A newlywed drama critic discovers his sweet, beloved aunts have a habit of poisoning lonely gentlemen and burying them in the cellar.
On his wedding day, drama critic Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant) stops by the home of his charming aunts, Abby (Josephine Hull) and Martha (Jean Adair). His visit takes a horrific turn when he discovers a dead body hidden in their window seat. He soon learns the shocking truth: his darling aunts have been performing a “charity” by serving lonely old men elderberry wine laced with arsenic. The situation spirals into chaos with the arrival of Mortimer’s criminally insane brother, Jonathan (Raymond Massey), who has a dead body of his own and a sycophantic accomplice in Dr. Einstein (Peter Lorre).
One of the great black comedies, this Frank Capra film adapts the long-running Broadway smash into a masterclass of macabre farce. The screenplay by Julius J. and Philip G. Epstein traps its sane protagonist in a house of escalating madness, forcing Cary Grant into a performance of sustained, frantic desperation as he attempts to manage his homicidal family and conceal the mounting body count. Though filmed in 1941, the picture’s release was delayed until the stage play closed, but its manic energy and perfectly constructed gags remain timeless.
Production Co: Warner Bros. / 118 minutes / 1944
Director: Frank Capra
Screenplay: Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein
Cinematography: Sol Polito
Main Cast: Cary Grant (Mortimer Brewster), Priscilla Lane (Elaine Harper), Josephine Hull (Abby Brewster), Jean Adair (Martha Brewster), Raymond Massey (Jonathan Brewster), Peter Lorre (Dr. Einstein), Jack Carson (O’Hara), Edward Everett Horton (Mr. Witherspoon)
