Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

	Directed by: Frank Capra	COUNTRY USA GENRE Screwball comedy NORWEGIAN TITLE Arsenikk og gamle kniplinger RUNNING TIME 118 minutes
	Produced by: Frank Capra Jack L. Warner
	Written by (based on the play by Joseph Kesselring): Julius J. Epstein Philip G. Epstein

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Mortimer Brewster	Cary Grant
Elaine Brewster	Priscilla Lane	-
Aunt Abby Brewster	Josephine Hull
Aunt Martha Brewster	Jean Adair
Jonathan Brewster	Raymond Massey	½
Dr. Herman Einstein	Peter Lorre	½
"Teddy Roosevelt" Brewster	John Alexander	½
Officer Patrick O'Hara	Jack Carson	-
Officer Sanders	John Ridgely	-
Police Sgt. Brophy	Edward McNamara	-
Police Lt. Rooney	James Gleason	-
Mr. Witherspoon	Edward Everett Horton	-
Reverend Harper	Grant Mitchell	-

Review

In this silly and somewhat inexplicably hailed farce, a stunning-looking and perpetually baffled Cary Grant is pitted against his two gullible, murderous aunts (Josephine Hull and Jean Adair) and his long-lost brother (Raymond Massey), a career criminal who returns with a mangled face courtesy of his very own alcoholic plastic surgeon (Peter Lorre). The story is so fervent and the goofiness so prevalent that the duality between comedy and gravity is all but lost, but the film does still have that lightweight, screwy charm and the occasional amusing set-up. Grant overdoes his performance, for better or worse. He was nevertheless much funnier and more nuanced both before and after this picture, which is only recommended for those who prefer their farces to be really farcical.