Arsenic and Old Lace | Blu-ray

The secret sauce of the screwball comedy era of Old Hollywood came from air-tight screenwriting. Without a script that keeps the plot humming along at a breakneck pace, all the slapstick and goofing tends to create a pace-less sort of feeling—big moments of humor jutting out from long stretches of meandering plotting.

For that reason, some of the very best screwball films come from the world of theater. A good play has to have high energy and meaningful dialogue or audiences will quickly fade. Arsenic and Old Lace was a sensational play before it ever hit the screen and that success shows through every minute of the run time.

Buoyed by the king of fast-talking, slapstick comedy, Carey Grant—and with wonderful villainous support from Raymond Massey and Peter Lorre—Frank Capra’s adaptation is just about the ideal expression of the artform. Two hours of non-stop jokes, macabre misadventure, and comic romance. An ideal viewing experience.

Special Features (via criterion.com)

• New, restored 4K digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• New audio commentary featuring Charles Dennis, author of There’s a Body in the Window Seat!: The History of “Arsenic and Old Lace”
• Radio adaptation from 1952 starring Boris Karloff
• Trailer
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by critic David Cairns