- How would you compare this film to the two others we've watched this term?
- How does the film use editing to create suspense?
- How does it use misc-en-scene, particularly setting to create a mood?
- The film was adapted from a stage play. Can you see evidence of that in the film?
- Like in Bringing Up Baby, insanity is used for humorous effect. What does this tell us about attitudes toward mental illness in the first half of the 20th century?
- Like BUP, this is a screwball comedy. Can you see changes in technique/content/style since the earlier film?
- What does this film say about class/gender/race?
Monday, September 19, 2016
Arsenic and Old Lace
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Out of the three films we've seen, this film is certainly the goofiest and unbelievable of the bunch. The characters are exaggerated to the point that naivete is not an excuse. Insanity seems to a silly convenience that is exploited throughout the picture.
ReplyDeleteThe pace of the movie goes all over the place, the drama coming from us wanting the adventure to end (effectively wanting these old ladies to get away with the murder of 13 bodies) but instead more and more trouble finds it's way into the house and it keeps on our toes as the threat of getting caught seems to be all but a guarentee.
When we are introduced to this movie after the 13th person was killed by the two aunts, so much so that it's so casual for them now that there's no sense of consequence for them. It's scary but at the same time incredibly goofy. It's a dark comedy after all.
It's all really in one location, this house. This living room, the stairs. The camera is oriented, focused here because no other place is important.
Insanity seems like it's not a serious manner, at least not to be considered a first class problem. It seems like a problem that gets a slap of the wrist, an inconvience that gets locked away if they get just a bit too annoying for the neighborhood.
Unfortunately I can only compare this movie to Bringing Up Baby, I missed stagecoach and haven't had a chance to watch the film yet. While Bringing Up Baby was humorous, it was a good movie for a one time viewing - not one I'd necessarily recommend. Arsenic and Old Lace however was hilarious, while it seemed very long i enjoyed every second of it - everything is so exaggerated and intensified, but it keeps you on your toes. You want to know more, what's going to happen, will they get away with it, how are they going to get Jonathan out of there, etc.
ReplyDeleteThe film uses editing to create suspense especially during the frame where it zooms in on everyone's face and then zooms in on Elaine's in the window. It's an Uh-Oh moment, you know that she has figured out what's going on - but also that something big will happen because of her. I think the way the beginning is shot too during the baseball scene kind of sets the mood that this will be a really goofy movie (though I would have never thought in the way that it was). The pitcher is shot from the bottom up to make him look like a giant, the scene is fast paced and wild.
You see evidence that it was adapted from a screen play based on the fact that it seems as though there should be an intermission, the fact that they allude to screenplays throughout the movie, but most importantly the fact that almost the entire film takes place in one location - the house. The little bit outside that they show could have easily been on the side of the stage or very front of the stage when needed during a Broadway screening.
In the 1930s, there was barely anything known about mental illness and there certainly wasn't a cure or medication you could take to mask your symptoms. I think this is the reason that insanity is made fun of so strongly during films of this time. The only thing they really knew how to do was either let them be or put them in an institution.
DeleteAs of right now this film has certainly been my favorite. I think what separates this film from the others too are the characters spunk. The actors certainly bought their characters to life in this one. Kerry Grant did an amazing job with his body language and facial features. This film played with many different angles, i.e.. the objective shot of Elaine looking through the window, or the long shot of the whole frame when Grant runs up the stairs with the trumpet to throw off the officers. It uses all the craziness to create the mood. The director did a great job of focusing every conversation that was going on at once, because their was so many at a time. He also did a great job at keeping the rest of the audience and I interested. I feel like in Bringing Up Baby and in StageCoach once the movie reached its climax it kind of lingered and dragged on after that. I think Frank Capra did a phenomenal job at sticking to the script and story line. I also like how the characters spoke about Jonathan way before he was bought in, so we already expected him to be scary and crazy. Like in Bringing Up Baby when the psychologist was made out to be crazy and a bit insane it and how in Arsenic and Old Lace everyone was crazy it showed how little they knew about mental illness.
ReplyDeleteSo far this movie has to be my favorite thus far. Not only was it comedic but it was also suspenseful and entertaining. I was intrigued with how they turned what was once a play into a great film. There were many times in which the editors used clever camera tricks to show suspense such as close ups. I feel as if they also used certain things on set such as the lights turning off the lights and not being able to see certain rooms which is also a way they kind of still used the broadway theme still in there movie. Just like bringing up baby this movie has definitely played with insanity. I feel as if it used insanity in a literal and thoughtful sense. They used characters who were actually considered mental in their environment and also used a character who felt as if they were going crazy because of unexplainable situations. I feel as if the movie was showing that mental illness in the 20th century was look as a joke and that there were many different levels to mental illness. Like bringing up baby, this movie showed that women was portrayed as being dominant and also very convincing. I liked the fact that the women in the film kind of put some sense in the men and had a very huge impact on the decisions that they made.
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