8.0/10
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263 user 72 critic

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

A drama critic learns on his wedding day that his beloved maiden aunts are homicidal maniacs, and that insanity runs in his family.

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Writers:

(screen play), (screen play) | 1 more credit »
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1 nomination. See more awards »
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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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Edward McNamara ...
Garry Owen ...
Taxi Cab Driver
John Ridgely ...
Saunders
Vaughan Glaser ...
Judge Cullman

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Storyline

Mortimer Brewster is a newspaperman and author known for his diatribes against marriage. We watch him being married at city hall in the opening scene. Now all that is required is a quick trip home to tell Mortimer's two maiden aunts. While trying to break the news, he finds out his aunts' hobby; killing lonely old men and burying them in the cellar. It gets worse. Written by John Vogel <[email protected]>

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

Strike. You're out! See more »

Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Certificate:

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Parents Guide:

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Details

Country:

Language:

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Release Date:

23 September 1944 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Arsen und Spitzenhäubchen  »

Box Office

Budget:

$1,120,175 (estimated)
 »

Company Credits

Production Co:

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Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

(RCA Sound System)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Frank Capra related to the role of Mortimer in the film because, like that character, he too had an older brother who abused him as a child and grew up to be a criminal. See more »

Goofs

As Mr. Witherspoon is getting up from the table, he stands an item up on the table which had been knocked over. Mr. Witherspoon then gazes up with a look as if to say, "Oops, I wasn't supposed to do that. Are we going on with this scene?" Cary Grant was feeling pretty certain that the scene would need re-shoots as you can distinctly, yet quietly, hear him ask off-screen, "Was he supposed to do that?" See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Baseball Fan: I'll knock your block off, you big stiff! You're a bum!
See more »

Connections

Version of Arsenicum en oude kant (1971) See more »

Soundtracks

Sing With All the Saints in Glory
(uncredited)
Written by William J. Irons
Music by Ludwig van Beethoven (as Ludwig von Beethoven)
Performed by the Aunts
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Frequently Asked Questions

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User Reviews

 
highly recommended
2 April 2007 | by (london uk) – See all my reviews

One of the great black comedies. If Boris Karloff had joined his fellow Broadway cast members - Jean Adair, Josephine Hull and John Alexander - I think it would have been an even better movie. Raymond Massey, unquestionably a good actor, did his best, but didn't quite seem to get the joke, or maybe was overwhelmed by having to incarnate Karloff. But it's a quibble, really, and we're more than compensated by the the rest of the cast.

Cary Grant motors the piece along at a terrific pace. He's a joy to watch, with his double-, triple-, even quadruple- and quintuple-takes. Hull and Adair are equally wonderful in their different ways, the former all floaty and tip-toe, the latter hysterically earnest - one of my favourite moments is Adair's superb double-take when she notices, on the dining-room table, a shoe she doesn't recognise.

Peter Lorre, Jack Carson, Edward Everett Horton, James Gleason, and the rest, are all everything they should be, and Priscilla Lane is splendidly dewy-eyed and pouty as the love-interest.

I've seen Arsenic and Old Lace countless times. I've never tired of it, always look forward to it, and highly recommend it.


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