“They ought not to be allowed to make those pictures just to frighten people.”
A Horror/Comedy balance as perfect as An American Werewolf in London, I’ve watched this almost annually and continue to gain new perspectives. Recently, I noticed a number of meta touches where someone comments on how similar their current situation mirrors something they saw in a film or play. I also saw the genius of the structure, which begins as a screwball comedy, then becomes a dark comedy, then the two sisters lower the lights and the film goes full horror for a while. In the 2nd half, Capra combines the genres with laughs served chilled.
The performance by Cary Grant is big, but by being bigger and more shrill than he usually is, it creates moments I’ve never seen from Grant anywhere else, like the famous triple-double take, which is part of a lengthy wordless dawning of the situation, or the scene where a fight breaks out, but the camera stays on him, sitting on the stairs and mumbling to himself. It’s a film full of great performances, but if I had to give an award the winner would be Peter Lorre, who is menacing, and sad and hilarious all at once. If you haven’t yet seen Arsenic and Old Lace I can recommend it simply on the basis of this being Lorre at his best.
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