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Movies / On DVD / Arsenic and Old Lace
Arsenic and Old Lace

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Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

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90 %
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Reviews Counted:21

Fresh:19

Rotten:2

Average Rating:7.6/10

Runtime: 2 hrs

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: A couple leaving on their honeymoon must put aside their plans when the groom finds that his spinster aunts are killing people in their pleasant little house and burying the bodies in the cellar.... A couple leaving on their honeymoon must put aside their plans when the groom finds that his spinster aunts are killing people in their pleasant little house and burying the bodies in the cellar. To their credit, the aunts believe they are just being kind and they hold touching funeral services for all of their victims. The plot is complicated by a somewhat dotty elderly relative who is convinced that he is Teddy Roosevelt. [More]

Starring: Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey, Peter Lorre

Starring: Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey, Peter Lorre, Josephine Hull, Jean Adair, John Alexander, James Gleason, Jack Carson, Edward Everett Horton, Grant Mitchell, Charles Lane

Director: Frank Capra

Director: Frank Capra
Producer: Frank Capra
Screenwriter: Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein
Composer: Max Steiner

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Arsenic and Old Lace

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Dusty but gentle entertainment.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Riotously funny.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
08/13/07
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Despite the fact that picture runs 118 minutes, Frank Capra has expanded on the original play [by Joseph Kesselring] to a sufficient extent to maintain a steady, consistent pace.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
08/13/07
Variety Staff
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The timing is abysmal throughout, turning fast pace into numbing frenzy.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment 1 Comment
08/13/07
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader

Good macabre fun.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
08/08/06
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Unable to conceal the film's theatrical origins, Capra misfires as a director and misguides Cary Garnt, who's too mannered, but the time, the combo of horror and comedy was new and the old ladies' gruseome hobby was shocking to audiences.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
07/17/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Charge! off to see this classic Capra screwballer.

comment Comment
10/25/04
Steve Crum
Steve Crum
Kansas City Kansan

No review available.

comment Comment
08/04/04
Linda Cook
Linda Cook
Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)

No review available.

comment Comment
06/04/04
Jake Euker
Jake Euker
F5 (Wichita, KS)

No review available.

comment Comment
06/04/04
Sarah Chauncey
Sarah Chauncey
Reel.com

No review available.

comment Comment
02/20/04
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

has stood the test of time to remain as funny today as anything Hollywood is producing now.

Full Review Source: Three Movie Buffs | comment Comment
09/27/03
Scott Nash
Scott Nash
Three Movie Buffs

No review available.

comment Comment
07/29/03
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies

Not one of Capra's best. Grant is too hammy and out of control, and without Boris Karloff as Jonathan Brewster, the joke is lost.

comment Comment
03/06/03
Bob Bloom
Bob Bloom
Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)

No review available.

comment Comment
01/31/03
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Nowhere near the play, but fun and fast

comment Comment
08/21/02
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

No review available.

comment Comment
08/13/02
Rob Vaux
Rob Vaux
Flipside Movie Emporium

No review available.

comment Comment
07/31/02
Rob Blackwelder
Rob Blackwelder
SPLICEDWire

No review available.

comment Comment
07/26/02
Jeffrey Westhoff
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

...one of the staples of black comedy for stage and screen.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
John J. Puccio
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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