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Post by wmcclain on Oct 31, 2019 15:11:22 GMT
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), directed by Frank Capra. On the day of his marriage to the girl next door, our hero is exceedingly flustered to discover that his harmless spinster aunts are actually homicidal maniacs who poison visitors and, with the aid of another nephew -- who thinks he is Teddy Roosevelt -- bury them in the basement. As if that wasn't enough, his long-lost scary homicidal brother returns home that day, looking for revenge. It seems insanity runs in the family, which is quite concerning since our guy was just married and is eager for his honeymoon. After a whole movie of everything going wrong, we have a great reverse-fiasco in the final act where everything goes right, so lucky it's hilarious. 1h58m is plenty long for this; they probably wanted to do the whole play right. I've often thought that this level of hysterical goofiness is just too much for Cary Grant, but I thought that about Bringing Up Baby (1938) and came around in the end. Both the movie and earlier play were smash hits. Grant is often so cool and debonair that audiences liked to see him manic and panicked now and then. I always enjoy seeing singer Priscilla Lane; she really does have a girl-next-door appeal. A brief filmography but she was in some good ones, such as Walsh's The Roaring Twenties (1939) and Hitchcock's Saboteur (1942). She does a bit of Code-compliant frustration of a bride who wants her wedding night. Raymond Massey takes over from Boris Karloff who played the Frankenstein brother on the stage. "Looks just like Karloff" is a recurring jibe, probably a self-referential bit in the play. And look who appears as his Renfield: Peter Lorre! Photographed by Sol Polito -- 42nd Street (1933), The Petrified Forest (1936), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Dodge City (1939), The Sea Hawk (1940), Sergeant York (1941). The title is a reference to Lavender and Old Lace, a now forgotten 1902 romance novel. Available on DVD.
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Post by marianne48 on Oct 31, 2019 15:22:04 GMT
My two favorite lines:
"Insanity runs in my family. It practically gallops."
"CHAAAAAAARRRRRGE!!"
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Post by petrolino on Oct 31, 2019 16:38:38 GMT
A joy to watch.
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Post by mattgarth on Oct 31, 2019 17:09:06 GMT
-- Frank Capra directed the film for the Warner Bros. Studio just before enlisting in the U.S. Army Signal Corps in 1941 at the outbreak of WW2.
-- His plan was to use the percentage profits to support his family during the war years to come.
-- Warners arrangement for the film rights to ARSENIC was that the picture could only be released after the stage play had finished its Broadway run.
-- Only problem ... the play continued to entertain wartime audiences for another three years, meaning no monies yet for the Capra family until its eventual release in 1944.
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-- One evening in 1943, Lt. Col. Capra and his film crew took the night off from their documentary feature work to enjoy a little R&R at a London pub.
-- Also present were several boisterous U.S. flyers from a nearby airfield.
-- One of the airmen got up from his table to use the restroom which was located on the second floor of the pub.
-- As he reached the bottom of the staircase, he sudenly drew out an imaginary sword and ran up the stairs, shouting ... "CHARGE!" to peals of laughter from his table mates.
-- A surprised Capra, recognizing the gesture, went over to the flyers' table and asked where they knew that gag from.
-- They told him that it was a funny scene from a film they had watched on their base the night before.
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-- The next day, an angry Capra made a trans-Atlantic call to Hollywood and demanded to know why the movie was in release but that his family was still not receiving any profits.
-- A sheepish Jack Warner admitted that the film was not yet in general release to the American public, but in a patriotic gesture he had petitioned the play's attorneys to allow the picture to be shown at overseas bases only, with no compensation.
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Post by divtal on Oct 31, 2019 17:10:46 GMT
I'll watch it tonight, as I always do on Halloween.
The most slapstick mayhem portion of the film used to get tiresome, for me. Then, I on one viewing, I and begin to be intrigued by the timing, and coordination among the actors. Of course, on film there can be re-takes. If that was presented, similarly, on the stage, the choreography and execution must have been impressive.
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Post by mattgarth on Oct 31, 2019 17:31:33 GMT
--- The play (and film) are both a hilarious romp ... but the inspiration for the storyline was anything but funny.
--- Amy Archer-Gilligan, Americas most prolific female serial killer, has been cited as the inspiration for the play.
--- Amy was the proprietor of a nursing home in Windsor, Connecticut.
--- In 1919 she was charged and convicted of the poisoning deaths of her two husbands and was allegedly responsible for the deaths of 66 other elderly "inmates" of her nursing home.
--- She was sentenced to life imprisonment.
--- Her weapon of choice was (wait for it) ... Arsenic.
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Post by teleadm on Oct 31, 2019 18:29:48 GMT
I enjoy this movie very much. The last time I watched it, I noticed that the story takes place on Halloween, something I had totally forgotten. The sisters were nice to the kids, via their kitchen door.
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Post by mattgarth on Oct 31, 2019 18:46:32 GMT
-- It's apparently a theater tradition that at the opening night of the play's performance at regional presentations, at the curtain call as the performers take their bows, up from the 'cellar' would emerge the 13 victims of the sisters who had been buried by cousin 'Teddy.'
-- Part of that tradition is that some recognizable local celebrities are the ones called in for this chore.
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-- Back in the last century, I was doing theater and film reviews for a local New England am radio station, which afforded me the opportunity to see movies and plays for free.
-- At about that time, the Long Wharf Theater in New Haven was presenting a production of ARSENIC ... starring Joanne Woodward as sister 'Abby', and Paul Benedict from TV's 'The Jeffersons' playing the role of the sinister 'Jonathan Brewster.'
-- Along with the rest of the sold-out opening night audience, I was pleasantly surprised to notice a few familiar faces coming out as the victims ... including the city's Mayor, and the ABC affiliate TV station's weatherman.
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-- But it was the 12th and the 13th 'victims' coming up from the cellar that made the patrons go wild, though ... courtesy, no doubt, of its star Ms. Woodward.
-- Number 12 victim ... Paul Newman!
-- Number 13 victim ... their Westport home's weekend guest -- Robert Redford!
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Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Nov 1, 2019 19:11:16 GMT
This should be required Halloween viewing every year! 🎃 I had no idea it was even Halloween-related when I saw it for the first time earlier this year. mattgarth Wow! Theatre goers really got some big bang for their buck that night!
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Post by TheGoodMan19 on Nov 2, 2019 1:57:01 GMT
Mortimer Brewster: The name Brewster is code for Roosevelt. Teddy Brewster: Code for Roosevelt? Mortimer Brewster: Yes. Don't you see? Take the name Brewster, take away the B, and what have you got? Teddy Brewster: Rooster! Mortimer Brewster: Uh-huh. And what does a rooster do? Teddy Brewster: Crows. Mortimer Brewster: It crows. And where do you hunt in Africa? Teddy Brewster: On the veldt! Mortimer Brewster: There you are: crows - veldt! Teddy Brewster: Ingenious! My compliments to the boys in the code department.
Uncle Teddy is one of my all time favorite characters. CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGE
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Post by marshamae on Nov 2, 2019 2:05:42 GMT
John Alexander who played Teddy on broadway and in tge film, is a cincinnati boy, born across tge river in Newport. He has a great many broadway credits including Petrified forest, Born Yesterday, morning at seven, ...
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