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Arsenic and Old Lace (film)
 
 
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Arsenic and Old Lace is a film
Film

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
 directed
Film director

A film director, or filmmaker, is a person who directs the making of a film. A film director visualizes the Screenplay, controlling a film's artistic and dramatic aspects, while guiding the technical crew and actors in the fulfillment of his or her vision....
 by Frank Capra
Frank Capra

'Frank Russell Capra' was an Italian-American film director and a major creative force behind a number of highly popular films of the 1930s and 1940s, including It's a Wonderful Life and Mr....
 based on a play of the same name
Arsenic and Old Lace (play)

Arsenic and Old Lace is a play by United States of America playwright Joseph Kesselring, written in 1939. It has become best known through the Arsenic and Old Lace starring Cary Grant and directed by Frank Capra....
 by Joseph Kesselring
Joseph Kesselring

Joseph Otto Kesselring was an United States of America writer and playwright known best for his Play Arsenic and Old Lace .Born to Germany parents in New York City in 1902, Joseph Kesselring went on to teach vocal music at Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas....
. The script was adapted
Adaptation

Adaptation is the process, which takes place under natural selection, whereby an organism becomes better suited to its habitat. Also, the term may refer to some characteristic which stands out as being especially significant in the organism's survival....
 by Julius J. Epstein
Julius J. Epstein

Julius J. Epstein was an United States screenwriter, who had a long career, most noted for the adaptation - in partnership with his twin brother, Philip G....
. Capra actually filmed the movie in 1941 but it was not released until 1944 while the studio
Studio

A studio is an artist's or worker's workroom, or an artist and his or her employees who work within that studio. This can be for the purpose of architecture, painting, pottery , sculpture, photography, graphic design, cinematography, animation, radio or television broadcasting or the making of music....
 waited for the stage version to finish its run on Broadway
Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 39 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City....
. The lead role of Mortimer Brewster was originally intended for Bob Hope
Bob Hope

Bob Hope, Order of the British Empire, Order of St. Gregory the Great , was an British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway theatre, and in radio, television and movies....
, but he couldn't be released from his contract with Paramount
Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production company and distribution company, located on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, California....
. Capra had also approached Jack Benny
Jack Benny

Jack Benny was an American comedian, vaudeville, and actor for radio programming, television, and film.Widely recognized as one of the leading American entertainers of the 20th century, Benny was known for his comic timing and his ability to get laughs with either a pregnant pause or a single expression, such as his signature exasperated "...
 and Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California . Born in Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s, where he was an actor, president of the Screen Actors Guild , and a spokesman for General Electric ....
 before settling on Cary Grant
Cary Grant

Archibald Alec Leach , better known by his stage name, Cary Grant, was a British-born American actor. With his distinctive yet not quite placeable accent, he was noted as perhaps the foremost exemplar of the debonair leading man, handsome, virile, charismatic and charming....
.






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Arsenic and Old Lace is a film
Film

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
 directed
Film director

A film director, or filmmaker, is a person who directs the making of a film. A film director visualizes the Screenplay, controlling a film's artistic and dramatic aspects, while guiding the technical crew and actors in the fulfillment of his or her vision....
 by Frank Capra
Frank Capra

'Frank Russell Capra' was an Italian-American film director and a major creative force behind a number of highly popular films of the 1930s and 1940s, including It's a Wonderful Life and Mr....
 based on a play of the same name
Arsenic and Old Lace (play)

Arsenic and Old Lace is a play by United States of America playwright Joseph Kesselring, written in 1939. It has become best known through the Arsenic and Old Lace starring Cary Grant and directed by Frank Capra....
 by Joseph Kesselring
Joseph Kesselring

Joseph Otto Kesselring was an United States of America writer and playwright known best for his Play Arsenic and Old Lace .Born to Germany parents in New York City in 1902, Joseph Kesselring went on to teach vocal music at Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas....
. The script was adapted
Adaptation

Adaptation is the process, which takes place under natural selection, whereby an organism becomes better suited to its habitat. Also, the term may refer to some characteristic which stands out as being especially significant in the organism's survival....
 by Julius J. Epstein
Julius J. Epstein

