Arsenic and Old Lace
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Movie Reviews of Arsenic and Old Lace
Movie Review: THE funniest movie of all time!!
Summary: 5 Stars
No matter how many times I see this, I laugh as if it were the first!
There is absolutely NOTHING that's a downside of this movie. The casting is inspired - Raymond Massey as the Boris Karloff lookalike, Jonathan, Peter Lorre as Dr. Einstein, and Cary Grant - just beyond perfect as Mortimer Brewster - the unseen Mr. Spinolzo, the "hot stiff in the rumbleseat."
I've always loved Cary Grant in a drama or comedy, but honestly, he is so freaking funny in this movie that no one can compare in any other vehicle.
Grant's conversation on the phone with the operator while he's trying to get the Happydale Sanitarium is priceless! (I often feel that same way when I'm on the phone with my HMO.) Meanwhile, Aunt Abby and Aunt Martha are trying to give some tainted elderberry wine to yet another unsuspecting old man they think is lonely and needs to be relieved of the burden of living.
When Grant gets off the phone, he's so frustrated he pours himself a glass of wine - elderberry wine, and Aunt Martha gives him an "uh uh UH!" and he drops the glass. But the potential border cum victim is about ready to drink his down, and Grant SCREAMS and chases him out of the house with, "Do you want to be poisoned? Do you want to be killed?" and trips over a chair.
Then there's the scene where he goes to the judge to get cousin Teddy (who thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt) committed to Happydale. The judge is an old stiff himself, and he tells Mortimer, "Tell Aunt Abby and Aunt Martha I'll be over. I've been a little lonely," to which Mortimer shouts, 'No, no! Don't ever tell them you're lonely! Tell me, Judge, are you a drinking man?"
The judge says, "Certainly not!" but adds as a relieved Mortimer is leaving, "Of course, a little wine now and then...." Mortimer screams, "Not wine! No wine! Don't drink wine!" The judge then wonders, "Maybe I committed the wrong Brewster."
Then there's the inimitable Jack Carson as the cop on the beat who is playwrite on the sly. His expressions are second only to Grant, particularly when he reacts to Teddy.
Priscilla Lane is perfect as Mortimer's fiance, Elaine (a small part, but oh, she does it perfectly.)
As you can tell, I've seen this movie so many times I've inadvertently memorized whole sections of dialogue. Since I never, ever rewatch movies until I've forgotten them, there's no higher compliment I can pay to "Arsenic and Old Lace."
I just pray no one ever tries to remake this classic. There isn't an actor alive who could hope to compare to the original cast in this masterpiece.
This movie is perfect, and if you haven't seen it, you are in for the best time of your life. I'll dig a lock to that! :)
Movie Review: Capra's horror comedy
Summary: 5 Stars
It was very unusual for famed director Frank Capra to adapt a hit Broadway play into a motion picture. Yet that's exactly what he did in 1941 with the long-running play "Arsenic and Old Lace." However, Warner Brothers had an agreement not to release the film until the play completed its very long run and that didn't happen until 1944, by which time Capra had left Hollywood for wartime service (making outstanding documentaries for the U.S. government).
"Arsenic and Old Lace" is, by any standard, an offbeat, rather "dark" comedy since two of its characters, portrayed by Josephine Hull and Jean Adair (from the original Broadway cast), are actually murderers. However, there is comedy because the two ladies believe they are "helping" the elderly gentlemen they kill with poisoned elderberry wine.
It is strongly suggested that there is insanity in the family and this becomes more apparent when Cary Grant's brother, portrayed by Raymond Massey, shows up and attempts to bury the body of someone HE murdered. Massey's character is clearly deranged and horrifying; his face has been changed by his friend Dr. Einstein, portrayed by Peter Lorre, and he gets angry anytime someone suggests that he resembles Boris Karloff. In the original play Karloff actually played the killer, so the line was particularly funny.
Cary Grant's character has just married Priscilla Lane, the pretty blonde actress who worked at both Warners and Universal during the 1940s. She has the sweetness and innocence that is perfect for this story. Things really happen when they visit Cary Grant's aunts and he discovers what his aunts are doing. Then his evil brother arrives, accompanied by the "mad" doctor who changed his face.
Adding to the comedy are the appearances of John Alexander, who lives with the aunts in the old Brooklyn house and who believes he is Theodore Roosevelt. Then there is the cop, played by Jack Carson, who tries to impress Cary Grant with a play he has written. Carson's character somehow doesn't realize what is happening in the house.
Veteran composer Max Steiner scored the film, providing just enough dramatic music to underscore the more menacing moments, as well as witty tunes for the comic scenes.
Yes, the film was quite different for Frank Capra, who was known for his very touching "message" films (without being very preachy), but he did extremely well in adapting a Broadway classic. The film version is faithful to the play and it has become a classic in itself.
Movie Review: The Perfect Halloween Dark Comedy
Summary: 5 Stars
+++++
This movie welcomes the viewer to the crazy Brewster family. Drama critic Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant) has two aunts (Josephine Hall, Jean Adair) who have the "bad habit" of giving lonely old men poisoned wine drinks and then burying them in the cellar; one sociopathic brother (Raymond Massey) who has returned home after twenty years; one bonkers brother who thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt (John Alexander) and who has the habit of running up the stairs yelling "chaaaarrrgge" and blowing a bugle; and one impatient new bride (Priscilla Lane), the girl whose house is directly across from the Brewster's, separated only by a cemetery.
