The film Poison and the Old Woman/ Arsenic and Spirits Arsenal and Old Lace (1944) British DVD cover
Poison and the Old Woman/Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) is an alternative Hollywood comedy by Frank Capra Frank Capr. This is a story about a big family of madmen, and this film also has a bit of a black, thriller color. The madmen in the film kill as usual, without the slightest pity.
Like traditional neuro-comedy films, the laughs in the play are misunderstandings, conflicts, and coincidences. It's a work of genius, the film's story is diverse, Frank Capra's directing technique is not inferior, and even has a certain tendency of "multi-threaded narrative", each character has a distinct personality, both nonsense and full of scheming tricks, Gary Grant's performance can be called "the originator of postmodernism", his performance in the film shows his comedic side, and his hard work also creates a lot of joyful laughs for the film.
On set in the film Poison and the Old Woman/Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), director Frank Capr (first from left) instructs the actors on how to move in a chair by Gary Grant Cary Grant
Taken together, these features made the comedy too outstanding at the time — and even today it's not outdated. So much so that American film critics particularly praised the film in the early 2000s, even more than they loved another of the director's films, It Happened One Night (1934).
In fact, "Poison and the Old Woman" is adapted from Joseph Kesselring's extremely popular Broadway stage play, and the original grotesque style of the play was written by Philip K. G. Epstein Philip G. Epstein and Julius J. Epstein Waslius J. Epstein was adapted, and Frank Capra made it into a film as early as 1941.
The reason why it was not released in that year was because it coincided with the beginning of World War II, and I was afraid that the content of "Poison and the Old Woman" had a negative impact on the hearts and minds of the people in the world, so it was delayed until 1944, when it was later in the War, when it was officially released.
This strangely conceived black comedy is not inherently toxic. Behind the fun, this film tells the desolate evening scene of the elderly who have no one to take care of them, death is their greatest relief, and killing people has become an expression of goodwill. The theme of the story is quite reflective.
Many film scholars see the period of the 1934-1940s, which coincides with the Golden Age of Hollywood, as the "Golden Age" of neurorecords. In 1934, "One Night" directed by Frank Capra opened the precedent of neurorecords in Hollywood for more than a decade, led the peak of neurorecord creation, and became a classic model for hundreds of romantic comedies in the 1930s and 1940s.
Stills from the film Poison and the Old Woman/ Arsenic and Old Lace (1944).
This narrative model of neuro-comedy became a model for hundreds of romantic comedies of the 1930s, notably Howard Hawks' Howard Hawks' Broking Up Baby (1938), Tabloid's Tabloid/Girlfriend Friday/Friday Girl Friday (1940), and War Bride/War Bride I Was a Male War Bride (1949), George W. Bush' Cook George Cukor's "Holiday Days" (1938) and "The Philadelphia Story" (1940), frank Capra's Mr. Diez Goes Into Town. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) and You Can't Take It with You (1938) and Mr. Smith to Washington. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) and Meet John Doe (1941).
A large number of neuro-comedies such as "The Awful Truth" (1937), "Baby-Rearing", "Unmarried Mother", "Philadelphia Story" and so on have become representative comedies in Hollywood classic genre films.
During this period, not only a large number of classic comedies were born, but also a large number of directors who were good at shooting neuro-comedies, in addition to the above-mentioned pioneers Frank Capra and Howard Hawkes, as well as some Ernst Liu Beiqian Ernst Lubitsch, George Cook and others who had become famous in the early silent film era.
As for the reasons for the rise of neurorecords, the traditional saying is that neurorecords satisfy the audience's escapist ideological tendencies. In addition, the "star system" is also an important reason for the prosperity of neuro-comedy. Neurorecords have spawned a cast of audience-favorite stars: Catherine Hepburn, Claude Colbert, Carol Lombard Carole Lombard, Gary Grant, James Stewart, Clark Gable, and others.
"Poison and the Old Woman" plot is crazy, set yin and yang, the ultimate game of co-governance, unreasonable and under-owed Luo Ji is its characteristics, it can be said that it broke through the moral standards of mainstream American films at that time.
