Arsenic And Old Lace: 13 Things You Don't Need to Know 

Yes!

Totally agree!

Yes this is pure black farce and totally works

I know! It made the movie great. He was so funny in it. I loved his expressions!

Yup. I respectfully disagree with Cary. He was fantastic!

B Nelson oh, lithe Spirits a hilarious movie! Cary Grant would have been excellent in it also. But I’m glad he did Arsenic and Old Lace. It would not have been the classic it is without him.

Sorry, that should be Blithe spirit

You missed nothing by not seeing Blithe Spirit -- it is truly awful.

Perfectly said!!

Kinda feels like that's exactly where we've landed, after we jumped the last shark, and it's only cute if its imaginary.

One of my favorite lines ever. I’ve been saying it about my own family since I was in high school.

One of my favorite lines in the movie.

You're misquoting it, if you are trying to quote the line.

@@tompaulcampbell yeah. If I remember correctly he actually says, "You see... insanity runs in my family (as in the background you hear Aunt Abby and Aunt Martha singing "There is a Happy Land"). It practically gallops!

May be somehow Cary is refering to his own family? 🙂 His desperate look by saying this is so funny 🤨

Me too. 😯 And, mine too. 😀

Kallie Grace yes, I could have done without that “insider knowledge”. But, it may not even be true-Grant May have said it for all sorts of reasons. And, I have a terrible memory, so hopefully I will have forgotten by the next time I see the movie again. I would rather have been told an “ insider “ tip for how to find it free on line lol

@@bilindalaw-morley161 lol Ya me too! I've watched it several times and would love to see it again!

You would think that that’s a movie that he would’ve had fun acting in.

Totally! I love his reactions, etc. in this movie - that's a big part of what makes it so fun!!!! I love that man - but he was wrong about that for sure!

Absolutely

Jack Carson's clueless cop, and aspiring playwright, was hilarious, as well.

*Beatrix Poley* You know what? I think you're right. The campiness ( -- is that a word? -- ) kills.

Totally agree!

I think it gave it a more Stage production feel having him acted that way

@tolfan And wasn't that wonderful to capture that stage feel on film? Another thing about this movie that I love ... makes is so much campy fun.😊

agree but do think Peter Lorre was just brilliant

That's part of what I always liked about him he wasn't just a good-looking leading man he didn't have to take himself serious he had true true comedy chops

Jack Carson was the king of double and triple takes. So fun to watch him in this with Grant.

Vaudeville experienced actors were the best. The best in acting faded out with those greats. There could be no better training than being a Vaudeville entertainer. Only the best survived the demanding and merciless audiences.

Grant's portrayal of Mortimer reminds me of the slightly toned down Lt. Cmdr. Matt T. Sherman in Operation Petticoat that he would play 15 years later. He could give that look that was just GLORIOUS.

When my high school did the play and left the bastard line in. Pretty daring for a high school production.

I didn't know that line in the play use the word bastard nice bit of trivia. But I always laugh so hard every time I think about when he's running around yelling I'm a son of a sea-cook to everyone because that's what my dad would say when he was mad at somebody he would call them a son of a sea-cook. So with him telling them he was a son of a sea cook he didn't think it was bad he was meaning for it something to be good because he wasn't related to the ladies that he was a bastard LOL it made him so happy to know that he didn't have insanity and his family just a bit of loose morals for back then. So happy ending he's not afraid of being crazy and ends up with the woman he loves. There has been a couple of true stories about people or places taking in elderly and they kill them but continue to collect the monthly check from a pention or social security. They found people that didn't have families that would be checking up on them. So sad what greed can make people do.

Suzanne Jensen, in the movie and play it was not greed that drove the two aunts but they were helping (in their eyes) poor lonely men from bitter lives.

@@tyronekracht461 I should've put a space between my story about doing it for the money. I was commenting on what he said it was based on a lady that was killing for money and was found guilty. I know the aunts weren't doing it for money they did it because they cared about them. I've watched this movie several times over the years and always thought how strange and funny it is at the same time.

The reason the line was changed was because the Hayes Office censored it. There are lines in the film version of 'Kiss Me, Kate' that were changed, too. (The lyric 'According to the Kinsey Report', for instance, was replaced with 'According to the latest report' in 'Too Darn Hot'.)

He is EXACTLY the farce energy needed from every actor who does AaOL

It was GRANT who didn’t like it. Nearly everyone else liked it.

He was perfect. I can't imagine anyone else in the role.

i agree......think all the cast were great but i especially loved peter lorre.....he was brilliant

I thought I was going to hate it. I was wrong.

"He looks like......Raymond Massey"!

