Mortimer Brewster: "Aunt Abbey, how can I believe you? There are 12 men in the cellar and you admit you poisoned them!" Abbey Brewster: "Yes, I did, but you don't think I would stoop to telling a fib!"
Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant) is a theatre critic by profession and unrepentant bachelor by conviction. And of course when you are utterly and unwaveringly convinced not to be married, the only certain thing to happen is to be married. So, he is getting married to his neighbour's daughter, Elaine Harper (Priscilla Lane) and togetheras newly weds, go to Brooklyn where the bride visits her father's house and Mortimer goes to the house next door, in which his two benevolent aunts, that raised Mortimer, reside with one of his brothers, who thinks is Theodore Roosevelt, to announce the happy event.
But what we learn is that mentality is not a strong point in Brewster's family. In a series of hilarious scenes is revealed that apart from Mortimer's brother, that believes he is Theodore Roosevelt (each time he goes upstairs, he yells "Charge" as the real Theodore Roosevelt had done in a battle), the aunts have some mental and psychological issues, as well.
These two sweet and have murdered (in the most methodical way) 12 men, as an act of philanthropy, to spare them from their loneliness. Luring them with a sign "Room to Let", offering them a wine, spiced with arsenic and a bit of cyanide for the taste and after the death, burying them in the basement. (Well, not them exactly, but "Theodore Roosevelt" who believes that he is digging the Panama Canal) Things getting weirder, when the other brother of Mortimer, a maniac and serial killer, Jonathan Brewster, arrives in their aunts' house, in an attempt to hide himself from the police that is after him. Together with Jonathan comes Dr. Einstein (Peter Lorre)-did you notice the name?-, a plastic surgeon who has "crafted" a new face for Jonathan, making him look like Frankstein or Boris Carloff (he can't really remember the face that inspired him)Mortimer Brewster: Insanity runs in my family... it practically gallops.
But let's not forget: it is a Frank Capra movie and that means that in the end everything is going to be fine, one way or another. Our hero will be saved not by deus ex machina, but by the same absurd story that brought his despair.
It was the theatrical play of Joseph Kesselring, that drew the attention of Frank Capra. The plot has something of a gothic atmosphere. The characters qre hilarious, extravagant. Both of them created the yeast of this divine black comedy that Frank Capra directed with gusto and mastery. Clearly a black comedy, that borrowed elements of comic violence (slapstick comedies) and the absurdity and outrageousness of screwball comedies.
Frank Capra and Cary Grant on the set
Capra directs this film as he would direct a theatrical play. The whole action is set in one room, but it makes you feel that in this room happen much more than in the entire world. The cinematography is genius, exploiting every possible angle to get the feeling that we move in more spaces that one room. Capra is an experienced director and can effortessly bring the desirable effect in his scenes. He doesn't need to stop the scene to sxplain what is happening, he doesn't have to use any cheap tricks or twist to achieve the laughter of the viewer. The film is so fast-pacing, but there are no gaps, the dilaogues are splendid, witty and natural. All these lead to an amazing film...
But what is truly magnificent is Cary Grant. A great actor that wins your attention with his facial expression. He doesn't have to speak. No. Everything that is needed to understand what is happening is written all over his face. The terror when he discovers the body in the trunk, the panic when he realizes that everyone in his family are mentally ill, the surprise when he discovered what Panama Canal meant. Cary Grant's acting is one of a screwball comedy actor, looks like a cartoon, a goofball that is overeacting.My advice: WATCH IT!!! It's plain good cinema. Forget the part that is almost 80 years old, forget that it is black and white. You will laugh with tears in your eyes.
Fun Fact1: In the original theatrical play in the cast there was Boris Carloff that had the role of maniac Jonathan Brewster. He was supposed to play the same role in the film, but due to circumstances, the role was played by another actor. Anyway, Capra wanted to honor Boris Carloff (who played for the first time a comic character) and made the actor that played Jonathan Brewster had a face who might look like Boris Carloff -as Dr. Einstein, the plastic surgeon said in the movie.
Fun Fact2: The play was loosely based in the case of Amy Archer-Gilligan,that run a boarding house for the elderly and 66 people died in its premises.
Thanks for reading!