Poster for the French version of the film Poison and the Old Woman/ Arsenic and Old Lace (1944).
The story tells the story of the well-known critic Mortimer Brewster (Gary Grant) and Elaine (Priscilla Lane) honeymoon, returning to their hometown to visit two lovely and innocent aunts (Josephine Hull and Jane Adele Jean Adair), who are transformed into serial murderers, poisoning the lonely old man who has been sleeping, and hiding their bodies in the family dungeon.
Unexpectedly, the long-lost criminal brother Jonathan Brewster (Raymond Massey) brings home a yin and yang plastic surgeon (Peter Lowe Lorre) and secretly transports a corpse to the house, so the body is littered, the police come to the house to greet, and the crazy people full of jokes run around the house.
At the end of the day, even Mortimer Brewster can't help but suspect that he has a crazy factor, climaxing in a scene with only one big house, and the dramatic tension is gradual, and it will become more and more lively until there is no cold field.
The conflict in this film is also set perfectly. The story always revolves around a main line, that is, the male protagonist critic Mortimer Brewster wants to cover up the truth about the murder of his aunts. Critic Mortimer Brewster wants to cover up the truth from his new wife, Elaine, the truth from the director of the mental hospital, and the truth from the police, making us all worry about the direction of the plot - will the truth be punctured?
The killing of the aunts is already a headache, and the appearance of the elder brother Jonathan Brewster makes the situation even more complicated. The elder brother Jonathan Brewster not only made it more difficult for the critic Mortimer Brewster to cover up the truth, but also added a new trouble — an extra corpse, which also made the critic Mortimer Brewster want to mix. Brother Jonathan Brewster, the police and, increasingly, people cover up increasingly complex truths.
By the time the aunts casually told the truth, the critic Mortimer Brewster had almost collapsed. In this way, the critic Mortimer Brewster, in a state of near-collapse, maneuvered between the police, the director of the mental hospital, his new wife Elaine, and so on, filling one loophole after another. These strong contradictions and conflicts make the content of the film wonderful.
Neuro-comedy is a genre film in which hearing is greater than vision, unlike action comedy in the silent film period. Most of the neuro-comedies are mainly dialogue, we know that the comedy with the stage as the performance center is known for dialogue, so it is deeply influenced by traditional drama, and the neural comedy also has a very distinctive, diverse and rich dialogue. Since most of these comedies are adapted from stage plays, the dialogue is dense and it is a kind of talking comedy. And the audience also enjoys enjoying the dialogue between the hero and heroine.
At that time, the audience's freshness of sound films had not faded, and they especially liked such dialogue-based films. On the other hand, the dialogue should not only be fast, but also long, uninterrupted and continuous, and the most important thing is that the dialogue of the characters should overlap when the communication is intense, that is, the words of two or more people overlap.
The film Poison and the Old Woman/ Arsenic and Spirits Arsenal and Old Lace (1944) is an American DVD cover
If lines are a limitation, then the improvisation of the actors is the surprise of the film. The main character in the neurorecord is the collaborator of the film, co-creating the film with the director, in stark contrast to the ruling Alfred Hitchcock.
So when the critic Mortimer Brewster inadvertently opens the coffin, the plot begins to unfold methodically, and the interesting dialogue begins to gush out of the mouths of the characters. As a more sober-minded protagonist, the critic Mortimer Brewster inevitably becomes the embodiment of the audience, guiding the development of the plot.
On the set of the film Poison and the Old Woman/Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), Gary Grant Raymond Massey and Peter Lowe Lorre chatted happily from left to right
So the protagonist who accidentally found the body is faced with the dilemma of how to solve the problem. In general, the murder plot is tense, but the film does the opposite, focusing on the calm nagging of the aunts. The unusual behavior of the aunts caught the audience off guard, the development of the plot completely violated the logic of life, and the development of the film was so absurd. Thus placing the critic Mortimer Brewster as the embodiment of the audience in a ridiculous scene, the stark contrast between helplessness and calmness creates a unique comedic effect.
