Arsenic and Old Lace: 80 Years On
Celebrating Frank Capra's cosy screwball black comedy about serial killers, insanity, and murder
At this time of year, Frank Capra’s most famous film, It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), is rightly celebrated. However, I have a tradition of viewing another of Capra’s masterpieces during the Christmas season: His darkly hilarious 1944 screwball comedy Arsenic and Old Lace, currently celebrating its 80th anniversary. Although this is set during Halloween, because I typically watch it around December, I never think of it as a Halloween film, despite the macabre subject matter.
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