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.
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