Arsenic and Old Lace - Movie Review

The movie Arsenic and Old Lace is a comedy based on a play by Joseph Kesselring. The film version is directed by legendary filmmaker Frank Capra who is responsible for other classics such as It’s a Wonderful Life, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and one of my personal favorites – Meet John Doe. The screenplay was co-written by Julius J. Epstein and his twin brother Philip G. Epstein, both of whom were also responsible for the screenplay version of Casablanca.


The story centers on a drama critic and playwright, Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant; North by Northwest) who has returned to his childhood home in Brooklyn, New York where he has agreed to marry his long-time sweetheart, Elaine Harper (Priscilla Lane; the Four Daughters trilogy), despite Mortimer's best-selling book revolves around the negative aspects of being in an intimate relationship.

 When the happy couple stops by the Brewster home occupied by his two aunts and his younger brother Teddy, Mortimer discovers a few things; that his brother Teddy is threatening to be arrested by the local police for blowing his bugle at the most improper times. Mortimer soon realizes that Teddy is in fact delusional, believing himself to be Teddy Roosevelt, and is need of being committed.

Another discovery Mortimer makes while in the Brewster home – there is an elderly man’s corpse inside the window seat, bringing Mortimer to suspect Teddy of murder, but when he brings it to the attention of his two aunts – Abby and Martha – they confess to killing not just one elderly man, but an entire dozen; all of them buried in their basement by Teddy. The aunts claim that all of these elderly men were lonely and sick, and that they were cheerfully doing them an honorable service by poisoning them with wine so that the men would finally find peace.

And that is simply the beginning of Mortimer’s troubles. Soon, there are visitors arriving to look at the rooms for rent that are almost poisoned by the aunts. Mortimer is too distracted to pay any attention to Elaine, so she begins having doubts about their relationship. Mortimer is trying to get the blame for the murders placed on Teddy because he loves his Aunts to much to send them to prison, but to have Teddy committed to the Happydale Asylum Teddy himself needs to sign the papers, which he will not do. Then, to make the worst of a bad situation, Moritmer’s older brother Jonathan (Raymond Massey) returns with a new, horrific face and his assistant who is really his plastic surgeon Dr. Einstein (Peter Lorre; Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon). Jonathan has been running around the United States committing murders of his own and once he discovers unfilled graves in the basement, he’s happily enticed to commit on more murder – his dear brother Mortimer, whom Jonathan has hated their entire lives.

Arsenic and Old Lace is a film where the entire cast is running around frantically, acting over the top with their silliness and quick witted with their zingers. This is Frank Capra having a vacation at work watching Cary Grant exert his frustrations through actions fans of the Three Stooges would be proud of while slowly and humorously descending into the madness that surrounds his whole family. Raymond Massey applies a great dastard and gothic demeanor, matching his character’s mangled face, and his feral reactions to anyone that says he looks like Boris Karloff are outrageous, while Peter Lorre once again does best as the humble, slightly disturbed sidekick.

Arsenic and Old Lace is fun-time viewing from start to finish bringing and intellectual comedic light to a subject so morbid, very few modern filmmakers could pull off something so funny without being tempted to sink into the gutter, but those were different days with different principles back in 1944. Still, it’s nice to go back to the days of fast thinkers and gut-busting one-liners. That’s one of the greatest things movies offer us; a chance to go back in time.