If only the conditions of the murder are used to highlight the protagonist's panic, then it is bound to make the performance extremely exaggerated and uninteresting, without adding new creative elements, and the film will only become a farce. So after a brief flurry, the appearance of the murderer becomes a turning point and a catalyst for the farce to climax. The return of the murderer makes one murder case into two, and the plot becomes complicated, and how to use complex relationships to strengthen the dramatic conflict has become the focus of the film's development. In this regard, the film chose a single scene conflict method.
The use of a single scene to produce comedic effects can also be found in many later films, such as a hotel section of the French film "Tiger Mouth Escape La Grande vadrouille" (1966), Jackie Chan's "Plan A Sequel" (1987) A section of Maggie Cheung's home, Wang Jing's "Nine Pins of Sesame Officer's White Bread Blue Sky" (1994) a brothel section, etc. Can be seen, which can be described as tried and tested.
The filming method of "Poison and the Old Woman" is also very distinctive. When the critic Mortimer Brewster and his people were in the house, the light and the picture were normal shooting methods, but when the elder brother Jonathan Brewster appeared, the style of the film changed suddenly. As long as the elder brother Jonathan Brewster and the plastic surgeon appear alone, the light in the room is always dim, and the picture gives people a feeling of eerie and terrifying.
What impressed most was that the plastic surgeon in the basement discussed killing the critic Mortimer Brewster with his elder brother Jonathan Brewster, and for the elder brother Jonathan Brewster did not directly use the picture to show facial expressions, but used his shadow projected on the wall to express the emotions of the character.
This way of acting adds a noir, gloomy atmosphere to the film, and also shows the evil nature of the elder brother Jonathan Brewster. This shooting style of this film is very similar to the filming method of film noir, and it can be seen that Frank Capra is also a film child.
In terms of narrative mode, neuro-comedy evolved from ordinary romantic comedies, which follow the tradition, but it is also abnormal, and the absurd and bizarre narrative plot is undoubtedly an anti-tradition. The reason why neuro comedy is called crazy comedy is that this type of movie is full of madness and absurdity. However, absurdity is an abstract concept, but a certain feeling can be obtained through vision, especially when movies are more vivid than words. This type of work is more concerned with the integrity of the character.
Poster for the Swedish version of the film Poison and the Old Woman/ Arsenic and Old Lace (1944).
But all of these films' treatment of characters, social attitudes, and narrative patterns is formulaic, lacking similar pictorial symbols—scenes, costumes, and defined spaces—but they still have their own "most basic elements of planning, the pair of comedic characters in any social situation." ”
For example, in Frank Capra's "One Night Flow", two young men and women experience a long journey across the continent together during the economic depression. Two representatives of different economic and cultural environments are reunited in the final climax of the film. This kind of comedy often has an uncertain fictional space that works as a narrative space. Prominently, it is the unique American courtship style, and the plot and characters begin to appear in a confrontational narrative layout, combining burlesque and social satire to achieve the purpose of the effect of the theme.
All the weird behavior that occurs in Poison and the Old Woman points to a family—a family of two aunts, a brother, and the "President of the United States, who clearly has abnormal genes, presumably genetic psychosis." When I saw such an ending, I knew that it was "so it was". Through this film and other Frank Capra films, it is found that Frank Capra is indeed a ghost director, and his films always have rich points to watch, intriguing endings, and give people thoughts while laughing.
In general, "Poison and the Old Woman" will definitely not give you a chance to breathe, and I like to show exaggerated supporting characters very much, especially two lovely aunts who abducted a crazy brother (he called himself President Roosevelt) to dig a corpse hole for the victims of the Construction of the Bahamas Canal, not to mention his laughing sign, as for the Caiwuyuan police who wanted to go crazy to write the script, it made people squirt, but the criminal's brother Jonathan Brewster and the doctor seemed to be the most unnourished accessories. But they are the most organized people in the film, and such a character is not amazing?
