SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Thehibikiew Not even bad in a good way

Rijndri Load of rubbish!!

ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

elvircorhodzic ARSENIC AND OLD LACE is literally creepy fun movie. The film is certainly not naive attempt at sub genre, but pretty good parody comedy. Capra has rarely experimented. I think that his ultimate goal was to create a hilarious party that no one will take seriously.Cary Grant as Mortimer Brewster is again up to the task. Frankly, his nearly two-hour murmur and hysteria accompanied by funny grimace I'm not thrilled. Mortimer is so confusing and clumsy that I at times felt sincere remorse. The effect is not so bad. Aunt Abby and Aunt Martha (Josephine Hull and Jean Adair) are so positively silly (innocently gentle artist murder) that is a real pleasure to watch them. Raymond Massey as Jonathan Brewster was not so successful parody of Boris Karloff, but his assistant Dr. Herman Einstein (Peter Lorre) saves sequences. Other "crazies" are very good.The film offers a tremendous amount of laughter. The action takes place in a very small space. Therefore, all acts more or less hilarious. Goods exaggeration in some scenes may hurt certain taste. All in all, this movie fits in a better average.

classicsoncall There obviously was something alluring about Boris Karloff that film makers took advantage of. He's referenced by name in at least two other movies I'm aware of - "Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome" (1947) and "Charlie Chan at the Opera" (1936) - and he's actually in both of those! Unfortunately he wasn't available to appear in this picture, but Raymond Massey's makeup job was pretty credible; the fist thing I thought of when I saw him was Boris Karloff! Director Frank Capra had a wonderful touch for his screwball comedy projects. Though viewers will find favorable comparisons to other Cary Grant films like "His Gal Friday" and "Bringing Up Baby", the picture I thought of while watching this was another Capra picture, "You Can't Take it With You". That one also featured a dysfunctional family, though with a larger and more disparate cast, and fortunately, no one gets murdered!What gives this story it's surreal comic edge is the vitality of the Brewer Sisters (Josephine Hull and Jean Adair), whose approach to putting elderly gents out of their misery is handled with genuine nonchalance and sincerity. As Mortimer Brewster, Grant has all he can do to maintain some semblance of sanity with all the lunacy surrounding him and his new bride. The only downside to the story for me was the short shrift given to the character of the new Mrs. Brewster (Priscilla Lane). Had her part been written to take advantage of the hysteria surrounding the Brewster household, I think audiences might have appreciated it even more.Even so, repeat viewings are probably in order to fully appreciate the zany antics of 'Teddy Roosevelt' (John Alexander), Dr. Einstein (Peter Lorre), Officer O'Hara (Jack Carson) and all the rest. For his part, Cary Grant was never more expressive than he was here, with each new turn of the story dealing yet another blow to his fractured psyche. His best scene for me was when he simply gave up the pretense of being surprised any more, and just sat down on the staircase with all the mayhem swirling around him while peacefully lighting up a cigarette - "Amazing, amazing, amazing".

richard-1787 I saw this play in the theater years ago and thought it was a masterpiece.The cast of this movie is first-rate, and includes many of my favorite actors.Frank Capra is one of my favorite directors, in both comedy - *You Can't Take It with You* - and drama - *Mr. Smith Goes to Washington*, etc.Why, then, did this movie seem so flat to me? Cary Grant, whom I have enjoyed in many comedies, seems to ham it up far out of all proportion.The timing often seems bad.And nothing explains how Mortimer, on his wedding day, can completely forget about his attractive bride - in an era when the audience could well have assumed that they had not already spent the night together.I watched this whole movie - at 118 minutes, it's long for a comedy - in the hopes that something would work for me. It just didn't.I must have been in the wrong mood, but I was really in a very good mood.

Thanos Karagioras "Arsenic and Old Lace" is a comedy movie in which we watch a newspaperman and author being married at city hall and after that he goes to tell the news to his two maiden aunts. While he is trying to tell th news he discovers that his aunts have a hobby. Their hobby is to kill lonely old men and burying them in their cellar.I liked this movie because of the plot which I found very good and in many moments simply hilarious. I also liked this movie because of the direction which made by Frank Capra and for one more time he did great job on it. About the cast I have to mention the great interpretation of Cary Grant who played as Mortimer Brewster and of course the equally good interpretation of Priscilla Lane who played as Elaine Harper. This movie reminded me at some points the movie "Bringing Up Baby" in which also played Cary Grant and his interpretation had many commons with his interpretation in this movie.Finally I have to say that "Arsenic and Old Lace" is a nice movie to watch and it combines very well comedy with crime and the result is very good. I strongly recommend it because of you watch it I am sure that you will have a great time and you will enjoy it.