This is a sensational adaptation of Kesselring's novel hit smash playwright, filmed in 1941 but shown in 1944 .This madcap and frenetic comedy concerns a couple justly married , Mortimer Brewster (Gary Grant) and his wife (Pricilla Lane) . They go home two old aunts , two apparently kind ladies (Josephine Hull , Jean Adair) who poison single old men and bury the bodies into their basement that is also used as place of Canal Panama by a nutty tenant who believes to be Theodore Roosevel (John Alexander). Meanwhile , there appears Jonathan (Raymond Massey) , a Boris Karloff-alike and a doctor (Peter Lorre), plastic surgeon , as a Dr. Frankenstein-alike . Besides , a police officer (Jack Carson) and later a lieutenant (James Gleason) enter at the household and the things go wrong for Mortimer.
This is one of the best black comedies of all time with dark humor , frantic situations and awesome performances . Top-notch Gary Grant , he gives an authentic recital, he puts faces , grimaces , and overacting but he's splendid. Raymond Massey and Peter Lorre in sinister roles are magnificent. Excellent the sweet spinster aunts , Hull and Adair , repeating their Broadway acting , equally John Alexander as the insane cousin with trumpet included . Furthermore , agreeable secondary role by the usual Edward Everett Horton who is in charge of a mental hospital . The film is well adapted by Julius and Philip Epstein - Casablanca's screenwriters- . Adequate musical score by the classic composer Max Steiner and atmospheric cinematography by Sol Polito. The pic was perfectly directed by the master Frank Kapra who previously got a lot of experience in silent comedy and slapstick vein , working for Mack Sennett and Harry Langdon. Also exhibited in horrible computer colored adaptation . It's a must-see for classic movies buffs and Gary Grant fans.
This is one of the best black comedies of all time with dark humor , frantic situations and awesome performances . Top-notch Gary Grant , he gives an authentic recital, he puts faces , grimaces , and overacting but he's splendid. Raymond Massey and Peter Lorre in sinister roles are magnificent. Excellent the sweet spinster aunts , Hull and Adair , repeating their Broadway acting , equally John Alexander as the insane cousin with trumpet included . Furthermore , agreeable secondary role by the usual Edward Everett Horton who is in charge of a mental hospital . The film is well adapted by Julius and Philip Epstein - Casablanca's screenwriters- . Adequate musical score by the classic composer Max Steiner and atmospheric cinematography by Sol Polito. The pic was perfectly directed by the master Frank Kapra who previously got a lot of experience in silent comedy and slapstick vein , working for Mack Sennett and Harry Langdon. Also exhibited in horrible computer colored adaptation . It's a must-see for classic movies buffs and Gary Grant fans.