Review of Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) by Walter B — 04 Jun 2011
A rather funny comedy with a great cast of characters. Cary Grant admitted later on that he considered his role to over the top, but to me he did a fantastic job playing such a conflicted man attempting to look out for his family.
After his brother comes back as the "prodigal son", the mayhem and madness reaches a satiric level of laughs. Based on the play by Joseph Kessering, Capra's take on it is more macabre and frenzied of a serial-killer comedy that plays along the horror and comedy genre that shocked audiences at the time with two old ladies intent on killing lonely men who had the misfortune of coming to their "bed and breakfast" house.
Besides the screwball nature of the movie, Capra pretty much follows along the same lines as the threatrical inception the movie takes most of its ideas from, including a running gag of Boris Karloff playing Jonathon Brewster-an inside joke that would have to be taken from the time of when the movie came out so close after the play first came out.
This review of Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) was written by Walter B on 04 Jun 2011.
Arsenic and Old Lace has generally received very positive reviews.
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