Julius J. Epstein was an United States screenwriter, who had a long career, most noted for the adaptation - in partnership with his twin brother, Philip G....
. Capra actually filmed the movie in 1941 but it was not released until 1944 while the studio
Studio

A studio is an artist's or worker's workroom, or an artist and his or her employees who work within that studio. This can be for the purpose of architecture, painting, pottery , sculpture, photography, graphic design, cinematography, animation, radio or television broadcasting or the making of music....
 waited for the stage version to finish its run on Broadway
Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 39 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City....
. The lead role of Mortimer Brewster was originally intended for Bob Hope
Bob Hope

Bob Hope, Order of the British Empire, Order of St. Gregory the Great , was an British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway theatre, and in radio, television and movies....
, but he couldn't be released from his contract with Paramount
Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production company and distribution company, located on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, California....
. Capra had also approached Jack Benny
Jack Benny

Jack Benny was an American comedian, vaudeville, and actor for radio programming, television, and film.Widely recognized as one of the leading American entertainers of the 20th century, Benny was known for his comic timing and his ability to get laughs with either a pregnant pause or a single expression, such as his signature exasperated "...
 and Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California . Born in Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s, where he was an actor, president of the Screen Actors Guild , and a spokesman for General Electric ....
 before settling on Cary Grant
Cary Grant

Archibald Alec Leach , better known by his stage name, Cary Grant, was a British-born American actor. With his distinctive yet not quite placeable accent, he was noted as perhaps the foremost exemplar of the debonair leading man, handsome, virile, charismatic and charming....
. Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff

Boris Karloff was an Cinema of the United Kingdom who emigrated to Canada in the 1910s. He is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the 1931 film Frankenstein , 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein and 1939 film Son of Frankenstein....
 played Jonathan Brewster on the stage, while in the movie Raymond Massey
Raymond Massey

Raymond Hart Massey was a Canada-born United States actor....
 plays Jonathan, who "looks like Karloff". Because Karloff was still appearing in the Broadway play during the film's production, he was unable to do the picture.

In addition to Grant as Mortimer Brewster, the film also starred Josephine Hull
Josephine Hull

Josephine Hull was an Academy Awards and Golden Globe winning United States actress. She had a successful 50-year career on stage while taking some of her better known roles to film....
 and Jean Adair
Jean Adair

Jean Adair was an actress. Although she worked primarily on stage , she made several film appearances late in her career, most notably as one of the misguided murdering aunts of Cary Grant in Arsenic and Old Lace , a role she originated in the Broadway play....
 as the Brewster sisters, Abby and Martha, respectively. Hull and Adair as well as John Alexander
John Alexander (actor)

John Alexander was an American stage and film actor.Perhaps his most memorable performance was as Teddy Brewster, a lunatic who thinks he is Theodore Roosevelt....
 (who played "Teddy Roosevelt") reprised their roles from the original 1941 stage production.

Plot

A drama critic and confirmed bachelor, Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant
Cary Grant

Archibald Alec Leach , better known by his stage name, Cary Grant, was a British-born American actor. With his distinctive yet not quite placeable accent, he was noted as perhaps the foremost exemplar of the debonair leading man, handsome, virile, charismatic and charming....
), has written a number of books describing marriage as 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
Brooklyn

Brooklyn is one of the five Borough of New York City, located at the western end of Long Island. An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents, and second largest in area....
.

Immediately after the wedding - on Halloween
Halloween

Halloween is a holiday celebrated on October 31. It has roots in the Celtic mythology of Samhain and the Christian holy day of All Saints. It is largely a Secularity celebration, but some Christians and Paganism have expressed strong feelings about its religious overtones....
, as it happens - Mortimer visits the bizarre relatives who still live there, two elderly aunts (Josephine Hull
Josephine Hull

Josephine Hull was an Academy Awards and Golden Globe winning United States actress. She had a successful 50-year career on stage while taking some of her better known roles to film....
, Jean Adair
Jean Adair

Jean Adair was an actress. Although she worked primarily on stage , she made several film appearances late in her career, most notably as one of the misguided murdering aunts of Cary Grant in Arsenic and Old Lace , a role she originated in the Broadway play....
) and his brother Teddy (John Alexander
John Alexander

