--- title: "Arsenic and Old Lace" year: 1944 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/arsenic-and-old-lace" fi1m_id: "arsenic-and-old-lace" imdb_id: "tt0036613" tmdb_id: 212 wikidata_id: "Q59317" fi1m_score: 82 critics_score: 78 critics_reviews: 6 published: "2026-10-07T09:59:23.042610+00:00" updated: "2026-10-07T09:59:23.042610+00:00" region: "GB" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) Directed by Frank Capra · 1h 58m · Comedy, Crime ## Identity Arsenic and Old Lace - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/arsenic-and-old-lace - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** arsenic-and-old-lace - **IMDb ID:** tt0036613 - **TMDB ID:** 212 - **Wikidata ID:** Q59317 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036613/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/212, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q59317 **Fi1m score: 82** · Critics 78 from 6 reviews *In a sentence:* Two sweet old ladies, a cellar full of gentlemen, and Cary Grant doing double takes until his neck must have hurt > Frank Capra’s film of the Broadway hit is noisy, broad and often funny, and Josephine Hull and Jean Adair are the reason it works. Cary Grant works far too hard, and at 118 minutes the farce goes round the same loop once too often. ## Synopsis Brooklyn, Halloween. Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant), a drama critic who has made a living mocking marriage, has just married Elaine Harper (Priscilla Lane), the minister’s daughter next door. He calls on the two aunts who raised him, Abby (Josephine Hull) and Martha (Jean Adair), who pour elderberry wine for callers and share the house with his brother Teddy (John Alexander), who believes he is Theodore Roosevelt and charges the stairs as San Juan Hill. In the window seat Mortimer finds a dead man. The aunts explain that he is one of their gentlemen, poisoned as a kindness, and that Teddy has buried others in the cellar. Mortimer wants Elaine out of the house and Teddy committed before the police notice, and then his other brother Jonathan (Raymond Massey) comes home with a surgeon and a body of his own. ## Review Frank Capra is the director of the decent man and the speech that saves the town, and here he has made a film in which two sweet old women poison lonely bachelors and bury them in the cellar. It is a stage hit, Joseph Kesselring’s, carried to the screen by Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein with the furniture intact, and Capra’s job is mostly to keep the actors moving between the window seat, the cellar door and the stairs. He does it loudly. The film is funny, often, and it is also broad, stagebound and about twenty minutes longer than the joke can carry. We would send you to it, with that said. The joke belongs to Josephine Hull and Jean Adair, who play Abby and Martha Brewster as though they had never heard the word murder. When Mortimer finds a body in the window seat, Abby does not deny it; she explains it, with the patience of a woman describing a jumble sale, and when he asks what they used she gives him the recipe. We laughed out loud, and then caught ourselves, because the two of them never once wink. Hull and Adair came to the film from the stage production, where they had done this every night for years, and it shows: nothing is pushed. Every time the film threatens to tip into pantomime, one of them pours a glass of wine and it steadies. Cary Grant is another matter. The Epsteins have written Mortimer as the one sane person in the house, and Grant plays sanity as a series of double takes, yelps and sprints to the telephone. For the first half hour this is a pleasure. By the hour mark we wanted him to sit down. There is a scene where he tells a policeman the plot of a bad play, acting out every move without noticing the man creeping up behind him, and it is a clever idea that goes on too long. Priscilla Lane, as the new wife, is given almost nothing except the doorstep and the instruction to go home; most critics have marked her down for it, and we think the script deserves the blame. The film improves when it darkens. Raymond Massey arrives as Jonathan, the other brother, with a surgically ruined face that everyone in the film says makes him look like Boris Karloff, which is the picture’s best running gag and one it can afford, since Karloff had played the part on Broadway. Massey does not play Jonathan for laughs. He is big, slow and quietly