Cary Grant and Priscilla Lane in "Arsenic and Old Lace"

Arsenic and Old Lace is an American black comedy directed by Frank Capra and starring Cary Grant and Priscilla Lane. The excellent supporting cast includes Raymond Massey, Peter Lorre, Jack Carson, James Gleason, and Edward Everett Horton. Jean Adair, Josephine Hull, and John Alexander reprised their roles from the Broadway production.

The screenplay was written by Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein and based on the play of the same name by Joseph Kesselring. The film score was by Max Steiner and the cinematography was by Sol Polito.

Mortimer Brewster (Grant), a writer who has written extensively on how marriage is “an old-fashioned superstition,” falls in love with Elaine Harper (Lane), the minister’s daughter next door to his family home. Mortimer and Elaine get married on Halloween day. Elaine returns to her father’s house and Mortimer goes to his childhood home where his Aunts Abby and Martha raised him and still live. Along with his aunts, his older brother Teddy, who believes he is Theodore Roosevelt, lives there too.

While looking for the manuscript notes for his next book, Mortimer discovers a body in the window seat. He immediately thinks it's Teddy who must have been the murderer. But to Mortimer’s horror, he discovers that it’s his two aunts who are responsible. Not only are they responsible for the man in the window seat, but they are serial killers who “minister” to old bachelors by putting them out of their misery. And all these “gentlemen” are buried in the basement!

Besides his serial-killer aunts, Mortimer's brother Jonathan (Massey) is also a serial killer who is on the lamb and hiding out in his childhood home.

How in the world will Mortimer be able to save his aunts from going to prison and protecting them from the menacing Jonathan?

Frank Capra (1897 - 1991) was an American film director, producer, and writer. During the 1930s and 1940s, Capra’s films were among the most popular and awarded films. By 1938, Capra has won three Best Director Academy Awards. Born in Italy, Capra immigrated to the United States with his family when he was five years old. By sheer determination and his self-described cockiness, Capra talked his way into the movie business. He found a great home at “Poverty Row” studio, Columbia Pictures. At Columbia he had a major success with It Happened One Night (1934), which swept all the major categories at the Academy Awards that year. This helped turn Columbia Pictures from a Poverty Row studio into a major one. Other Capra successes include You Can’t Take It with You (1938), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), and It’s a Wonderful Life (1946).

Cary Grant (1904 – 1986) was an English-born American actor who became one of the most popular leading men in film history. Grant started his career in vaudeville before heading to Hollywood. He became a superstar in the late 1930s in a series of screwball comedies including The Awful Truth (1937) with Irene Dunne. He was a memorable C. K. Dexter Haven in The Philadelphia Story (1940) opposite Katharine Hepburn and James Stewart. He received two Best Actor nominations for Penny Serenade (1941) and None but the Lonely Hearts (1944). Other classic Grant films include Gunga Din (1939), Only Angels Have Wings (1939), and Arsenic and Old Lace (1944). He made four popular films with Alfred Hitchcock: Suspicion (1941), Notorious (1946), To Catch a Thief (1955), and North by Northwest (1959). He was presented with an Honorary Oscar at the 42nd Academy Awards in 1970.

Priscilla Lane (1915 – 1995) was an American actress and singer. She is best remembered for her film roles in The Roaring Twenties (1939) co-starring James Cagney, Alfred Hitchcock’s Saboteur (1942), and Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) co-starring Cary Grant. Before she became a star, she had a screen test at age 16 at MGM offices in New York City. Other actresses being tested that day included Katharine Hepburn and Margaret Sullavan. All three flunked their MGM auditions. Not to be dismayed, Priscilla and her older sister Rosemary were signed to a radio contract with Waring’s orchestra. In 1938, she and her sister Rosemary were signed to seven-year contracts with Warner Bros. Priscilla starred in Four Daughters (1938), the film that introduced John Garfield to moviegoers. Other popular films starring Lane include Brother Rat (1938), Dust Be My Destiny (1939), again co-starring with Garfield, Three Cheers for the Irish (1940), and Blues in the Night (1941). Disillusioned with the roles Warners was offering her, she left the studio in 1942. She made five more movies, the last one in 1948, and then retired from films to raise a family.

Priscilla Lane and Cary Grant in a publicity still

Arsenic and Old Lace trivia

• Bob Hope was the first choice for Mortimer Brewster but his home studio wouldn't release him so he couldn't accept the role. Jack Benny was considered but when Frank Capra found out that Cary Grant was interested, he was offered the role.
• Frank Capra requested Priscilla Lane for the role of Elaine.
• Archie Leach (Grant's real name) is on one of the tombstones near the Brewster home.
• Cary Grant considered this the least favorite of all his films.
• Capra had to pay $25,000 each for the services of Jean Adair and Josephine Hull to the producers of the Broadway play. Adair and Hull were paid $10,000 each for their film roles.
• The film was completed in eight weeks under budget.
• Filmed in 1941, but released in 1944.

To watch the film on YouTube, click the link below.

To join the discussion on October 31, 2022, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time, click here. Once you RSVP, you will receive an invitation to join the discussion along with the Zoom link.

