“Arsenic and Old Lace” quotes
(1944)
Frank Capra
directed this movie
in 1944
Title Arsenic and Old Lace
Year 1944
Director Frank Capra
Genre Comedy, Crime, Romance, Thriller
Year 1944
Director Frank Capra
Genre Comedy, Crime, Romance, Thriller
Plot – Former bachelor Mortimer Brewster visits her aunts Abby and Martha to tell them about his marriage. He discovers that they help people to leave their life happily, making them drink an elderberry wine laced with a mixture of poisons, then their brother Teddy buries the corpses in Panama Canal. Determined to put an end to this madness, Mortimer will try to intern Teddy, but he's obstructed by Jonathan, a murderer and Mortimer's brother, and by his trusty friend Dr. Einstein.
All actors – Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey, Jack Carson, Edward Everett Horton, Peter Lorre, James Gleason, Josephine Hull, Jean Adair, John Alexander, Grant Mitchell, Edward McNamara, Garry Owen, John Ridgely, Vaughan Glaser, Chester Clute, Charles Lane, Edward McWade, Spencer Charters, Sol Gorss, Herbert Gunn, Roland Jones, Hank Mann, Spec O'Donnell, Lee Phelps, Don Phillips, Raymond Walburn, Leo White, Jean Wong
show all“Arsenic and Old Lace” Quotes 22 quotes
“- Reverend Harper: Have you ever tried to persuade him that he wasn't Teddy Roosevelt?
- Martha Brewster: Oh no, he's so happy being Teddy Roosevelt.”“- Mortimer Brewster: You mean you knew what you'd done and you didn't want the Reverend Harper to see the body?
- Abby Brewster: Not at tea. That wouldn't have been very nice.”“- Jonathan Brewster: If you tell O'Hara what's in the window seat, I'll tell him what's in the cellar.
- Mortimer Brewster: Cellar?
- Jonathan Brewster: There's an elderly gentleman down there who seems to be very dead.”“This is developing into a very bad habit! I don't know if I can explain it to you. It's not only against the law, it's wrong!”
“Insanity runs in my family... it practically gallops.”
“- Dr. Einstein: Why did you kill that man? He was being nice to us and gave us a ride.
- Jonathan Brewster: He said I looked like Boris Karloff!”“Certainly there are thirteen bodies in the cellar and there are hundreds more in the attic!”
“They're two of the dearest, sweetest, kindest, old ladies that ever walked the Earth. They're out of this world. They're like, they're like pressed rose leaves.”
“This is the home of my youth... as a boy, I couldn't wait to escape from this house. Now, I'm glad to escape back into it.”
“- Mortimer Brewster: Wait outside.
- Dr. Gilchrist: But it's Halloween!
- Mortimer Brewster: Don't worry about Halloween. The pixies won't be out till after midnight”“When Johnny's in that mood, he's a madman! He's a maniac! And then things happen. Horrible things...”
“You wouldn't want to have children with three heads, would you? I mean, you wouldn't want to set up housekeeping in a padded cell. Oh, it would be bad.”
“We were married today. We were going over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Your brother tries to kill me. A taxi is waiting and now you want to sleep on a window seat. You can take the honeymoon, your wedding ring, your taxi, your window seat, and put them in a barrel and push them all over Niagara Falls!”
“- Abby Brewster: Just the thought of Jonathan frightens me. Do you remember how he used to cut worms in half with his teeth?
- Mortimer Brewster: He's probably in prison or hanged or something by now.”“- Elaine Harper: But Mortimer, you're going to love me for my mind, too.
- Mortimer Brewster: One thing at a time!”“At least people in plays act like they've got sense.”
“I've got the two nicest aunts in the world. Of course, you've got the nicest nephew in the world, too.”
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