The lace isn't the only old thing here

Normally I try to use this space to discuss the behind-the-scenes of classic movies or focus on the characters in one of the movies. But today I will express my severe displeasure with a movie that has not aged well.

A few months ago I was flipping through the channels. I stopped at TCM, like I usually do, just to see if I recognize the movie and if I do then I decide if it is worth watching more than 5 minutes. This time I saw Peter Lorre on the screen with Cary Grant. I was intrigued and watched some more. I dislike coming into a movie in its middle, so I decided to switch the channel. Once I found that there was nothing else on, I went to my computer and found out that the movie I had seen was Arsenic and Old Lace (1944).

Much to my disappointment, when I recently saw the full movie, I had seen the best part of the movie where theater critic Cary Grant explains to Peter Lorre’s Dr. Einstein about a terrible play he had recently saw in which what happened to the main character in that play was occurring at that exact same time to Cary Grant. It was the biggest highlight of a movie that has aged poorly.

It appears that the actors have tried too hard to be zany. Cary Grant acts just like he does in Monkey Business (1952) or His Girl Friday (1940), yet there is something in these Howard Hawks movies that has aged better than what he does in Frank Capra’s Old Lace. Peter Lorre is always a terrific actor, probably the most underrated in movie history because he was a character actor and not a star. He excels here, but there aren’t many other highlights. Raymond Massey is interesting as Cary Grant’s disfigured brother. But in the stage version, Boris Karloff had the part. Since there are numerous references to Massey looking like Karloff, it would have been much funnier had Karloff been in the part. As it is, the make-up on Massey does make the two seem similar.

The two old aunts are interesting for a bit. Their act of complete innocence while killing old men is funny for the first hour. Unfortunately the movie is almost two hours and they two aunts lose their luster as they aren’t well drawn characters. I won’t even begin to talk about how bad Priscilla Lane’s performance looks 60 years after the movie was originally released.

Overall, there is enough talent in the movie to make it work. The Twins, who wrote Casablanca (1942), could certainly write. Frank Capra could direct. Lane, Massey, Lorre and Grant could all act. They just haven’t aged well and that is unfortunate for modern audiences. As good as the Twins and Capra are, I kind of wish the movie had been written by Ben Hecht or made by Billy Wilder or Howard Hawks because their movies have stood the test of time. Obviously, at the time the movie was made no one involved in production was making it so that the movie could be enjoyable over 60 years later. They were contract players working on another movie, trying to give their best. I’m sure they gave it and the 1946 audience appreciated it. I just wish I could.