DomDurham's profile

DomDurham


Favourite actor:	Marlon Brando
Favourite director:	David Fincher
Favourite film:	Apocalypse Now

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wacky but brilliant , 3 May 2010

Arsenic and Old Lace on DVD (1944)
Starring: Cary Grant, Raymond Massey, Jack Carson
Director: Frank Capra
Certificate:
Based on a play of the same name, Arsenic and Old Lace tells the story of Mortimer Brewster, who after just getting married, becomes involved in a bizarre discovery in his family home, where his aunts and brother Teddy are staying.

Adapted from a long-running Broadway hit works in its advantage, with the majority of the story taking place in one room and the fast paced dialogue allowing the characters to bounce off each other quite nicely. However, many of the actors around Hollywood at that time were classically trained in theatre or vaudeville and it shows in the film, with many scenes taking on a more slapstick and over the top approach, which admittedly works well in lighting up the darkness of the material, but I just found it a little distracting at times.

Having said that, I thought Cary Grant was brilliant as Mortimer, with all the insanity going on around him he steals the show with fast-paced one-liners and subtle undertones of his own mental state occasionally creeping through. It was one of the earliest examples of the, often risky, line of horror and comedy, with the exterior shots of dusk on Halloween, along with a few nods to ‘Frankenstein’, making for an interesting blend which has by far stood the test of time.

Despite the picture running for nearly two hours, the pacing and good direction from Capra keep you entertained and for all it’s surrealism, the film has a big heart, with a lot to say about family through a mix of wacky, yet charming, characters.

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