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Arsenic and Old Lace
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Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 4% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Frank Capra
Writers:
Julius J. Epstein (screenplay) and
Philip G. Epstein (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Arsenic and Old Lace on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
23 September 1944 (USA) more
Genre:
Comedy | Thriller more
Tagline:
She Passed Out On Cary ! No Wonder . . . She's just discovered his favorite aunts have poisoned their 13th gentleman friend !
Plot:
A drama critic learns on his wedding day that his beloved maiden aunts are homicidal maniacs, and that insanity runs in his family. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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User Comments:
The Cary Grant Show more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Frank Capra's 'Arsenic and Old Lace' (USA) (complete title)
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Runtime:
118 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English | German
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Certification:
Argentina:Atp | UK:A (1944) | UK:PG (1990) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | USA:Approved (PCA #7855) | Australia:G (cable rating) | Australia:PG (original rating) | Germany:12 | Sweden:15

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
On stage, Boris Karloff played the monstrous Jonathan Brewster, Raymond Massey's film character, who, in eerie-looking screen makeup, resembled Karloff, which was a running gag throughout the picture. Because Karloff was still appearing in the Broadway play during the film's production, he was unable to do the picture. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Mortimer Brewster pushes the policeman O'Hara out the front door, he firmly shuts the door behind the policeman. However, he immediately goes to leave the house and, when he approaches the door, it is wide open. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
Baseball Fan: I'll knock your block off, you big stiff! You're a bum!
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in Frank Capra's 'It's a Wonderful Life': A Personal Remembrance (1991) (V) more
Soundtrack:
Bridal Chorus (Here Comes the Bride) more

FAQ

Is this movie based on a book?
Any recommendations for other comedies similar to "Arsenic and Old Lace"?
Is there a name for Teddy's delusional disorder?
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29 out of 31 people found the following comment useful:-
The Cary Grant Show, 2 February 2002
8/10
Author: intercostalclavicle from Edinburgh, Scotland

Arsenic and Old Lace is a refreshing breath of screwball comedy, mixing the madcap, the surreal and the sinister into one of Cary Grant's very best films. Grant plays his character superbly, adding extra nuttiness and extraordinary facial expressions to his usual role. He's a man plunged into confusion, surrounded by the craziest people to live on the planet, including his two innocently homicidal aunts, his brother who thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt, his other - also homicidal - brother who looks like Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre's wonderfully macabre plastic surgeon, Dr. Einstein.

It's all very peculiar and certainly off-the-wall, and is all kept together in a hysterical bundle by Grant's charm, presence, looks of astonishment and confused ramblings. Grant really plays up the man-in-a-world-gone-mad bit, becoming madder and madder himself.

It's not all thanks to Grant however, that this film is consistently one of the funniest comedies ever. The supporting cast is uniformly excellent, all of the main characters giving it their best to turn Grant's world into an upside-down whirlwind of pottiness. The two aunts, played by Josephine Hull and Jean Adair, are fantastic and both actresses are sublime in their roles. They are so innocent and nonchalant about their twelve murders, and so confused by Cary Grant's confusion, that the viewer never thinks of them as wicked murderers - they're just two dotty old women who don't know what they're doing! Peter Lorre is also terrific in the role of a mumbling, timid and (quite honestly) bizarre plastic surgeon who acts as Raymond Massey's partner-in-crime. Massey - Grant's long-lost brother (who has also killed twelve men) - is suitably sinister and can be a genuinely scary force amongst the mayhem. Priscilla Lane, John Alexander, Jack Carson, Edward Everett Horton, James Gleason and Garry Owen all add tremendous support to the main cast - they are all barmy!

As things get weirder, madder and more and more frantic, the pace never lets up. It just continuously spirals towards its screwy climax.

This is one to watch.

9/10

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