Arsenic and Old Lace [Blu-ray] [Criterion Collection]

Overview

Arsenic and Old Lace is director Frank Capra's spin on the classic Joseph Kesselring stage comedy, which concerns the sweet old Brewster sisters (Josephine Hull, Jean Adair), beloved in their genteel Brooklyn neighborhood for their many charitable acts. One charity which the ladies don't advertise is their ongoing effort to permit lonely bachelors to die with smiles on their faces--by serving said bachelors elderberry wine spiked with arsenic. When the sisters' drama-critic nephew Mortimer (Cary Grant) stumbles onto their secret, he is understandably put out--especially since he has just married the lovely Elaine Harper (Priscilla Lane). Given the homicidal tendencies of his aunts, the sinister activities of his escaped-convict older brother Jonathan (Raymond Massey) and the disruptive behavior of younger brother Teddy (John Alexander)--who is convinced that he's really Theodore Roosevelt, and runs around the house yelling "CHAAAAARGGGE"--Mortimer isn't keen on starting a family with his new bride. "Insanity runs in my family," he explains. "It practically gallops." Further complications ensue when the murderous Jonathan Brewster arrives home, with his snivelling accomplice Dr. Einstein (Peter Lorre) in tow. When Jonathan learns that his darling aunts have killed twelve men, he is incensed--they're challenging his own record of murders. Though the movie rights for Arsenic and Old Lace were set up so that the film could not be released until 1944, director Capra shot the film quickly and inexpensively in 1941, so that his family could subsist on his $100,000 salary while he was serving in World War II.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/11/2022
UPC:	0715515277716
Original Release:	1944
Source:	Criterion Collection
Language:	English
Time:	1:58:00
Sales rank:	3,796

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Cary Grant	Mortimer Brewster
Raymond Massey	Jonathan Brewster
Josephine Hull	Abby Brewster
John Alexander	`Teddy Roosevelt' Brewster
Priscilla Lane	Elaine Harper,Reporter
Jean Adair	Martha Brewster
Jack Carson	O'Hara
Edward Everett Horton	Mr. Witherspoon
Peter Lorre	Dr. Einstein
James Gleason	Lt. Rooney
Grant Mitchell	Rev. Harper
Edward McNamara	Brophy
Garry Owen	Taxi Driver
John Ridgely	Saunders
Vaughan Glaser	Judge Cullman
Chester Clute	Dr. Gilchrist
Edward McWade	Gibbs
Leo White	Man in Phone Booth
Spencer Charters	Marriage License Clerk
Hank Mann	Photographer
Lee Phelps	Umpire
Max Steiner	Musician,Composer

Technical Credits

Julius J. Epstein

Frank Capra	Director,Producer
Julius J. Epstein	Screenwriter,Screenwriter
Robert Burks	Special Effects
Byron Haskin	Special Effects
Russel Crouse	Producer
Howard Lindsay	Producer
C.A. Riggs	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

This hilariously droll black comedy is one of the most successful adaptations of theater to film. The deft portraits of two classically sweet little old ladies (Josephine Hull and Jean Adair) who invite bachelors to dinner and then poison them with spiked elderberry wine are at the center of the increasingly frantic proceedings. A homicidal nephew and another who thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt add to the fun. Frank Capra coaxes over-the-top performances from a cast that includes Cary Grant as a clueless drama-critic nephew and Raymond Massey and Peter Lorre as villains. The film's cavalier attitude toward death was well-suited to its World War II release. It was actually shot in 1941, and Capra's family lived off his salary from it while he served in the war. It's one of Capra's best. A cinematic evergreen, Arsenic and Old Lace has never lost its appeal, as new generations of audiences keep discovering its lunatic charms.

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