WATCH OUT FOR SPOILERS!
“Morbid Surprise”
- Arsenic and Old Lace -
In Frank Capra’s brilliant black comedy ARSENIC AND OLD LACE, protagonist Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant) discovers his aunts are not who he thought they were. In this scene he accidentally finds a body in their window seat. He initially thinks his brother Teddy (who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt) did it, but is stunned to learn that his aunts know all about it. They explain to him that this is merely one of their charities. They have developed the habit of ending the lives of presumed sufferers by serving them elderberry wine spiked with arsenic, strychnine and just a pinch of cyanide. The bodies are buried in the basement by Teddy, who thing the bodies are victims of the yellow fever. Only a master as Capra could turn the taboo subject of mercy killing into something so wonderful. Grant is brilliant in the role of Brewster. His facial expressions alone are worth watching this. This is how black comedy should be done.
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In Frank Capra’s brilliant black comedy ARSENIC AND OLD LACE, protagonist Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant) discovers his aunts are not who he thought they were. In this scene he accidentally finds a body in their window seat. He initially thinks his brother Teddy (who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt) did it, but is stunned to learn that his aunts know all about it. They explain to him that this is merely one of their charities. They have developed the habit of ending the lives of presumed sufferers by serving them elderberry wine spiked with arsenic, strychnine and just a pinch of cyanide. The bodies are buried in the basement by Teddy, who thing the bodies are victims of the yellow fever. Only a master as Capra could turn the taboo subject of mercy killing into something so wonderful. Grant is brilliant in the role of Brewster. His facial expressions alone are worth watching this. This is how black comedy should be done.
MORTIMER BREWSTER: When the curtain goes up the first thing you see is a dead body.
