ARSENIC AND OLD LACE: This Will Do

ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (DVD)

1944 / 118 min

Warner Bros

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Mr. Paws😽

For a long time, Frank Capra’s Arsenic and Old Lace was on my dreaded List of Shame…classic films I’m ashamed to admit I haven’t yet seen. I always meant to get around to it, being something of a latent Cary Grant fan, especially the thrillers he did with Alfred Hitchcock.

But Grant was also one of those great Hollywood actors who was equally at home in many genres, including screwball comedies. Bringing Up Baby and The Philadelphia Story are a couple of his best ones, of course, and I was confident that Arsenic and Old Lace was probably worth putting the Criterion Collection Blu-ray in my Amazon cart sight unseen. Being directed by Frank Capra, how could it not be?

And there it stayed among the floral shelf liners, coloring books & suncatchers my wife had sitting in the same cart...for months. I still haven’t ordered it, and after finally watching Arsenic and Old Lace on this DVD re-issue from Warner Bros, I’m glad I waited. 

Not that it’s a bad movie by any stretch. This farcical comedy of murder and madness on Halloween night is pretty fun. Grant plays Mortimer, a just-married theater critic whose family has a history of insanity, such as a brother who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt, and another brother, Jonathan (Raymond Massey), who’s wanted by the police. Worse yet, Mortimer discovers his kindly aunts, Abby and Martha (Josephine Hull & Jean Adair), have a body stashed in the family home, who they cheerfully admit to killing.

"You win...I saw him blink."

But they don’t consider it murder. They simply wanted to free the man of his loneliness. In fact, Abby and Martha have previously freed 11 other men from their loneliness. To protect them, Mortimer has a plan to have “Teddy” committed to a mental asylum. That way, if the bodies are discovered, Teddy’s insanity could explain everything. But at the worst possible time, Jonathan returns home with a dead body of his own, Mr. Spenalzo, whom he just murdered. Assisted by his alcoholic plastic surgeon, Dr. Einstein (Peter Lorre), Jonathan also plans to stash the body in the house.

An amusing chain of events unfolds, with increasingly panicky Mortimer caught in the middle, when all he wanted to do was go honeymooning with his new bride, Elaine (Priscilla Lane). It’s all fairly funny - sometimes laugh-out-loud funny - but I don’t feel this one ranks among Cary Grant’s greatest comedies. While the combination of clever and broad comedy is certainly enjoyable, and the ensemble cast has a lot of fun in their roles, Arsenic and Old Lace is a little too long and never really escapes its stage origins.

Still, I scratched another movie off my List of Shame, and didn’t need to invest in the pricey Criterion Collection edition to do it. This DVD doesn’t boast any bonus features, nor has the film been given any technical upgrades. But at least it’s back in print at a reasonable price, and for a classic that I consider good but not great, this'll do. Perhaps it will for some of you, too.

Meet MR. LUCKY

MR. LUCKY (Blu-ray)

1943 / 100 min

From Warner Archive Collection

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Mr. Paws😺

It seems like quite a few Cary Grant movies have been getting upgraded lately. One of the all-time great thrillers, North by Northwest, recently got a masterful 4K restoration, as did the 1942 comic-mystery The Talk of the Town. Lesser known than those two classics is Mr. Lucky, a charming romantic comedy featuring Grant doing what he does best…which is being Cary Grant.

During World War II, fast-talking gambler/conman Joe Adams (Grant) is trying to avoid the draft while looking to get-hold of quick cash for his casino ship, which is docked in New York. He assumes the identity of one of his dead partners, becoming Joe Bascopoulos, but is unsuccessful raising money. Then he meets Dorothy Bryant (Laraine Day), who’s in charge of a war relief organization. Joe proposes putting together a charity casino night for an upcoming fundraiser, in which he and his boys would provide the games and equipment with the promise of raising thousands of dollars. In reality, he plans on absconding with the winnings afterwards. 

"You might wanna wait a few minutes before going in there."

Dorothy is reluctant and suspicious at first, but Joe endears himself to her colleagues…and eventually Dorothy herself, despite learning - from her overprotective grandfather - that “Joe Bascopoulos” is a career criminal one step away from being sent away for life. Of course, the two fall for each other, and after hearing of the tragedy that the real Bascopoulos’ Greek family endured during a Nazi invasion, Joe has second thoughts about his scheme. Meanwhile, Joe’s disgruntled ex-partner, Zepp (Paul Stewart), has plans of his own, which involves setting Joe up to go to prison while making off with the $200,000 in casino earnings.

Mr. Lucky immediately establishes a light, breezy tone, with amusing dialogue and playful performances. Grant is…well, Cary Grant, which is just the type of persona Joe needs to make him lovable, even when he’s swindling others (most of them actually deserve to be duped). As Dorothy, Day is lovely and engaging, first as a funny foil, then as Joe’s (sort-of) partner-in-crime. Also enjoyable is Alan Carney as “Crunk,” Joe’s beleaguered right-hand man forced to take up crochet on his boss’ behalf (a great running gag).

The story is needlessly protracted during the final act, with a comparatively serious (and violent) clash between Joe and Zepp, as well as a bit more melodrama then the film really needed. But until then, Mr. Lucky offers plenty of fast-paced, fast-talking fun. Though not one of Cary Grant’s more iconic roles, he’s nevertheless in fine form here.

EXTRA KIBBLES

2 RADIO BROADCASTS - Lux Radio Theater with Cary Grant & Laraine Day; Screen Director’s Playhouse with Cary Grant and H.C. Potter.

TRAILER