It's when Mortimer finds out what his aunts are doing and what his sociopathic brother has been and is now doing, that the laughs begin. This movie is filled with unforgettable lines. One of my favorite lines is when one of Mortimer's aunts tells him the "recipe" of their wine drink that has "quite a kick:"
"For a gallon of elderberry wine, I take one teaspoon full of arsenic, then add half a teaspoon full of strychnine, and then just a pinch of cyanide."
Throughout this movie, you'll hear talk of or see such things as cemeteries, dead bodies, sanitariums, funerals, the Panama Canal, policemen, yellow fever, squealing cats, and Boris Karloff.
Cary Grant displays his comic talents in this movie as he contorts his face into a gallery of surprised reactions and turns his athletic ability into a graceful comic ballet. He along with Priscilla Lane maintain the energy of the movie. Also look for the mad antics of John Alexander who, as Mortimer's bonkers brother, is perfect in his role.
The background music for this movie goes from light and cheery in some scenes to grim in others.
The only complaint I have is with the character of "Dr." Einstein played by Peter Lorre. I feel that Lorre's considerable comedic talents were not fully utilized.
Finally, the DVD (which has the movie in full screen) has a serious lack of extras. However I found the one entitled "Stage to Screen" informative.
In conclusion, this is an unusual but hilarious movie. You'll die laughing watching it!!
(1944; 2 hours; Black and White; 37 scenes)
+++++.
Movie Review: As wildly crazy as a Saturday Night Live skit
Summary: 5 Stars
If you think that Frank Capra only did heartwarming, gentle comedies, such as "It's a Wonderful Life," you have to see this wild, dark comedy that would do justice to any zany spoofs promulgated on "Saturday Night Live." Actually, the original stage production was supposed to have been a drama but, when the audience laughed, it was changed and became one of the great comedies of all time. The movie features two sweet, elderly ladies, palyed by Josephine Hull and Jean Adair, who save lonely old men from their misery by poisoning them. Their nephew Mortimer, played by Cary Grant, discovers their strange pastime, and the wild hijinx begins.
Mortimer has two brothers, Teddy, who believes that he is Theodore Roosevelt, and Jonathan (creepily played by the great Raymond Massey), a homicidal maniac who looks like Boris Karloff due to botched plastic surgery. Truthfully, the whole family is nuts, except for Mortimer, and Mortimer is trying to get Teddy committed while, at the same time trying to deal with his discovery about his aunts' homicidal activities. Of course, Teddy becomes an unwitting accomplice as he buries the bodies in the basement, having been led to believe that they are yellow fever victims. After all, he IS Theodore Roosevelt, and he has to supervise the digging of the Panama Canal, Panama being located in the basement.
Mortimer has more worries. He has to somehow get his recent bride out of the house (he was married earlier that day). He can't allow her to know what is going on after his discovery of his aunts' homicides. Meanwhile, criminally insane Jonathan arrives on the scene, having escaped from prison and with his reluctant sidekick, Dr. Einstein, played by Peter Lorre, he prepares to do Mortimer in. Crazy events happen in rapid sequence but, despite the fact that this is a comedy, it is also a thriller that had me sitting at the edge of my seat. Cary Grant is at his frenetic best as he is overwhelmed by the surreal events and, I highly recommend this excellent, wacky comedy.
Movie Review: "Insanity runs in my family...It practically gallops."
Summary: 5 Stars
Cary Grant is at his sophisticated slapstick best in this classic dark comedy. Mortimer Brewster is a New York theatre critic. He returns home to Brooklyn to announce the happy news, that he's marrying the girl next door, a minister's daughter.
While receiving the good wishes of his two maiden aunts, Grant discovers a corpse hidden in the house. At first he believes that his crazy brother "Teddy Roosevelt" Brewster (who habitually charges up the stairs and sounds his trumpet at any given moment) is the culprit, but as he soon discovers, his dear old aunts are a pair of homicidal maniacs who are poisoning lonely little old men and burying them in the cellar as an act of charity.
Just as he receives this news, his second crazy brother, Jonathan Brewster (Raymond Massey) who resembles Boris Karloff, arrives back at the house after escaping from a Home For The Criminally Insane in Indiana, pulling a quack Dr. Einstein (Peter Lorre) in tow.
ARSENIC AND OLD LACE then becomes a frenetic laugh-a-minute comedy, as an increasingly frazzled Mortimer tries to evict the homicidal Jonathan, convince the doctor to commit the delusional Teddy, and protect his lovely killer aunts from the police (who keep coming to the door) even while everyone around him is singlemindedly pursuing their own agenda. Who can blame him if he forgets he's newly-engaged?
This film is famous for its sight gags and endless one-liners, particularly Mortimer's thrilled sing-song at the end, when he discovers he's only an adopted Brewster: "I'm the son of a sea-cook! I'm the son of a sea-cook!"
Frank Capra made this film a faithful adaptation of the wildly successful stage play which ran from 1941-44. By agreement with the Broadway producers most of the stage performers reprised their roles, except for Boris Karloff who played Jonathan who looks like Boris Karloff, and couldn't be understudied.
Brilliant screwball comedy!