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Arsenic and Old Lace

Play trailer Poster for Arsenic and Old Lace 1944 1h 58m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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86% Tomatometer 37 Reviews 91% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
Writer and notorious marriage detractor Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant) falls for girl-next-door Elaine Harper (Priscilla Lane), and they tie the knot on Halloween. When the newlyweds return to their respective family homes to deliver the news, Brewster finds a corpse hidden in a window seat. With his eccentric aunts (Josephine Hull, Jean Adair), disturbed uncle (John Alexander), and homicidal brother (Raymond Massey), he starts to realize that his family is even crazier than he thought.
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Arsenic and Old Lace

Critics Reviews

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Derek Smith Slant Magazine 10/11/2022
Arsenic and Old Lace trenchantly lays bare the hypocrisies and prejudices of the upper-middle class that often remained concealed beneath the façade of good manners. Go to Full Review David Parkinson Empire Magazine 10/22/2013
4/5
Cary Grant et al are on sparkling form in this classic darkly twisted comedy. Go to Full Review Variety Staff Variety 08/13/2007
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. Go to Full Review Josh Larsen LarsenOnFilm Mar 17
2/4
A bit of a whiff for Frank Capra... Go to Full Review Sarah Boslaugh TheArtsStl Feb 28
7/10
This comedy is all about the timing, and few do it better than Grant, who got his start in the music hall. Go to Full Review Michael Calleri Niagara Gazette 04/30/2023
Director Frank Capra, one of Hollywood’s great filmmakers and a man whose films appreciated the serious troubles society can inflict on people, clearly wanted to make a no-holds-barred comedy that thrives on lunacy. He succeeded. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Maguy L. @MagsTheFrog Jun 26 Charming movie about a couple of kind murdering old ladies :D and their lovely nephew. See more Kiami T @Kiami Feb 24 It's just very funny and enjoyable to watch. Rare to see a horror that's fun for all the family. See more Patrick S @PatrickStruik Jan 2 Extremely funny screwball comedy. See more aya t @ayaueta Dec 3 my most favorite screwball comedy! cary grant (a former acrobat) as mortimer brewster, who's shocked when he discover a body in the windowseat & runs around panicking. he thinks his crazy brother, theodore (who looks like & acts like teddy roosevelt), killed him so he tries to hide it from his elderly sweet aunts but theres a twist. dark comedy based on the popular play. See more J B @RT90799179 Nov 27 It is by far the worse movie I've ever seen. Wtf was that See more Uber A @RT73004652 Nov 23 It's zany alright. Not really funny though. See more Read all reviews
Arsenic and Old Lace

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Cast & Crew

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Frank Capra

Director

Cary Grant

Mortimer Brewster

Raymond Massey

Jonathan Brewster

Priscilla Lane

Elaine Harper

Peter Lorre

Dr. Einstein

Jack Carson

Officer Patrick "Pat" O'Hara

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Arsenic and Old Lace

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Writer and notorious marriage detractor Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant) falls for girl-next-door Elaine Harper (Priscilla Lane), and they tie the knot on Halloween. When the newlyweds return to their respective family homes to deliver the news, Brewster finds a corpse hidden in a window seat. With his eccentric aunts (Josephine Hull, Jean Adair), disturbed uncle (John Alexander), and homicidal brother (Raymond Massey), he starts to realize that his family is even crazier than he thought.
Director
Frank Capra
Producer
Frank Capra
Screenwriter
Joseph Kesselring, Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein
Distributor
Warner Bros., Criterion Collection, Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co
Warner Brothers
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 23, 1944, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 4, 2008
Runtime
1h 58m
Sound Mix
Mono
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.37:1), 35mm