Lorre played so many serious roles, he rarely got a chance to display his exquisite sense of comic timing. The way he slips out the door at the end is perfect!!

@@HannibalFan52,"We're No Angels" Bogey, Aldo Ray, & P.L.!

@@michaelwertzy9808 True, but still a rare occurrence. I keep thinking of the 'spell' he cast is 'The Raven' (the comedy one): Cartagena delenda est! (Carthage must be destroyed!) Cracks me up every time.

"Where am I?...(lights match and looks at position in window seat) Oh, here I am!

"Please, Johnny, make it the QUICK way!"

@Cliff Moore Whatever it came out great!

Dr. Einstein has always been my favorite part, hilarious that he just operates while totally trashed haha

@@hcaz5818 It's fairly accurate to Peter Lorre, too. He was in pretty decent health when this was shot, but a few years earlier, he was absolutely hooked on Morphine due to his appendicitis operation (or at least that's where it started.) I also heard he drank a lot later on, before he died in the mid 60s - but I don't know for sure.

Lorre IS great in this part.

Agreed!

Well, THAT'S pretty cool.

Break a leg!

hey i did too today was my last show

fnafplay How was your experience?

@@beyblade71 good show turned out amazing

Ynko I have the production coming up at my school too but I play Witherspoon :3

I had a similar reaction. If he downplays the part, I don't think it works as well. You might start focusing on the darker aspects of the story and lose that it's a comedy.

You're right. I think of watching "Harvey" at Christmas, even though it is not a Christmas movie. It's probably more in line with EASTER.

Salieri Amadeus he was right up there, for sure. And a fine actor.

Toni Bauer his comedic timing was genius to say the least. The Philadelphia Story is a masterpiece of a film and Cary was sublime in it. His performance in Old Lace was astounding as well. He had to walk a thin line between being funny and shocked and a little crazy to fool us into thinking that he’s a part of this psychopathic family but totally believe that he isn’t at the end. I miss his talents.

And he aged so beautifully.

A bit of trivia: In an an obvious hat-tip to Grant, Archie Leach is the name of John Cleese’s character in A Fish Called Wanda.

@@graytart And Simon and Garfunkel pay homage to him in the song, Fakin' it

"You got twelve, they got twelve... the old ladies is just as good as you!"

Karloff did do it in an abridged Hallmark version in 1962. Tony Randall was Mortimer. It was on Broadway HD last time I looked.

@@TheJTMcDaniel I am not much of a Tony Randall fan. I remember seeing him in 50s movies and he was okay, but from the tv The Odd Couple and his later tv roles he went downhill in my book. Oddly, he probably played his character on The Odd Couple perfectly, but anybody that whiney and that persnickity (?), would they really have friends? Ever been married?

Used to drive by Horton's place all the time. He had a big place and acreage just north of the Ventura freeway in the west San Fernando Valley.

Stewart would have been closer to Mortimer's character.

Yes, me too; this movie is the one that made me a fan of his.

I love Cary in roles like this! Another of my favorites of his is Topper.

Waverly Nichols And “Holiday”, and “ Bringing Up Baby”.

AND "I was a Male War Bride."

@@kathyeubanks5524; I never cared for “Bringing Up Baby". I really don't care for Katharine Hepburn.

@@christelheadington1136; yes, he was good in "I was a Male War Bride", but somehow he didn't make a convening French Officer. That slight cockney accent didn't sound much like a French accent. Not enough nasal sound.

Columbia tried to get him, but he was tied up doing the role on Broadway.

It was written for him.

I saw a stage production in the 90's with Tom Baker in that role. He was brilliant.

Karloff later played it on TV in a GE Theatre production, I believe... Lorre was in it and one of the aunts was Helen Hayes.

Massey was a poor substitute for Boris Karloff. He lacks the levels Karloff could bring.

I think you're thinking of Bringing Up Baby. Mortimer Brewster is nothing like Harold Lloyd.

Of course you are correct! Thanks. Apologies to everyone. @@rackinfrackin

I can see that! Harold Lloyd was genius! Cary Grant recognized talent in others and gave them credit for their brilliance. He was known to say that the best actor in Hollywood was Mickey Rooney, who in later years became forgotten, but was a true entertaining phenomenon talent. Grant gave him his due and had top respect for his work.

did she tell any stories about her?

Karloff did get to finally reprise his role -- on television, around 1960, with Tony Randall in the Cary Grant role.

@@joelkweskin8545 thanks for the info!

I bet Karloff was too expensive.

Keep watching the classics!

That’s a good idea for a video... best houses from classic movies. I’ve always liked the one in “The Magnificent Ambersons”.

What a fun memory👍🏼❤

Me too. I was Teddy😊

@@bgriffininsd I was the priest and two dead bodies