Arsenic and Old Lace is a play by American playwright Joseph Kesselring, written in 1939. It has become best known through the 1944 film adaptation starring Cary Grant and directed by Frank Capra. The play was produced by Lindsay and Crouse and directed by Bretaigne Windust, and opened on Broadway at the Fulton Theatre on January 10, 1941. On September 25, 1943, the play moved to the Hudson Theatre, closing there on June 17, 1944, having played 1,444 performances. The West End production – directed by Marcel Varnel and produced at London's Strand Theatre – enjoyed a similarly long run. Opening on December 23, 1942, and closing on March 2, 1946, it totalled 1,337 performances. Of the 12 plays written by Kesselring, Arsenic and Old Lace was by far the most successful.
Adaptations (4)
Arsenic and Old Lace has been adapted into 4 films, from 1944 to 1975. The most recent is Arszenik i stare koronki (1975).
Arsenic and Old Lace1944 · film · 118 min · dir. Frank Capra · IMDb ↗IMDb7.986%Mortimer Brewster, a newspaper drama critic, playwright, and author known for his diatribes against marriage, suddenly falls in love and gets married; but when he makes a quick trip home to tell his two maiden aunts, he finds out his aunts' hobby - killing lonely old men and burying them in the cellar!
Arsenic and Old Lace? · film · 90 min · dir. Robert Scheerer · IMDb ↗IMDb6.9A drama critic learns on his wedding day that his beloved maiden aunts are homicidal maniacs, and that insanity runs in his family.
