Happy Halloween! Today's film is 1944's "Arsenic And Old Lace", a classic tale about a man who goes home to tell his eccentric family of his recent marriage. When he arrives, he finds that his family is more eccentric than he realized.
The film's cast includes Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey, Jack Carson, Edward Everett Horton, Peter Lorre, Josephine Hull, Jean Adaire, John Alexander, Grant Mitchell, Edward McNamara, and Charles Lane.
Fittingly, our story takes place on Halloween, a wild and wacky time when strange things can occur.
Our story really takes place in a quiet residential neighborhood of Brooklyn. Friendly cops patrol the streets on their nightly beats. As he looks around the neighborhood, the younger cop asks the older, "Did George Washington ever do any sleeping around here?" The older replies, "Of course, he did. Why, this whole neighborhood just stinks with atmosphere."
Mortimer Brewster has come home to tell his aunts that he's newly married. He's just wedded his childhood next door neighbor, Elaine Harper.
While Elaine is next door informing her father about the nuptials, Mortimer is telling his aunts, and they couldn't be more delighted.
Abby and Martha Brewster are two loveable old spinsters. They take care of many people in the neighborhood. They also have a shocking secret. So far, they've killed twelve people. These people, elderly bachelors, have no family and no friends. The Brewster sisters view their deeds as a "service" to the old men. They slip a little arsenic into their wine, and the deed is done.
Also living with Abby and Martha is Mortimer's brother Teddy, who believes himself to be President Theodore Roosevelt. Whenever Teddy runs up the stairs, he screams "Charge!" as the former president did at San Juan Hill. He also "digs" the Panama Canal, in the basement, though this is a really a graveyard for his aunts' victims. They tell him the dead bodies were sufferers of yellow fever. So, he doesn't mind at when he's called upon to bury the "diseased".
When Mortimer accidentally discovers one of his aunts' victims in the window seat, he can't believe what he's seeing.
And when he confronts the ladies about the dead man, they reveal everything to him very nonchalantly. He is absolutely flabbergasted. "This is developing into a very bad habit!" he exclaims. Eventually, Mortimer realizes that they are all a little insane and he makes arrangements for them and Teddy to move to a mental institution.
However, things get out of hand when Mortimer's criminally psychopathic brother Jonathan arrives with his friend, Dr. Einstein. The aunts are afraid of him, and it's no wonder.
Jonathan has recently escaped from prison after having been locking up for being a serial murderer. He's also brought a dead body of his own to the house for hiding.
Jonathan hides the body in the window box. Before Mortimer is alerted to his brother's presence in the house, he discovers the body. And he's shocked that bodies seem to keep appearing!
Eventually, Mortimer and Jonathan come face to face. Jonathan vows to kill Mortimer, too, because he's never like him.
Mortimer manages to sneak away to see his neglected bride next door at her father's house. He tries to explain things to her. "Look, I probably should’ve told you this before,
but, you see, well, insanity runs in my family.It practically gallops."
Jonathan and his assistant tie Mortimer up. A policeman walks in just before things get painful. Dr. Einstein and Jonathan manage to convince the policeman that they are acting out a play. Will the cop realize something's wrong before it's too late?
Jean Adaire....................................Martha Brewster
John Alexander...............................Teddy Roosevelt Brewster
Grant Mitchell.................................Reverend Dr. Harper
Edward McNamara...........................Sgt. Brophy
Charles Lane...................................Reporter
And that's it for Arsenic And Old Lace. At the time of its release, a newspaper review called the film "good macabre fun", and it is indeed. It has been enduringly popular amongst film fans, and it's easy to see why. It's got an appropriate balance of comedy and suspense.
One of my favorite moments in the film comes when Elaine comes into contact with Jonathan and Dr. Einstein. They try to get her out of sight and silence her. Teddy arrives on the scene, and Elaine begs him to help. They don't believe that she is Mortimer's wife. Teddy calmly explains, "Why, that's my daughter, Alice. Now, Alice, don't be a tomboy. Don't play rough with the gentlemen," he instructs before "charging" up the stairs.
Coming up next is 2012's "Hotel Transylvania", a story that sees Dracula hosting a birthday party for his daughter at his exclusive monsters only resort. The arrival of a human throws the whole party for a whirl and threatens to destroy everything that Dracula has built.
The film's voice cast includes Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kevin James, Fran Drescher, Steve Buscemi, Molly Shannon, David Spade, CeeLo Green, Luenell, Chris Parnell, Jackie Sandler, and Jon Lovitz.
When Dracula's wife Martha is killed in an attack by humans, Dracula decides to raise their daughter Mavis in a sheltered existence away from the humans that destroyed his life.
He builds the exclusive Hotel Transylvania, a place where all monsters can come without fear of human interference in their lives. The place is designed to keep humans away. Before you can get to it, you must pass through a haunted forest and the "Land Of The Undead".
And it's got everything an ultra luxury resort could have. There is shuttle service, water aerobics, a poolside buffet, bingo, and gym activities. If you're going to play bingo, you better listen closely. The bingo caller has a VERY soft voice.
Most of the guests are very good friends of Dracula. There is Wayne and his wife Wanda, who arrive with their huge unruly brood of werewolf pups.
Griffin is an invisible monster. He enjoys taking off his glasses and playing pranks on Dracula and the other guests.
Murray is everybody's favorite mummy. He's also Dracula's best friend. Dracula does get a bit upset at the amount of sand that Murray tracks in, though.
And Frankenstein and his wife Eunice round out Dracula's inner circle of friends. They are a very entertaining couple. Eunice screams out at her husband upon arrival, "What's going on out there? Are we at the hotel? Frank, did you book us for a tandem massage? Did you get us a table at Hunchback's? Did you do anything?"
And when the whole gang gets together, anything can happen. Take a look at this practical joke that Frankenstein plays on Murray.
This year everyone has arrived to celebrate Drac's daughter Mavis's 118th birthday. And Drac gets a little sensitive when anyone mentions that she's not a little girl anymore.
But for all the careful planning that Drac does for Mavis's birthday, something happens that he does not plan on. A human named Jonathan absentmindedly wanders onto the Hotel Transylvania property.
Not wanting to alarm the guests, Dracula disguises him as Frankenstein's cousin (sixth cousin three times removed on his right arm's side).
But Dracula is in for the shock of his life when "Johnny" meets Mavis and the two hit it off. Drac does everything he can to keep the two apart, but they are like magnets.
And Johnny quickly becomes popular with the hotel guests, especially when he breaks out his Razor skooter.
Eventually, Drac tries to kick Johnny off the property. "Listen to me. You are never to return here. You are to stay away and tell no humans
about this place.Or I will track you down and suck every ounce of
blood from your body until you look like a deflated whoopee
cushion," he warns.
But Mavis follows Johnny, and he opens her eyes to things she's never even seen before, such as a sunrise. The two fall in love.
Now, Drac must find a way to open his heart and allow Mavis the freedom to make her own choices, even if that means falling in love with a human.
He's also got to throw her the best birthday party she's ever experienced. Johnny, naturally, lends a hand.
Cast rundown:
Adam Sandler..................................Dracula
Andy Samberg.................................Jonathan
Jon Lovitz.........................................Quasimodo
And that's it for Hotel Transylvania. The film is wildly popular, and has spawned two already released sequels. A fourth movie is slated to be released in the summer of 2021.