John Alexander may refer to:* John Alexander , Scottish historical painter and engraver* John Alexander , scriptural commentator* John Alexander , - United States Representative from Ohio...
). Teddy thinks he's Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt , also known as T.R., and to the public as Teddy, was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States....
; each time he goes upstairs he blows a bugle, yells "Charge!", and takes the stairs at a run (an imitation of Roosevelt's famous charge up San Juan Hill
Battle of San Juan Hill

The Battle of San Juan Hill was the bloodiest and most famous battle of the Spanish-American War. It was also one of the greatest victories for the Rough Riders....
). He is also digging "The Panama Canal" in their cellar. Mortimer finds a corpse hidden in a window seat
Window seat

A window seat is a miniature sofa without a back, intended to fill the recess of a window. In the latter part of the 18th century, when tall narrow sash windows were almost universal, the window seat was in high favor, and was no doubt in keeping with the formalism of Georgian era interiors....
, 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
Elderberry

Sambucus is a genus of between 5 and 30 species of shrubs or small trees, formerly placed in the honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae, but now shown by genetic evidence to be correctly classified in the moschatel family, Adoxaceae....
 wine spiked with arsenic
Arsenic

Arsenic is a well-known chemical element that has the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic was first documented by Albertus Magnus in 1250....
, strychnine
Strychnine

Strychnine is a very toxic , colorless crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as birds and rodents....
, and "just a pinch of cyanide
Cyanide

A cyanide is any chemical compound that contains the nitrile , which consists of a carbon atom chemical bond to a nitrogen atom. Inorganic cyanides are hydrogen cyanide salts in which cyanide is generally the anion CN-....
". The bodies are buried in the basement by Teddy, who thinks he is digging locks for the Panama Canal
Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a man-made canal which joins the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean oceans. One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, it had an enormous impact on shipping between the two oceans, replacing the long and treacherous route via the Drake Passage and Cape Horn at the southernmost tip of South Am...
 and burying yellow fever
Yellow fever

Yellow fever is an acute Virus disease. It is an important cause of hemorrhage illness in many African and South American countries despite existence of an effective vaccine....
 victims.

To complicate matters further, Mortimer's brother Jonathan (Raymond Massey
Raymond Massey

Raymond Hart Massey was a Canada-born United States actor....
) arrives with his alcoholic accomplice in tow — plastic surgeon Dr. Herman Einstein, played by Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre

Peter Lorre , born L?szl? L?wenstein, was a Hungarian people - Austrian - United States actor frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner....
 and loosely based on gangland surgeon Joseph Moran
Joseph P. Moran

Joseph P. Moran was a physician known for catering to the Great Depression-era criminal underworld in the early 20th century. He was also a peripheral member of the Ma Barker, and was possibly the last physician to see or treat the mortally wounded John Dillinger....
. Jonathan is a psychotic
Psychosis

Psychosis , with adjective psychotic, literally means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatry term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"....
 gangster trying to escape police and find a place to dispose of the corpse of his latest victim, a certain Mr. Spenalzo. His face, as altered by Einstein while drunk, resembles that of Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff

Boris Karloff was an Cinema of the United Kingdom who emigrated to Canada in the 1910s. He is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the 1931 film Frankenstein , 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein and 1939 film Son of Frankenstein....
 in his makeup as Frankenstein's monster
Frankenstein

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, generally known as Frankenstein, is a novel written by the British author Mary Shelley. Shelley started writing Frankenstein when she was 18 and finished when she was 19....
. This comparison is frequently noted in the film, much to Jonathan's annoyance. (This was originally a self-referential
Self-reference

Self-reference is a phenomenon in natural language or formal languages consisting of a Sentence or formula referring to itself directly, or through some intermediate sentence or formula, or by means of some Semantics encoding....
 joke, as Karloff himself had played the character in the stage production.) Jonathan, upon finding out his aunts' secret, decides to bury Spenalzo in the cellar (to which Abby and Martha object vehemently, because their victims were all nice gentlemen) and 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 at her family home next door, including multiple efforts to alert the bumbling local cops to the threat Jonathan poses, as well as have the paperwork filled that will have Teddy declared legally insane and committed (giving him a safe explanation for the bodies should the cops find them). He worries whether he will go insane like the rest of his family. But eventually Jonathan is arrested, while Teddy and the two aunts 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 exclaims, "Elaine! Did you hear? Do you understand? I'm a bastard!").

