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Arsenic and Old Lace

Arsenic and Old Lace

List Price: $19.97
Your Price: $14.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "Two hours and when it was all over, what?"
Review: I was first introduced to ARSENIC AND OLD lace as a child after visiting two sweet aunts and a crazy uncle of mine who lived together and had a "mysterious" celler of their own. My father told me they reminded him of ARSENIC AND OLD LACE and I had never seen the movie, so when we returned home we watched it.

The movie was filmed over 60 years ago and except for the dated references (WWII, Brooklyn Dodgers, Boris Karloff) the film remains amazingly fresh. Though this was one of Cary Grant's least favorite performances, his comedic talents shine, offsetting the rather low key peformances by the other members of the cast.

The movie stays fairly close to the play, especially in dialogue. The major difference being that Mortimer and Elaine are married rather than just engaged.

The movie starts off rather slow, but quickly picks up steam and doesn't lift up until the film's conclusion. Full of wit and vitality, this is the type of movie comedy that Hollywood rarely makes nowadays. Great viewing for anytime of the year, but it especially makes a nice treat around Halloween.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: My favorite Cary Grant Movie!!
Review: I like Cary Grant and I have really enjoyed all of his movies that I have seen but Arsenic and Old Lace is definitely my favorite, the first time I watched it I was feeling a little tired and stressed but I watched this movie and it cheered me up and I laughed so hard especially at the scenes with Teddy running up the stairs yelling CHAAAAAARGE!, and Cary Grant's hilarious over the top performance that is so unlike his usual calm cool and collected persona. The movie cheered me up and it's now my favorite Cary Grant movie and my favorite comedy movie! I very highly recommend this movie to people who love a good laugh and are looking for something different!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Beautifully Remastered
Review: This is a wonderful old movie, but you wouldn't know it was old by the way it's been remastered for DVD. The sound and the picture quality are excellent. And who can resist Cary Grant?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Funny, Funny, Funny
Review: This is a great, funny movie!! Great movie to pull out around Halloween!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Strangely Amusing
Review: Frank Capra stirred just enough comic timing into this witches brew to make the performances outlandishly diabolical.

There are some dark moments when Cary Grant really lets himself become completely consumed with the moment. As Mortimer Brewster, he delivers a grand performance and this has to be the best slapstick attempt of his career as his exaggerated acting and looks of befuddlement are very amusing.

He appears as the only sane person in his family and has just eloped with Elaine (Prinscilla Lane). They are on their way to Niagara Falls, yet seem to slip into a rather murderous situation where everyone they are associating with should be immediately committed to the local sanitarium.

His two aunts have taken up mercy killing and serve elderberry wine so sweetly to elderly gentlemen, they never think these two sweet women could do them any harm. So far they have 11 bodies buried in their Brooklyn boarding house cellar and they are working on a nice dozen.

Not only does he have to prevent his aunts from serving elderberry wine to their next victim, he has to try to stop the police from finding the bodies buried in the cellar and keep his own sanity as his long-lost brother Jonathan shows up with a body and also tries to murder Mortimer in a diabolical plot to get him out of the way.

All he wants to do is get this insane bunch safely stashed away so he can go on his honeymoon.

Perfect for October viewing.(...)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Hilarious!
Review: Arsenic and Old Lace is one of the funniest comedies of all time. Based on the hit Broadway show of the same name, it is about a drama critic who finds out that his aunts have been poisioning people (hence the title) out of a desire to help them (they only poison lonely old men) out of their misery. Anyhow, the dialogue is truly hilarious ("Insanity doesn't just run in the family - it practically gallops.") and the cast is great!

Even though Cary Grant, who played the lead role, always said he disliked his performance in Arsenic and Old Lace (he complained that Capra pushed him into overplaying instead of his usual more restrained style) I think he was excellent! His expressions are priceless, and it is impossible to keep a straight face while watching his frantic movements about the house. The aunts are also quite good, as are the actors playing the other crazy brothers.

All in all, this movie is a must have! If you haven't seen it already, you are in for a treat.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Who would have thought Elderberry Wine could do such harm?
Review: "Arsenic and Old Lace" is my one of my favorite movies and plays. Cary Grant is hilarious in this. His facial expressions and reactions are perfectly timed. No one can ever remake this successfully. Don't be turned off by the changes Frank Capra made from the play, because there is nothing wrong with them. I recommend.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Simply Hilarious! 5+ stars!
Review: Arsenic and Old Lace is one of my favorite comedies and I think one of Cary Grant's best.
Two sweet, kind, old aunts who turn out to be not so kind and sweet. A brother that thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt. Another brother that escaped from an insane asylum and looks like Boris Karloff. And a plastic surgeon, Doctor Einstein.
But if all that isn't bad enough, "There is a body in the windowseat!" And he's dead!
In the middle of all of this is Cary Grant who hilariously portrays Mortimer Brewster, seemingly the only sane person in the family. But he might not even be that with all the family secrets that come out in one night. Boy, oh boy!
Very funny movie! Cary Grant is hilarious! With a great cast and script, Arsenic and Old Lace will make you laugh and keep you laughing. I really liked Peter Lorre's porformance as Dr. Einstein. Very funny.
A definite MUST see!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Cary Grant at his Best!!
Review: This is my favorite Cary Grant film, and probably in my top five favorite films of all time. Excellent story, superb cast, beautiful direction. This film is a masterpiece! Capra is at his best here, and in my opinion, the only other of his films that approach this is "It's a Wonderful Life". Buy it and enjoy a timeless classic!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: How Delicious!
Review: ARSENIC AND OLD LACE was one of the great stage comedies of the 1940s, and even today the script remains a staple of highschool, college, community theatre across the country. The story is convoluted, to say the least: two elderly sisters reknowned for good deeds have taken to aiding lonely old men by offering them a glass of poisoned wine (one of their victims found time to say "How delicious!"), and when their homocidal maniac nephew Jonathan unexpectedly returns after several years he feels compelled to keep pace with their body count. Fortunately, there is a ready victim at hand: his brother Mortimer,who is apparently the only sane member of the family.

Cary Grant is on record saying that he greatly disliked his work in this film, and in truth his entire performance consists of nothing but double and triple takes, stammerings, and fits of hysteria--but he executes them with impeccable timing and creates an acceptable foil for the truly memorable performances that run through the film: Raymond Massey as the homicidal Jonathan, Josephine Hull and Jean Adair as the lethal ladies, and memorable supporting performances from Peter Lorre, Edward Everette Horton, Jack Carson, John Alexander, and Priscilla Lane, all of whom play out the outrageous script with considerably dexterity, intelligence, and disconcerting humor.

This is an extremely frantic, extremely broad farce, and director Frank Capra is not entirely at home with the material, which he presents in a somewhat stagey manner--but truth be told it is unlikely that any other director would be more successful. ARSENIC AND OLD LACE is most at home on the stage; on the screen it has a tendency to become slightly overbearing, and some will find it too strident for their tastes. But the script is wickedly funny, the complicated plot is fun to unravel, and the cast is extremely memorable. Most people will enjoy seeing it more than once!


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