Arsenic and Old Lace

For those of you unfortunately out of the old movie, comedy loop, Arsenic and Old Lace is a 1944 Cary Grant comedy about a drama critic who learns on his wedding day that his beloved maiden aunts are homicidal maniacs and the insanity runs in his family.  Just so you know, that first sentence should've made you close your computer down and run out and get that movie so you can watch it.  For those of you who download movies, you should be already downloading it by this sentence, waiting impatiently for there to be enough subscribers so you can watch the darned thing.

If you are still reading this, let me tell you something: this is one of my all-time favorite movies.  It was directed by Frank Capra and based on Joseph Kesselring's play of the same name.  The film was actually filmed in 1941, but it wasn't released until after the stage play had finished it's run on Broadway.  Why?  Because the movie is so funny that you don't need to see it live on Broadway to get the awesome experience!

Or... that's what they thought viewers would think at any rate.

In addition to Cary Grant, Josephine Hull, Jean Adair, John Alexnder and Peter Lorre are all also in the picture.  The first three after Cary Grant were in the original stage play.  Boris Karloff was set to be in there as Mortimer's (Cary Grant) brother who "looked like Boris Karloff), but she was too busy with the stage play to make it into the film.  Raymond Massey takes his place and, in my opinion, does a pretty good job playing a homicidal maniac who's plastic surgeon has made him look like a famous actor.

The movie is done in the style of the play in a lot of ways, most of the action of the film takes place in the main area of Mortimer's aunt's house with people coming and going through stage right, left, up the stairs, or out the window with a very important window seat.  It's black-and-white, but I don't think that takes away from the film at all and instead adds to the atmosphere.

I will tell you that, if they were to remake this movie, I'd be in that theater faster than you could say, "CHAARGE!!!" (If you see the movie, you'll get it, if you haven't seen the movie yet, DO IT NOW). It's just a great film and, I believe, one of the first black comedies in cinema.

The film's about a man named Mortimer Brewster (played by Grant) who, despite having several novels out condemning the idea of marriage as an "old-fashioned superstition", has fallen for the girl-next-door and is getting married to her.  Right before they go off to their honey-moon, Mortimer decides to pay a visit to his eccentric, but loveable relatives who raised him and are still alive.  This includes his two aunt who are cute little old-biddies who don't even condone bad language and his brother, Teddy who believes he is Theodore Roosevelt.  Basically, Teddy doesn't go up the stairs, he runs up them, shouting "Charge!", imitating Roosevelts charge up San Juan Hill.

The visit is going quite alright, until Mortimer happens to open up the trunk under the window that acts like a window seat...

... And finds a body inside.  That's when he find out that his aunts have eleven bodies buried in the basement which is Teddy's Panama Canal and this new gentleman makes an even dozen.  That's when they explain that they have "a very bad habit" of ending the supposed suffering of the elder vagrants who visit their home by giving them a very special elderberry wine that includes such lovely ingredients as arsenic, strychnine, and "just a pimch of cyanide"... it carries quite a kick.  Things get worse when Mortimer's other brother, Jonathan shows up, on the run from the cops with a Dr. Einstein who recently did a very bad job with Jonathan Brewster's face job (he's a plastic surgeon).  They also have a body in tow.

If you haven't seen the movie, you need to because it's one of the funniest movies I've ever seen and I like comedies.  It's pretty bad when I can see this movie every time it's on Turner Classic Movies and I still laugh at it.  In fact, I have it recorded on my DVR, so I'm going to go watch it.  You should too.

Sweet Dreams!