Directed by:
Frank CapraCinematography:
Sol PolitoComposer:
Max SteinerCast:
Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey, Jack Carson, Edward Everett Horton, Peter Lorre, James Gleason, Josephine Hull, Jean Adair, John Alexander (more)VOD (1)
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Frazzled drama critic Mortimer Bewster (Cary Grant) has two aunts (Josephine Hull and Jean Adair) who ply lonely geezers with poisoned libations, one sociopathic brother (Raymond Massey) who looks like Boris Karloff, one bonkers brother (John Alexander) who thinks he's Teddy Rooselvelt, one impatient new bride (Priscilla Lane) - and only one night to make it turn out all right. In this circus' centre ring is Grant, twisting his face into a clown's gallery of flabbergasted reactions and transforming his natural athletic grace into a rubber-legged comic ballet. You'll die laughing. (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment)
(more)Reviews (2)
This is one of those evergreens that I always come back to and it never disappoints me. The five stars are not so much for the film, but rather for the theatrical source full of amazing dialogues, great lines, and bizarre characters. Adding a quality cast was enough to ensure the film's success. As many others have noted, the final form of the film is perhaps too faithful to the theatrical version. It definitely wasn't an expensive film, but that's not really important for the result. Cary Grant is great and the others helped him out nicely. Overall impression: 95%.
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Arsenic and Old Lace is seemingly the ideal Christmas movie. However, the hysterical screwball comedy does not do 1940s Hollywood any credit. This half-crazed, supposedly black-humor comedy is from the family of films like Bringing Up Baby that make me physically uncomfortable. Unfortunately, not even the lovely Priscilla Lane or the traditionally insane Peter Lorre can do anything in this no-holds-barred disaster with the worst Cary Grant performance ever. Poor Boris Karloff.
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