Arsenic and Old Lace
Posted by J on August 21, 2008
Arsenic and Old Lace is a fine example of artists trying to make humorous something inherently disturbing. 
The results, in this case, are several funny jokes and a weird tone throughout. An alien from outerspace, seeing this movie without cultural context, would have to admit that whatever mass audience enjoyed Arsenic obviously had very serious problems they weren’t admitting.
That’s because the content is very dark, even though it is played lightly. Mortimer Brewer has just gotten married. He is a drama critic who is publicly known for vilifying marriage, particularly in a book called “Marriage: A Fraud and a Failure.” On Brewer’s wedding day, as he prepares to leave for his honeymoon, he discovers that his two sweet old aunts are practicing euthanasia on old men and burying them in their basement. Shocked, Mortimer decides to place the blame for these murders on his insane cousin, who thinks that he’s Teddy Roosevelt. The plot is further complicated by the return of Brewer’s estranged brother, who looks like Boris Karloff and, we learn, is eager to extend his murdering ways to other people. The police should help with this mess, but they are too self-absorbed to notice crimes. In the end, Brewer is proud to learn that he is not related to his insane and criminal relatives. In the stage version he proclaims, “I’m not a Brewer! I’m a bastard!” though this line is modified in the movie.
The core of this movie is therefore the fact that two women in their sixties are euthanizing men. No matter how lighthearted this is made to appear — and Cary Grant tries his hardest to do so — the wide divide between style and content makes for a bizarre tone. The movie even spoofs depictions of the macabre, while at the same time being macabre, while at the same time incorporating slapstick. Sometimes this made us laugh, but most of the time it just made us wonder why murder is even considered funny.
Weird Factor: 10