Discussion questions

1. Grant hated his performance in this film. Why do you think he was unhappy with the final cut?
2. The supporting cast is pretty amazing. Do you have any favorites? Did you have a favorite aunt?
3. Did you have a favorite scene or piece of dialogue?
4. If the movie was remade today, would you set it in the 1940s? Who would you cast as Mortimer, Jonathan, and the aunts?
5. In spite of Grant's opinion of his performance and the film, it's often sighted as a favorite among film fans. What's your opinion? Do you consider this one of Grant's best performances?

Frank Capra (hat), Cary Grant, and Priscila Lane on the set

Screening of "Arsenic and Old Lace" October 28 at the Daystar Center

“Halloween” Series: Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Where: Daystar Center, 1550 S. State Street
When: October 28, 2017
Time: 6:45 p.m.
Hosted by Stephen Reginald

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) is the screen adaptation of the dark comedy play written by Joseph Kesselring. Director Frank Capra filmed the movie in 1941, but the film’s release was delayed until the play finished its Broadway run. The role of Mortimer Brewster was offered to Bob Hope, but his home studio (Paramount) wouldn’t release him from his contract. When Cary Grant accepted the role, it was off to the races.

Cary Grant and Priscilla Lane on the Warner Bros. lot

Mortimer Brewster is a critic and writer who has written books about marriage being old-fashioned and based on superstition. In spite of these “beliefs,” Mortimer marries Elaine Harper (Priscilla Lane), his childhood sweetheart, who lived next door to him in Brooklyn, on Halloween. After the wedding, Mortimer visits his old family home occupied by his two elderly aunts Abby (Josephine Hull) and Martha (Jean Adair) and his brother Teddy (John Alexander) who believes he is Teddy Roosevelt. When Mortimer finds a corpse in a window seat, he discovers that his kindly aunts are killing old bachelors that they presume are suffering and lonely. To complicate things further, the home is visited by Mortimer’s older brother Jonathan (Raymond Massey), a murderer looking for a place to hide the body of his latest victim.

Josephine Hull, Jean Adair and John Alexander recreated their Broadway roles, getting an eight-week leave of absence while the stage production was still running. Capra keeps the action moving at a brisk, hilarious pace that never lets up. The movie is filled with familiar character actors, including Jack Carson, Edward Everett Horton, James Gleason, and Peter Lorre.

Arsenic and Old Lace is listed at number 30 on the American Film Institute’s 100 Years…100 Laughs list, making it one of the funniest movies in American cinema.

Have some Joe and Enjoy the Show!

You can bring food and beverages into the auditorium; we even have small tables set up next to some of the seats. General Admission: $5 Students and Senior Citizens: $3.

Join the Chicago Film club; join the discussion

Twice a month we screen classic films and have a brief discussion afterward. For more information, including how to join (it’s free), click here. The Venue 1550 is easily accessible by the CTA. Please visit Transit Chicago for more information on transportation options.

Stephen Reginald is a freelance writer and editor. He has worked at various positions within the publishing industry for over 25 years. Most recently he was executive editor for McGraw-Hill’s The Learning Group Division. A long-time amateur student of film, Reginald hosts “Chicago Film Club,” a monthly movie event held in the South Loop, for the past two years. Reginald has also taught several adult education film classes at Facets Film School, Chicago.

Hitchcock’s “Saboteur” to screen September 9, 2014 at Daystar Center

When: Tuesday, September 9, 2014 6:30 p.m.
Where: The Venue 1550 at the Daystar Center, 1550 S. State Street

Alfred Hitchcock’s 1942 thriller stars Priscilla Lane and Robert Cummings. Cummings plays Barry Kane, a Los Angeles aircraft factory worker who suspects the plant has been bombed by a foreign agent. Kane’s best friend is killed in the conflagration and is wrongly accused of sabotage. Along the way, Kane meets a model Patricia (Pat) Martin (Priscilla Lane). The two begin a cross-country journey in an attempt to prove Kane’s innocence and to stop more bombings planned throughout the United States.

All-American cast

Hitchcock chose an all-American cast to move the narrative along at breakneck speed. The film features some amazing set pieces, as well as some great on-location filming at Boulder Dam, New York’s Radio City Music Hall, and the Statue of Liberty. The climatic scene atop the Statue of Liberty is one of the most iconic in all of cinema.

No looking back

New York Times movie critic Bosley Crowther said in his May 8, 1942 review that “Saboteur is a swift, high-tension film which throws itself forward so rapidly that it permits slight opportunity for looking back.”

Behind the scenes at the Sutton mansion

Have some Joe and Enjoy the Show!
Before the movie, grab a cup of coffee from Overflow Coffee Bar, located within the Daystar Center. You can bring food and beverages into the auditorium; we even have small tables set up next to some of the seats.

Join the Chicago Film club, join the discussion
The Chicago Film Club is for classic movie fans. Once a month we screen a classic film and have a brief discussion afterward. For more information, including how to join (it’s free), click here. To purchase your ticket in advance, click here. The Venue 1550 is easily accessible by the CTA. Please visit Transit Chicago for more information on transportation options.