Arsenic and Old Lace | 
 enlarge | Director: Frank Capra
Actors: Cary Grant, Josephine Hull, Jean Adair, Raymond Massey, Peter Lorre
Studio: Turner Home Ent
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.97
Buy New: $12.23
You Save: $7.74 (39%)
New (43) Used (13) from $11.94
Rating:  173 reviews
Sales Rank: 759
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dvd-video, Ntsc
Languages: English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 118
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.6 x 0.6
MPN: D65025D
ISBN: 0790743949
UPC: 012569502529
EAN: 9780790743943
ASIN: 0790743949
Theatrical Release Date: September 23, 1944
Release Date: August 29, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New and Factory Sealed Item Fast Shipping
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Amazon.com essential video
Frank Capra made this film in 1941 before he went off to make films for America's war effort, but it wasn't released until 1944. Adapted from the hit play by Joseph Kesselring, this frantic black comedy shows Capra at his best as a master of mood and timing. Actresses Josephine Hull and Jean Adair reprise their Broadway performances as two gentle old ladies who poison men with elderberry wine to put them out of their misery. Cary Grant plays one nephew, a normal guy who just gets wind of their little hobby and tries to get them to stop, while Raymond Massey plays another, a villain just escaped from jail. Capra encourages the cast, especially Grant, to give a somewhat more outsized performance than one might expect. But made during the war years as it was, this overstated comic approach to killing was probably cathartic. --Tom Keogh
Description
You'll die laughing! Frank Capra directs Cary Grant, Raymond Massey, Peter Lorre and stellar cast in the hit Broadway farce about a nutcase family with well-intentioned homicidal tendencies.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 168 more reviews...
 Its my Halloween Tradition June 16, 2008
I have loved this movie since I was a kid. Every Halloween I put this film in and watch as I have my dinner. Old fashion but great fun. If you enjoy old comedies give this one a try.
Great classic! June 15, 2008
Comedic Cary Grant at his best. You are really missing out if you haven't seen this one yet.
Recemmended purchase June 12, 2008
If you want to watch a funny movie with a great cast, look no further. This is classic Cary Grant and boy does he carry it off.
The dvd is in great condition and were delivered quickly. Thanks for the great service.
 Funny but uneven classic June 12, 2008
Easily one of Capra's darkest films, much of this comedy is a great example of madcap filmmaking from the golden age. Grant turned his regular screwball energy up to 11 for this one.
My only problem is that the frenetic pacing comes to a grinding halt when Grant disappears for twenty minutes and Massey and Lorre become the focus of the picture. It turns into a middling thriller for most of the second act. The attempt at ominous posturing is merely plodding. And I've never grasped the fascination with Lorre's wheezy, one-note schtick. Relying on him to supply "humor" in the thriller section doesn't work with me. At all.
A fantastic, classic screwball comedy May 10, 2008
Growing up, I always thought of Cary Grant as the debonair, sophisticated gentlemen. That image is shattered in this fantastic comedy about Mortimor Brewster who wants to marry the girl next door, Elaine, tonight but finds out that his aunts are poisoning men with arsenic in their homemade elderberry wine. Then there is cousin Teddy who believes he is Teddy Roosevelt and is digging the Panama Canal in the basement and cousin Jonathan who is truly a homicidal maniac comes home to "visit" with the mad doctor. All this and Elaine is still waiting. This comedy is a classic and shows that Cary Grant comedic timing is perfect!
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