Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Genre: Comedies
Starring: Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey, Peter Lorre, Josephine Hull
Producer: Frank Capra
Screenwriter: Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein
Composer: Max Steiner
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Reviews
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.
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.
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.
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by: Grizzly 12/4/01


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