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Arsenic and Old Lace

Play trailer Poster for Arsenic and Old Lace 1944 1h 58m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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86% Tomatometer 35 Reviews 91% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
Writer and notorious marriage detractor Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant) falls for girl-next-door Elaine Harper (Priscilla Lane), and they tie the knot on Halloween. When the newlyweds return to their respective family homes to deliver the news, Brewster finds a corpse hidden in a window seat. With his eccentric aunts (Josephine Hull, Jean Adair), disturbed uncle (John Alexander), and homicidal brother (Raymond Massey), he starts to realize that his family is even crazier than he thought.
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Arsenic and Old Lace

Critics Reviews

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Derek Smith Slant Magazine 10/11/2022
Arsenic and Old Lace trenchantly lays bare the hypocrisies and prejudices of the upper-middle class that often remained concealed beneath the façade of good manners. Go to Full Review David Parkinson Empire Magazine 10/22/2013
4/5
Cary Grant et al are on sparkling form in this classic darkly twisted comedy. Go to Full Review Variety Staff Variety 08/13/2007
Despite the fact that picture runs 118 minutes, Frank Capra has expanded on the original play [by Joseph Kesselring] to a sufficient extent to maintain a steady, consistent pace. Go to Full Review Michael Calleri Niagara Gazette 04/30/2023
Director Frank Capra, one of Hollywood’s great filmmakers and a man whose films appreciated the serious troubles society can inflict on people, clearly wanted to make a no-holds-barred comedy that thrives on lunacy. He succeeded. Go to Full Review Brian Susbielles InSession Film 02/14/2023
It is full of wicked humor that keeps the macabre tone throughout the movie and was yet another notch on Frank Capra’s belt of hit comedies. Go to Full Review Michael Barrett PopMatters 10/31/2022
One of the film’s rewards is that, upon rewatching and rethinking, there’s all that subconscious evidence buried in the story’s basement, and much of the audience’s satisfaction rests in the desire to keep it concealed. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Patrick S @PatrickStruik Jan 2 Extremely funny screwball comedy. See more aya t @ayaueta Dec 3 my most favorite screwball comedy! cary grant (a former acrobat) as mortimer brewster, who's shocked when he discover a body in the windowseat & runs around panicking. he thinks his crazy brother, theodore (who looks like & acts like teddy roosevelt), killed him so he tries to hide it from his elderly sweet aunts but theres a twist. dark comedy based on the popular play. See more J B Nov 27 It is by far the worse movie I've ever seen. Wtf was that See more Uber A Nov 23 It's zany alright. Not really funny though. See more Jo P @JoParkerBear Nov 1 A classic that never gets old. Zany, paranoid, terrifying lunacy. It’s really about the hypocrisy of the puritanical white middle class, but that’s not important. It’s good, weird fun. See more Harold C. @ChambersContent Oct 7 Cary Grant delivers one of his funniest performances in this sharp, stage-born comedy that still feels fresh decades later. The ensemble cast keeps the farce buzzing, the set design gives it a lively play-meets-cinema charm, and the humor remains surprisingly effective with only a few dated touches. With just enough spooky atmosphere to work for Halloween but plenty of laughs to enjoy any time, it’s a classic that earns its spot as one of the funnier old Hollywood comedies worth revisiting. See more Read all reviews
Arsenic and Old Lace

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Cast & Crew

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Frank Capra

Director

Cary Grant

Mortimer Brewster

Raymond Massey

Jonathan Brewster

Priscilla Lane

Elaine Harper

Peter Lorre

Dr. Einstein

Jack Carson

Officer Patrick "Pat" O'Hara

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Arsenic and Old Lace

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Writer and notorious marriage detractor Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant) falls for girl-next-door Elaine Harper (Priscilla Lane), and they tie the knot on Halloween. When the newlyweds return to their respective family homes to deliver the news, Brewster finds a corpse hidden in a window seat. With his eccentric aunts (Josephine Hull, Jean Adair), disturbed uncle (John Alexander), and homicidal brother (Raymond Massey), he starts to realize that his family is even crazier than he thought.
Director
Frank Capra
Producer
Frank Capra
Screenwriter
Joseph Kesselring, Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein
Distributor
Warner Bros., Criterion Collection, Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co
Warner Brothers
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 23, 1944, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 4, 2008
Runtime
1h 58m
Sound Mix
Mono
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.37:1), 35mm
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