Film 32 (9/24/2005)

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

Director: Frank Capra

Recommended by: Steve Magnum

Has Fentablar seen this before?: No.

Whoah! Talk about a movie that was a ton of fun and truly took me by surprise! Arsenic and Old Lace is a shockingly zany film filled with some major screwball characters who take you for a ride that's wilder than anything Mr. Toad has to offer. This film is Jack Kevorkian meets Leslie Nielson, and I've never seen anything like it before - in fact, I have serious doubts that such a film could be pulled off in today's world. Then again, I tend to think that about most Capra films.

Cary Grant is hilariously brilliant as Mortimer Brewster, a famous film critic and playboy who gets married in the film's opening, but equally delightful are Mortimer's aunts, Abby (Josephine Hull) and Martha (Jean Adair) - two lovable old women with a surprisingly humorous psychotic edge to them.

A wonderfully fun film and an absolute must-see in my opinion.

Ratings (scale of 1 to 5):

Plot Effectiveness: 5/5. What an original. This film should be preserved and protected from anyone trying to do a remake of it - it just could never be done as well as this.

Cinematography/Shot Selection: 5/5. Capra shows fairly consistent excellence in this category.

Overall Acting: 5/5. Chaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrge!

Score/Soundtrack: 4/5. The only category that I felt was not dead-on.

OVERALL RATING: 4.5/5

~Fentablar~