Cast

Actor Role
Cary Grant
Cary Grant

Archibald Alec Leach , better known by his stage name, Cary Grant, was a British-born American actor. With his distinctive yet not quite placeable accent, he was noted as perhaps the foremost exemplar of the debonair leading man, handsome, virile, charismatic and charming....
 		 Mortimer Brewster
Josephine Hull
Josephine Hull

Josephine Hull was an Academy Awards and Golden Globe winning United States actress. She had a successful 50-year career on stage while taking some of her better known roles to film....
 		 Aunt Abby Brewster
Jean Adair
Jean Adair

Jean Adair was an actress. Although she worked primarily on stage , she made several film appearances late in her career, most notably as one of the misguided murdering aunts of Cary Grant in Arsenic and Old Lace , a role she originated in the Broadway play....
 		 Aunt Martha Brewster
Raymond Massey
Raymond Massey

Raymond Hart Massey was a Canada-born United States actor....
 		 Jonathan Brewster
Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre

Peter Lorre , born L?szl? L?wenstein, was a Hungarian people - Austrian - United States actor frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner....
 		 Dr. Herman Einstein
Priscilla Lane Elaine Harper Brewster
John Alexander
John Alexander

John Alexander may refer to:* John Alexander , Scottish historical painter and engraver* John Alexander , scriptural commentator* John Alexander , - United States Representative from Ohio...
 		 Teddy "Roosevelt" Brewster
Jack Carson
Jack Carson

John Elmer "Jack" Carson was a Canadian-born U.S.-based film actor.Jack Carson was one of the most popular character actors during the golden age of Hollywood, with a film career which spanned the 1930s, '40s and '50s....
 		 Officer Patrick O'Hara
John Ridgely
John Ridgely

John Ridgely was an USA film character actor with over 100 film credits. He appeared in the 1946 Humphrey Bogart film The Big Sleep as blackmailing gangster Eddie Mars and had a memorable role as a suffering heart patient in the film noir Nora Prentiss ....
 		 Officer Sanders
Edward McNamara Police Sgt. Brophy
James Gleason
James Gleason

James Gleason was an United States actor born in New York City. He was also a playwright and screenwriter.Balding and slender with a craggy voice, Gleason portrayed tough but warm-hearted characters, usually with a New York background....
 		 Police Lt. Rooney
Edward Everett Horton
Edward Everett Horton

Edward Everett Horton was an United States character actor with a long career including film, theater, radio, television and voice work for animated cartoons....
 		 Mr. Witherspoon


Veteran character actor Charles Lane
Charles Lane (actor)

Charles Gerstle Levison, better known as Charles Lane , was an United States character actor seen in many movies and TV shows, and at the time of his death may have been the oldest living professional American actor....
 has a cameo as a photographer at City Hall trying to get a picture of Mortimer Brewster getting a marriage license at the beginning of the film.

Characters in the comic book the "Runaways" use the names Arsnic and Old Lace as their hero names.

Reviews

The contemporary critical reviews were uniformly positive. The New York Times critic summed up the majority view, "As a whole, 'Arsenic and Old Lace,' the Warner picture which came to the Strand yesterday, is good macabre fun." Variety declared, "Capra's production, not elaborate, captures the color and spirit of the play, while the able writing team of Julius J. and Philip G. Epstein has turned in a very workable, tightly-compressed script. Capra's own intelligent direction rounds out."

American Film Institute
American Film Institute

The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B....
 recognition
  • 2000: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs
    AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs

    Part of the AFI 100 Years... series, AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs is a list of the top 100 comedy movies in American cinema. The list was unveiled by the American Film Institute on June 14, 2000....
     #30


Bibliography

  • Capra, Frank. Frank Capra, The Name Above the Title: An Autobiography. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1971. ISBN 0-30680-771-8.


External links