becomes America's first female serial killer.Killing Zoe
1993-10-01Zed is an American vault-cracker who travels to Paris to meet up with his old friend Eric. Eric and his gang have planned to raid the only bank in the city which is open on Bastille day. After offering his services, Zed soon finds himself trapped in a situation beyond his control when heroin abuse, poor planning and a call-girl named Zoe all conspire to turn the robbery into a very bloody siege.Scoop
2006-07-27An American journalism student in London scoops a big story, and begins an affair with an aristocrat as the incident unfurls.Dial M for Murder
1954-05-29When American writer Mark Halliday visits the very married Margot Wendice in London, he unknowingly sets off a chain of blackmail and murder.Casino
1995-11-22In early-1970s Las Vegas, Sam "Ace" Rothstein gets tapped by his bosses to head the Tangiers Casino. At first, he's a great success in the job, but over the years, problems with his loose-cannon enforcer Nicky Santoro, his ex-hustler wife Ginger, her con-artist ex Lester Diamond and a handful of corrupt politicians put Sam in ever-increasing danger.Smuggler's Gold
1951-05-05A deep-sea diver becomes romantically involved with the daughter of a gold smuggler.The Man with the Gold...
1955-12-26When illegal card dealer and recovering heroin addict Frankie Machine gets out of prison, he decides to straighten up. Armed with nothing but an old drum set, Frankie tries to get honest work as a drummer. But when his former employer and his old drug dealer re-enter his life, Frankie finds it hard to stay clean and eventually finds himself succumbing to his old habits.Rashomon
1950-08-26Four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.Bread and Tulips
2000-03-03An endearing light comedy about a woman who spontaneously becomes a resident of Venice after her family left her behind. While enjoying the wonderful people she meets she achieves a new life and the first time independent of her family.Frenzy
1972-05-25London is terrorized by a vicious sex killer known as The Necktie Murderer. Following the brutal slaying of his ex-wife, down-on-his-luck Richard Blaney is suspected by the police of being the killer. He goes on the run, determined to prove his innocence.Requiem for a Dream
2000-10-06The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island residents are shattered when their addictions run deep.On the Waterfront
1954-06-22A prizefighter-turned-longshoreman with a conscience goes up against labor leaders to expose corruption, extortion, and murder among the union ranks.