Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Average Rating: 7.6/10
Reviews Counted: 22
Fresh: 20 | Rotten: 2
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 4
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 1
liked it
Average Rating: 4/5
User Ratings: 44,597
My Rating
Movie Info
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
Sep 23, 1944 Limited
Aug 29, 2000
Warner Bros. Pictures
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Cast
-
Cary Grant
Mortimer Brewster -
Priscilla Lane
Elaine Harper -
Raymond Massey
Jonathan Brewster -
Jack Carson
Officer O'Hara -
Peter Lorre
Dr. Einstein -
Edward Everett Horton
Mr. Witherspoon -
James Gleason
Lt. Rooney -
Josephine Hull
Abbey Brewster -
Jean Adair
Martha Brewster -
John Alexander
"Teddy Roosevelt" Brews... -
Grant Mitchell
Rev. Harper -
Edward McNamara
Brophy -
Garry Owen
Taxi Driver -
John Ridgely
Saunders -
Vaughan Glaser
Judge Cullman -
Chester Clute
Dr. Gilchrist -
Charles Lane
Reporter -
Edward McWade
Gibbs -
Spencer Charters
Marriage License Clerk -
Hank Mann
Photographer -
Lee Phelps
Umpire -
Leo White
Man in Phone Booth
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All Critics (22) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (22) | Rotten (2) | DVD (13)
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.
The timing is abysmal throughout, turning fast pace into numbing frenzy.
Good macabre fun.
Top CriticDusty but gentle entertainment.
Cary Grant serial-killer comedy classic is cozy and tame.
Riotously funny.
Unable to conceal the film's theatrical origins, Capra misfires as a director and misguides Cary Garnt, who's too mannered, but the time, the combo of horror and comedy was new and the old ladies' gruseome hobby was shocking to audiences.
Charge! off to see this classic Capra screwballer.
has stood the test of time to remain as funny today as anything Hollywood is producing now.
Not one of Capra's best. Grant is too hammy and out of control, and without Boris Karloff as Jonathan Brewster, the joke is lost.
Nowhere near the play, but fun and fast
Audience Reviews for Arsenic and Old Lace
Super Reviewer
This is a shallow but enjoyable farce. Cary Grant runs about and contorts his face in all the shapes required by the genre, and Josephine Hull and Jean Adair are delightful in their naivete. This isn't substantive comedy, but it's well-plotted and energetic.
Overall, I enjoyed Arsenic and Old Lace for its madcap fun as it's a decent way to while away a couple hours.
Super Reviewer
-
- "Teddy Roosevelt" Brewster: [Mr. Witherspoon has just met Teddy and Teddy pulls Mortimer aside] Is he trying to move into the White House before I've moved out?
- Mortimer Brewster: Who?
- "Teddy Roosevelt" Brewster: [points to Mr. Witherspoon] Taft!
-
- Dr. Einstein: You shouldn't have killed him. Just because he know something about us, what happens?
- Jonathan Brewster: We come to him for help, and he tries to shake us down. Besides, he said I looked like Boris Karloff!
-
- Mortimer Brewster: [singing] There is a Happydale, far, far away...
-
- Martha Brewster: For a gallon of elderberry wine, I take one teaspoon full of arsenic, then add half a teaspoon full of strychnine, and then just a pinch of cyanide.
- Mortimer Brewster: Hmm. Should have quite a kick.
-
- Dr. Einstein: No, no, Johnny. You cannot count him. You got twelve, they got twelve. The old ladies is just as good as you are!
-
- "Teddy Roosevelt" Brewster: Charge!
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Foreign Titles
- Arsen und Spitzenhäubchen (DE)
- Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) (UK)
