Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

Director: Frank Capra
Starring: Cary Grant, Josephine Hull, Jean Adair, Raymond Massey, Peter Lorre, Priscilla Lane

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At first I thought my dislike for this movie was due to some kind of generational gap. I had to rule that one out, however, because I'd seen this as a play in high school and absolutely loved it. I think it has something to do with the script, but it has more to do with the direction of the film. I think the script puts the punchlines at the beginning of the film, and it puts too many of them. Look! The man who's always been against marriage is now for it! Two old ladies are actually murderers who fancy themselves simply performing euthanasia! A serial killer...who looks like Boris Karloff! A character who believes he's Teddy Roosevelt! It's as if this was how the writer pitched his idea to executives, and when asked what the film was about he closed up his briefcase, headed toward the door, and on his way out said, "Wackiness ensues." The film just tries too hard. Everyone mugs for the camera. After each of the gags I half expect someone to turn toward the camera, let out a "yuk yuk yuk!" and toss a cream pie. It feels like someone just assembled the oddest group of characters they could think of and forgot to make them likeable and/or funny, expecting the laughs to spring organically from the characters' mere existence and juxtaposition. Arsenic and Old Lace just tries to be too cute for its own good.

August 4
apartment TV, evening

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D

[UPDATE: I just read this in the Arsenic and Old Lace trivia section on IMDb.com:

"Cary Grant considered his acting in this film to be horribly over the top and often called it his least favorite of all his movies."

That pretty much sums up my sentiments.]