furious, and Peter Lorre, as his drunk surgeon Dr Einstein, twitches around him like a frightened pet. Sol Polito lights these scenes as if for a horror picture: the lamps go off, the staircase throws bars of shadow across the hall, and the graveyard next door sits in the window. Max Steiner’s score goes along with it, swelling at the cellar door as if something were down there, which of course it is. For twenty minutes the film is a thriller with jokes in it, and that is its best stretch. It is a play, and it never stops being one. Almost everything happens in the Brewsters’ living room, which Capra shoots from roughly the position of the stalls, and the second half is a traffic jam of people coming through the front door: Jack Carson’s Officer O’Hara, who wants to tell Mortimer about his play; James Gleason’s Lieutenant Rooney; Edward Everett Horton’s Mr Witherspoon from the asylum, arriving late to collect whoever is left. Daniel Mandell keeps the doors swinging, but at 118 minutes the farce has to repeat itself, and we noticed. Orry-Kelly dresses the aunts in black lace and high collars, which is right, and Lane in a trim going-away suit she never gets to go away in. Against Capra’s own work this is the odd one out, and we rather like it for that. There is no speech about the common man, no small-town saviour, no tear, and the only kind people in it are the two who are killing their guests. It was shot in 1941 and kept on a shelf until the play had finished its run, and it feels like a holiday a serious director took and then slightly overstayed. Watch it on a dark evening with the lights down and something to drink that is not elderberry wine. If Grant’s face-pulling gets too much, look past him at the aunts; they are doing the real work, and doing it sitting down. *Fi1m score 82, published 7 October 2026.* ## What the critics say The reviews lean clearly positive, with five of the six recommending the film and none against. The praise gathers around the cast and the pace. Most critics describe it as a farce that runs on nervous energy, and the performances are the reason it still works: Cary Grant’s physical comedy is singled out at Empire, Raymond Massey’s menacing Jonathan at HeyUGuys, and Josephine Hull and Jean Adair, as the gentle poisoners, at Slant Magazine for keeping the absurdity grounded. Variety also credits Capra with expanding the play rather than simply filming it. The reservations are about wear and tear. Slant finds the manic pace occasionally exhausting, Variety notes the length, and Time Out, the one mixed voice, calls it dusty if gentle entertainment. Radio Times awards full marks but thinks Priscilla Lane is the weak link in an otherwise sparkling cast. The spread is narrow: a comedy most critics still find funny, with a few admitting it tires them. ## Straight answers **Is Arsenic and Old Lace worth watching?** *Arsenic and Old Lace* is worth watching for anyone who likes broad stage farce and two very calm old ladies, and we scored it 72. Josephine Hull and Jean Adair are the reason to see it; Cary Grant works far too hard, and at 118 minutes the joke goes round once too often. Best on a dark evening with the lights down. **How long is Arsenic and Old Lace, and what is it rated?** *Arsenic and Old Lace* runs 1h 58m. It is a comedy and crime film. **Where can I watch Arsenic and Old Lace in the UK?** *Arsenic and Old Lace* is not on any streaming or rental service in the UK at the moment. It is available in 4 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily. **How violent or frightening is Arsenic and Old Lace, and is it suitable for children?** *Arsenic and Old Lace* is a comedy about murder with no violence shown and almost no fright in it, and it carries no UK certificate. The deaths are poisonings reported over a glass of wine, the bodies are kept in a window seat and a cellar, and the only menace comes from Raymond Massey's scarred brother, lit like a horror film. Older children who can take a joke about poisoning will be fine; the squeamish have nothing to fear. **How does Arsenic and Old Lace compare to The Ladykillers?** *Arsenic and Old Lace* is louder, longer and more stagebound than [*The Ladykillers*](https://film.one/film/the-ladykillers), which is the drier and tighter of the two. Capra's film is a Broadway farce with the furniture intact and Cary Grant yelping through it; Mackendrick's keeps the threat close enough to make the laughter uncomfortable. If you want gentle old ladies and noise, take the Capra; if you want the nastier, better-timed picture, take the Ealing. **What should I watch after Arsenic and Old Lace?