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WARNER BROTHERS PRESENTS
ARSENIC
AND OLD LACE (1944)
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ARSENIC
AND OLD LACE (1944) Warner Brothers. Produced by Howard
Lindsay and Russell Crouse. Directed by Frank Capra.
Based on the play by Joseph Kesselring, which closed in
1944 after a 3 ½ year run. Screenplay by Julius J.
Epstein and Philip G. Epstein. Music by Max Steiner.
Musical Direction by Leo F. Forbstein. Orchestral
Arrangements by Hugo Friedhofer. Edited by Daniel
Mandell. 118 min. |
| John Ridgely (Saunders), Vaughan Glaser (Judge Cullman), Chester Clute (Doctor Gilchrist), Charles Lane (Reporter), Edward McWade (Gibbs), Leo White (Man in Phone Booth), Spencer Charters (Marriage License Clerk), Hank Mann (Photographer), Lee Phelps (Umpire), Spec O’Donnell (Groom). | |
| Made in 1941 and not released until September of 1944, when the original Broadway play finally ran it’s course, ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (the movie version) was the brainchild of director Frank Capra, who had joined the U.S. Signal Corps just months before America declared war on Japan. Since he would not be needed for several months for duty, Capra thought that, perhaps, he could squeeze in one more feature production before he was called into active service. Having seen the play on Broadway, he felt that the movie could be filmed quickly and efficiently, since the whole play takes place on one set. The play had starred horror film great Boris Karloff as Jonathan Brewster. Capra inquired who in the original cast would be available to appear in the Hollywood movie version. Unfortunately, Karloff couldn’t travel west due to the importance of his name value in the play. |  |
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| However, it turned out that Jean Adair, Josephine Hull, and John Alexander were all owed a four week vacation and were available to play their roles of Aunt Abby, Aunt Martha, and Uncle Teddy. As luck would have it, Jack Warner owned the movie rights to the property, and Capra had just finished one picture (“Meet John Doe”) under his two-picture deal with Warner Brothers. The part that Cary Grant eventually played, Mortimer Brewster, was originally portrayed by character actor Allyn Joslyn, whose characterization was far different from Cary Grant’s rather over-the-top performance, where he does about fifty double-takes per minute! Of course, Grant’s role was expanded in the filmed version, while the role essayed by Karloff on Broadway would be shortened a tad. | ||
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Since
Karloff was not available, the studio signed movie
veteran Raymond Massey, a specialist in character roles
such as “Abe Lincoln in Illinois”, “Santa
Fe Trail” (both 1940), who was incidentally made up
to look exactly like Karloff (there are several
references to Karloff in the finished product). Filming was done in a mere four weeks so that the three Broadway stars could return to their respective parts, where the stage version ran another 1,300 performances. Although in later years, Cary Grant displayed displeasure with his hysterical performance, in which he basically chews up the scenery, critics like Edwin Schallert of the Los Angeles Times wrote, “Capra has left the play pretty well intact – in fact, more so than the previous adaptations, which he embellished with special social significance. More is made of the Grant character than on the stage. Indeed, he carries this picture with pantomime, facial expressions and a wild sort of farcical delivery of lines. He is an expert at that.” |
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| Of course, there were some changes from play to film version. Edward Everett Horton’s character (Mr. Witherspoon), who runs Happydale Sanitarium, was eventually disposed of in the play version, because the two aunts had found out that he was a lonely bachelor. After preview audiences viewed the film, it was back to the drawing board because the public couldn’t handle seeing dear old Edward Everett Horton’s character poisoned! Another alteration occurs at the very end, when Mortimer harkens that he’s “not a Brewster – I’m a son of a sea cook!” The original line was “I’m not a Brewster, I’m a bastard!” It was changed for obvious reasons, namely the Production Code. According to those who were fortunate enough to see the original Broadway version, the saddest omission comes at the final curtain call, when all the performers take their bows. After that was all over, the cellar door opens and a dozen of the so-called “Yellow Fever victims” arise from their graves and take bows, which resulted in uproarious laughter from the audience. It seems a shame that the movie version couldn’t have used their imagination by utilizing this superb bit during the final credits | ||||
