Arsenic and Old Lace

Cary Grant delivers a high-velocity comedic tour de force in this wickedly macabre masterpiece of Golden Age farce. On the very day of his wedding, celebrated drama critic and bachelor-advocate Mortimer Brewster (Grant) returns home to discover a shocking secret: his two beloved, saintly maiden aunts have been “charitably” poisoning lonely old men with elderberry wine laced with arsenic. As Mortimer’s sanity begins to unravel, he must navigate a house overflowing with eccentric relatives—including a brother who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt and a sinister, murderous sibling returning from the shadows. Every scene crackles with Capra’s signature pacing and a dark, sophisticated wit that balances the grotesque with the hilarious. A lightning-fast exploration of family madness and matrimonial chaos, the film remains a sharp, unforgettable powerhouse that defines the peak of Warner Bros. cinematic craftsmanship.