Holistic Psychiatry Toronto

Arsenic and Old Lace

"Insanity runs in my family. Practically gallops ..."

Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant) in "Arsenic and Old Lace."

In these times, can still be a crazy and force breakneck black comedy filmed in the 40's? We believe so and we will try to explain why ...

"Arsenic and Old Lace" ( Frank Capra, 1944) represents a milestone in the sort of mess that grew out of the theatrical script namesake American playwright Joseph Kesselring . The big screen adaptation was the work of the twins Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein won an Oscar for the screenplay of "Casablanca" ( Michael Curtiz, 1942) and mentioned recently on this blog about the review of "The Last Time I Saw Paris" ( Richard Brooks, 1954).

Julius (left) and Philip Epstein

The soundtrack is the work of Max Steiner , and provides a cushion Music to an action, thrilling and crazy, that just gives respite to the viewer. Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant , an atypical role, forced overacting) is an attractive theater critic that despite publicly ranting against marriage in his most famous writings married the lovely Elaine Harper ( Priscilla Lane), daughter of Reverend Harper severe ( Grant Mitchell).

Mortimer and Elaine, happy couple ...

The Reverend and his daughter live in a rectory attached to the church and the old cemetery in Brooklyn , whose first tomb dating from the seventeenth century, the era in which the pilgrims of the Mayflower arrived at New World. The mansion was built in 1694 Brewster, near the ancient cemetery. Several gravestones are the name of deceased members of this family of pioneers. As an anecdote, we note that one of the signers of the Mayflower Compact called (1620) named William Brewster ...

To move a mansion Mortimer excited to tell the good news to its venerable Abby aunts (Josephine Hull ) and Martha ( Jean Adair), a cheerful old ladies who were in charge of education and upbringing of Mortimer and his quirky friends, the crazy "Teddy Roosevelt" ( John Alexander ) and the haunting Jonathan (Raymond Massey .)

VERSUS EUTHANASIA MURDER ...

Occasionally our consciences awakened from their lethargy hit by terrible news that show us how some heartless, often caregivers for elderly in nursing homes or residences seniors, become the executioners of the helpless victims whose care and welfare had been entrusted to them.

In Spain, the most recent case is that of Joan Vila , the ruthless warden of geriatric The Caritat of Olot (Girona ), which settled to 11 elderly "he believed and wanted." None of them had requested euthanasia. In the UK, another notorious murderer was the macabre Dr. Harold Shipman, who employed an overdose of morphine to eliminate many of their patients, usually women over 75 living alone.

Well, long before the two criminals begin their despicable deeds in the amiable fiction film Brewster sisters were engaged to give the passport to the afterlife and lonely older men who came to home fooled by an innocent lineup of bed and breakfasts.

Mortimer chatting with her aunts Martha and Abby

POISONING ...

Following his own testimony, the terrible little old ladies used a deadly cocktail of arsenic based , jimson and "a pinch" of cyanide , all conveniently will guide in a harmless elderberry wine , they elaborated and aged person. Liquor used for not getting proper camouflage poisons in the area, because it provided a particularly nasty taste ...

The old kept the hats of his victims in a cupboard while the corpses were buried in the basement for the Oddball Teddy, who in his delirium he thought he was giving burial to the victims of an epidemic of yellow fever triggered during construction the famous Panama Canal .

Arsenic is often used as a rodenticide . Just recall that acute oral ingestion of this substance is associated with gastrointestinal symptoms (burning in the mouth, nausea and vomiting) and neurological (encephalopathy, seizures and coma). To be a very powerful poison can also be fatal. The antidote of choice is dimercaprol.


Another chronic poisoning by sustained exposure to arsenic causes hemolytic anemia (destruction of red blood cells), toxic nephropathy, also affecting the skin and nervous system .


Regarding the jimson weed, the plant Datura stramonium contains all parts (especially leaves and seeds) a lot of rich alkaloids atropine , scopolamine and hioscinamina . His intoxication causes anticholinergic syndrome with urinary retention, blurred vision, dry mouth, nausea, vomiting, tachycardia, hypertension, convulsions, delirium, coma and even death. These effects can be reversed, under strict hospital control, using physostigmine .

Finally, Cyanide inhibits the cytochrome oxidase complex , altering cellular respiration and preventing oxygen carrying red blood cells to reach other body cells. Industrial use is diverse and widespread, in the Jewish Holocaust during World War II was employed by the Nazis in gas chambers in the form of hydrogen cyanide or Zyklon B . Suicide or criminal purposes, has been used orally in the form of cyanide salts. His can cause acute poisoning from a box consisting of mild headache, dizziness, muscle weakness, dyspnea, chest pain and seizures, to a more severe in the Breathing becomes irregular, with mydriasis and progressive body cooling. It is characteristic of this poisoning a strong smell of bitter almonds .




cinephilia

• This film has a valuable list of supporting actors and actresses, among which are the interpreters of the ineffective police the neighborhood, Sergeant Brophy ( Edward McNamara) and O'Hara agent (Jack Carson ). Both look on his uniform the insignia of the police 69 of New York, which today continues to provide its services in Brooklyn.

Brophy and O'Hara struggle with Jonathan Brewster

• The villain of the film is Jonathan Brewster, a psychopathic murderer who has left the world littered with corpses, from Australia to the U.S. . His angular face is furrowed with terrible scars, frustrated plastic surgery to make it unrecognizable to justice. His partner is Dr. Einstein pusillanimous (Peter Lorre impeccable), which claims to have successfully graduated in Medicine from the University of Heidelberg ...

Peter Lorre, a classic ...

• The actor, an icon of horror and mystery, played throughout his prolific career various roles of physicians upset, as this disturbing Dr. Gogol of "The Mad Love" ( Karl Freund, 1935) ...

• Other notable supporting players for their generous contribution to the success of this film are Edward Everett Horton as Mr. Witherspoon , James Gleason as Lt. Rooney lean and Garry Owen driver embodying the suffering that never comes to collect his last race ...

• Following notes Gregory Belinchón accompanying the careful edition DVD of this film, funded in Spain by El Pais and Telefónica , we discovered that Frank Capra shot the film in record time in the studios of Warner in Burbank (California ). The set design team built the mansion where the sets of Brewster, emptied on them countless bags of dried leaves fanning with powerful fans, and built a miniature of the famous Brooklyn Bridge to give greater credibility.

• Capra chose Josephine Hull and Jean Adair to portray the Brewster sisters. Both actresses represented on Broadway scenarios dear old ladies the killer. Were "borrowed" by the theatrical producer during their 4 weeks holiday, to act in the film.

• However, the filmmaker had to make do with Raymond Massey in the role of the evil Jonathan. Boris Karloff himself was the actor playing this character on Broadway, but the draconian conditions of his contract prevented that act in the film. Massey special characterization with bulky scars on the face, gave him an uncanny resemblance to the protagonist of "Frankenstein" ( James Whale, 1931). In several scenes constantly referred to this circumstance ...

Boris Karloff, Frankenstein unforgettable

• The $ 100,000 collected by Cary Grant as wages in this movie were donated entirely by the actor to a charitable trust for war ...

• One of the headstones of the cemetery in Brooklyn decrepit refers to a certain Archie Leach, the real Cary Grant's name before buying an American citizen ....

• Before succeeding as an artist in Hollywood , Cary Grant lived a turbulent life as a comedian in the league. On one occasion, suffered a rheumatic fever that kept him away from the stage for some time. And it was the actress Jean Adair responsible for their care ...