On set in the film Poison and the Old Woman/Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), Gary Grant and actress Priscilla Lane
Of course, the actor Gali Grant's performance is more exciting, he should be the most normal person in the film, but he behaves more than everyone else, Gary Grant's performance is old-fashioned, modern audiences may feel exaggerated, but from this film can fully appreciate Gary Grant's early performance form - his other comedy film "Tabloid Trickster/ Girlfriend Friday/ Friday Girl Friday" (1940) is also in this form of performance.
The audience can pay special attention to Gary Grant's exaggerated facial expression and neurotic dynamics, unlike the late big lover image, Juggling-born Gary Grant is based on this performance in the early days of talented Hollywood successfully out of place, for today, the modern joker Kim Carey Jim Carrey may also have to bow to the wind, Gary Grant is also ten times more handsome than his handsome, so it is said that handsome guys always have the advantage of making comedy, Gary Grant has not won an Oscar, can only be said to be the regret of the Oscar.
Tape cover for the film Poison and the Old Woman Arsenal and Old Lace (1944).
[Gossip: Gary Grant has never seen Poison and the Old Woman]
At first, Gary Grant wanted to collaborate with legendary director Frank Capra on Poison and the Old Woman, which began filming in October 1941. But soon Gary Grant realized that Frank Capra was the one he would have a hard time working with because Frank Capra didn't allow his actors to have any improvisations. Gary Grant was forced to perform an exaggerated performance of the main character, Mortimer Brewster. He was also so unhappy with the film's ending that he never saw it.
Filming of Poison and the Old Woman ended on December 12, 1941, a few days after Pearl Harbor. Gary Grant donated all his film pay of $125,000 to the British relief organization and flew to England to prepare for military service, but was told to continue to do what he did best — acting in movies. Even after Gary Grant was granted U.S. citizenship in June 1946, the U.S. military refused to allow him to serve.
Director Frank Capr (first from right) discusses the script with Gary Grant in the interior studio of poison and the old woman Arsenal and Old Lace (1944), and in fact, judging from the photographs taken by the cinematographer at the time, Gary Grant did not treat Frank Capra much from the bottom of his heart
12 days later, he married Betty Horton. Gary Grant was busy contributing to the wartime department, filming films and participating in many of the comfort force activities. He continually appeared in various films that helped to mobilize in wartime. But this fanatical work plan clashed with Betty Horton's lifestyle of loving family gatherings.
[Extension: Variations of Neuro-Comedy]
Neuro-comedy actually declined after 1940. During World War II, romantic love stories inevitably gave way to war propaganda. The only time this period achieved and broke through the neuro-comedy landscape was Preston Sturges, who independently supported the neurorecordy landscape from 1940 to 1944.
Stills from the film Poison and the Old Woman Arsenal and Old Lace (1944).
Preston Sturges wrote and directed eight neuro-comedy films, including The Great McGinty (1940), Christmas in July Christmas in July (1940), Sullivan's Travels/Sullivan's Travels (1941), Lady Eve/Lady Eve (1941), Lady Eve/Lady Eve (1941), The Palm Beach Story (1942), The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944), The Wartime Husband Hail the Conquering Hero (1944), etc. Preston Sturges first broadened the subject matter of neurorecords so that neurorecords were no longer limited to romantic stories that took place in high society. According to the characteristics of the times, he transformed war films into part of the neuro-comedy, making the neuro-comedy more realistic and more popular.
Poster for the American version of the film Wartime Husband Hail the Conquering Hero (1944).
The short "freshness period" of the neuro-comedy with romantic love as the plot theme slowly faded in the mid-1940s and the golden age of 10 years with the audience. In 1953's Roman Holiday, the male and female protagonists are a princess of high status and a mediocre American journalist, and their love affair is obviously out of a neuro-comedy. But it abandons the reunion ending, but leaves a regretful ending with tragedy, so he is not a neuro-comedy in the strict sense, but only a variation. Also showing variations are Woody Allen's Play It Again, Sam (1972) in the 1970s, as well as his self-directed works Annie Hall (1977) and Manhattan Manhattan Manhattan (1979). He inherited some elements of neurorecordism and intensified his chatter.
Poster for the American version of the film Poison and the Old Woman Arsenal and Old Lace (1944).