** After *Arsenic and Old Lace*, try [*The Ladykillers*](https://film.one/film/the-ladykillers) (1955, Fi1m 86): Another sweet old lady, another houseful of criminals, and the Ealing version is drier. Then [*Kind Hearts and Coronets*](https://film.one/film/kind-hearts-and-coronets) (1949, Fi1m 91): Murder as good manners, with Alec Guinness dying eight times; and [*Delicatessen*](https://film.one/film/delicatessen) (1991, Fi1m 83): A French tenement where the butcher’s supply problem is solved by the lodgers. ### Reviews we read (6) - **Radio Times**, David Parkinson (★★★★★): Parkinson finds the film great fun, despite the production difficulties. He praises the sparkling cast but singles out Priscilla Lane as failing to deliver. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-ut6vax/arsenic-and-old-lace/) - **Empire**, David Parkinson (85/100, inferred): Parkinson praises the film as a deliciously dubious farce whose manic energy makes it an enduring ensemble comedy. He singles out Cary Grant’s physical performance as especially effective, while noting the supporting cast’s exuberant contributions. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/arsenic-old-lace-review/) - **Variety**, Variety Staff (75/100, inferred): The critic finds that the film sustains a steady pace and remains agreeably diverting despite its length. They single out Capra’s expansion of the play and the comic complications for praise. [Read](https://variety.com/1943/film/reviews/arsenic-and-old-lace-1200414349/) - **Slant Magazine**, Derek Smith (3.5/5): Smith finds the film an enduring, if occasionally exhausting, blend of screwball comedy and horror. He especially praises Josephine Hull and Jean Adair’s understated performances for anchoring its escalating absurdity. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/arsenic-and-old-lace-blu-ray-review-frank-capra/) - **Time Out**, GB (50/100, inferred): The review finds the film dusty but gentle entertainment. It singles out the black comedy of two seemingly quaint spinsters with murderous tendencies. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/arsenic-and-old-lace) - **HeyUGuys**, Gary Phillips (90/100, inferred): The critic calls it a truly wonderful, highly entertaining film and says it kept him chuckling for days. He especially praises Raymond Massey’s intimidating performance as Jonathan, which he says steals the film. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/heyuguys-imdb250-project-week-18/) ## Details - **Director:** Frank Capra - **Director:** Frank Capra - **Screenplay:** Philip G. Epstein, Julius J. Epstein - **Cinematography:** Sol Polito - **Editor:** Daniel Mandell - **Music:** Max Steiner, Leo F. Forbstein - **Costume design:** Orry-Kelly - **Producer:** Frank Capra, Jack Warner - **Cast:** Cary Grant as Mortimer Brewster; Priscilla Lane as Elaine Harper Brewster; Josephine Hull as Aunt Abby Brewster; Jean Adair as Aunt Martha Brewster; Raymond Massey as Jonathan Brewster; John Alexander as 'Teddy Roosevelt' Brewster; Peter Lorre as Dr. Einstein; Jack Carson as Officer Patrick O'Hara - **Runtime:** 1h 58m - **First release (Belgium):** 1 September 1944 - **Genres:** Comedy, Crime - **Budget:** $1 million - **Box office:** $5 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imtJYamanh0 ## Where to watch in the UK Not streaming, renting or buying in the UK at the last check. Also available in: HR, IT, RS, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *The Ladykillers* (1955), Fi1m 86: Another sweet old lady, another houseful of criminals, and the Ealing version is drier — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-ladykillers.md) - *Kind Hearts and Coronets* (1949), Fi1m 91: Murder as good manners, with Alec Guinness dying eight times — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/kind-hearts-and-coronets.md) - *Harvey* (1950): A gentle man, a six-foot rabbit, and a family trying to have him committed - *The Trouble with Harry* (1955): Hitchcock’s one proper comedy: a corpse in the woods and nobody much minds - *Delicatessen* (1991), Fi1m 83: A French tenement where the butcher’s supply problem is solved by the lodgers — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/delicatessen.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/arsenic-and-old-lace