Arsenic and Old Lace [PG]

Mortimer Brewster is a newlywed dramatic critic who lives with his two aunts and his uncle. Believing that his Uncle Teddy, who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt, is the only bonkers one of the family, Mortimer gets a shock when he discovers that his dear aunts have lost the plot a little was well, as they have been poisoning lonely gentlemen and burying them in the cellar. As Mortimer tries to decide what to do about the twelve bodies in the cellar, he goes a little nuts himself and things go from bad to worse when his long lost delinquent brother Jonathan escapes from prison and comes to the house looking for a place to live and bury his latest murder victim. 

This was a wonderful comedy that made light of a very sinister and dark theme. All the performances are brilliant and it’s filled to the brim with mayhem, familiar faces, and memorable characters. It’s a great film. 

Mortimer Brewster is a newlywed dramatic critic who lives with his two aunts and his uncle. Believing that his Uncle Teddy, who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt, is the only bonkers one in the family, Mortimer is shocked to discover that his dear sweet aunts have lost the plot as well, for they have been poisoning lonely old gentlemen and burying them in their cellar. As Mortimer tries to decide what should be done with the twelve bodies in the cellar, he starts to go a bit nuts too, and things go from bad to worse when his long lost, delinquent brother Jonathan escapes from prison and returns to the house looking for a place to live and to bury his latest murder victim. 

Although this film has a sound, original storyline, ultimately I felt that it was the characters and the performances from the actors that made it so entertaining. Mortimer is a charming writer who has earned a name for himself writing books against marriage, now he’s married and eager to not let the press know about it. Aunt Martha and Aunt Abby are the sweetest little ladies you’ll ever meet, so sweet that they still leave flowers and hold services for their deceased gentlemen in the cellar. Uncle Teddy is loud and thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt and he spends the film digging, saying “bully” and blasting his bugle. Jonathan Brewster, the delinquent brother, is aggressive and has been made to look like Boris Karloff, scaring the wits out of everybody. Dr. Einstein is Jonathan’s plastic surgeon who spends most of time drunk and trying to dissuade Jonathan from acting too aggressively. It’s a wonderful, chaotic mix. 

Carey Grant stars as Mortimer and he was the star of the show. He has he best timing, and his facial expressions of shock, fear, terror, and relief were all absolutely genius. He was a complete delight from start to finish. 

Starring Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey, Peter Lorre, Josephine Hull, Jean Adair, and John Alexander, Arsenic and Old Lace was a wonderfully chaotic comedy that was packed to bursting with romance, family, nutcases, modern history, a great script, plastic surgery, and total mayhem. It was a complete joy from beginning to end.