Arsenic and Old Lace (film)
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| Arsenic and Old Lace | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster. |
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| Directed by | Frank Capra |
| Produced by | Frank Capra Jack L. Warner |
| Written by | Joseph Kesselring (play) Julius J. Epstein Philip G. Epstein |
| Starring | Cary Grant Josephine Hull Jean Adair Raymond Massey |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | September 23, 1944 (USA) |
| Running time | 118 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,120,175 US (est.) |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
Arsenic and Old Lace is a film directed by Frank Capra based on a play by the same name by Joseph Kesselring. The script was adapted by Julius J. Epstein. Capra actually filmed the movie in 1941 but it was not released until 1944 while the studio waited for the stage version to finish its run on Broadway. The lead role of Mortimer Brewster was originally intended for Bob Hope, but he couldn't be released from his contract with Paramount. Capra had also approached Jack Benny and Ronald Reagan before settling on Cary Grant.
In addition to Grant as Mortimer Brewster, the film also starred Josephine Hull and Jean Adair as the Brewster sisters, Abby and Martha, respectively. Hull and Adair and John Alexander (who played Teddy) reprised their roles from the original 1941 stage production.
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[edit] Plot
A drama critic and anti-marriage confirmed bachelor, Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant), has written a number of books describing marriage as just an old-fashioned superstition. Nevertheless, he falls in love with and marries Elaine Harper (Priscilla Lane), who grew up next door to his old family home in Brooklyn.
Immediately after the marriage, he visits the bizarre relatives who still live there, two elderly aunts (Josephine Hull, Jean Adair) and his brother Teddy (John Alexander). Teddy thinks he's Theodore Roosevelt; each time he goes upstairs he blows a bugle, yells "Charge!", and takes the stairs at a run (in imitation of Roosevelt's famous charge up San Juan Hill). Mortimer finds a corpse hidden in a window seat, and tells his aunts that Teddy must be sent to an asylum, as he has killed someone.
At this point, Mortimer's sweet, if misguided, aunts explain that they are responsible ("It's one of our charities"). They have developed what Mortimer calls the "very bad habit" of ending the presumed suffering of lonely old bachelors by serving them elderberry wine spiked with arsenic, strychnine, and "just a pinch of cyanide". The bodies are buried in the basement by Teddy, who thinks he is digging locks for the Panama Canal and burying yellow fever victims.
To complicate matters further, Mortimer's other brother, Jonathan (Raymond Massey), arrives with his alcoholic accomplice, plastic surgeon Dr. Herman Einstein (played by Peter Lorre, and loosely based on gangland surgeon Joseph Moran), in tow. Jonathan is a vicious multiple murderer whose face, as altered by Einstein while drunk, resembles that of Boris Karloff in his makeup as Frankenstein's monster. This comparison is frequently noted in the film, much to Jonathan's annoyance. (This was originally a self-referential joke, as Karloff himself had played the character in the stage production). Jonathan soon declares his intention to kill Mortimer.
Mortimer makes increasingly frantic attempts to stay on top of the situation as his bride waits for him next door. He worries whether he will go insane like the rest of his family. But eventually Jonathan is arrested, while Teddy and the two ladies are safely consigned to an asylum. In the end, Mortimer is overjoyed to learn that he was adopted and is not biologically related to the Brewsters after all. He is actually the son of a sea cook (in the original play, he happily tells Elaine that he's a bastard).
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Cary Grant | Mortimer Brewster |
| Josephine Hull | Aunt Abby Brewster |
| Jean Adair | Aunt Martha Brewster |
| Raymond Massey | Jonathan Brewster |
| Peter Lorre | Dr. Herman Einstein |
| Priscilla Lane | Elaine Harper Brewster |
| John Alexander | Teddy Brewster |
| Jack Carson | Officer Patrick O'Hara |
| John Ridgely | Officer Sanders |
| Edward McNamara | Police Sgt. Brophy |
| James Gleason | Police Lt. Rooney |
[edit] Trivia
- The Marvel Comics team The Runaways features a girl-dinosaur pairing codenamed "Arsenic and Old Lace"
- In the 12th episode of the 2nd season of The Muppet Show, a sketch called "Veterinarians' Hospital" makes a joke about Arsenic and Old Lace:
- Nurse Janice: What do you think, Dr. Bob?
- Rowlf: Simple, it's arsenic poisoning.
- Janice: Arsenic?
- Rowlf: Sure, just look at this old lace!
- Nurse Piggy: Arsenic and old lace? Dr. Bob, Dr. Bob, that's an old show.
- Rowlf: Well, that's an old shoe!
- Janice: Well, that's an old joke!
- In the scene where Mortimer Brewster is sitting on a tombstone in the graveyard outside his Aunt's home, one of the headstones behind him reads "Archie Leach". Cary Grant's real name is Archie Leach.
- The film was made in 1941 and was released three years later because the producers were waiting for the Broadway play to finish its run. Boris Karloff played Jonathan Brewster on the stage, while in the movie Raymond Massey plays Jonathon, who "looks like Karloff". If not for the stage play, Karloff would have played the same role in the film.
- Cary Grant donated his entire salary, $100000, to the U.S. War Relief Fund.[citation needed]
- Ronald Reagan was offered the chance to play Mortimer Brewster and turned it down. Jack Benny was also offered the part and turned it down. Bob Hope accepted the role but Paramount Studio refused to lend him out to Warner Brothers for the film.
- Cary Grant considered his acting in this film to be horribly over the top and often called it his least favorite of all his movies.
- Now defunct Australian screamo band, Drifting Over Brooklyn, have a song titled Arsenic And Old Lace on their 2006 demo.
[edit] External links
| Films Directed by Frank Capra |
|---|
| The Strong Man • For the Love of Mike • Long Pants • The Power of the Press • Say It with Sables • So This Is Love • Submarine • The Way of the Strong • That Certain Thing • The Matinee Idol • Flight • The Donovan Affair • The Younger Generation • Rain or Shine • Ladies of Leisure • Dirigible • The Miracle Woman • Platinum Blonde • Forbidden • American Madness • The Bitter Tea of General Yen • Lady for a Day • It Happened One Night • Broadway Bill • Mr. Deeds Goes to Town • Lost Horizon • You Can't Take It with You • Mr. Smith Goes to Washington • Meet John Doe • Arsenic and Old Lace • It's a Wonderful Life • State of the Union • Riding High • Here Comes the Groom • A Hole in the Head • Pocketful of Miracles |
