Arsenic & Old Lace
Synopsis
1962 telefilm adaptation of the classic American play about a deranged family and the string of murders they flippantly commit
Principal Cast8

Tony Randall
Mortimer Brewster

Boris Karloff
Jonathan Brewster

Dorothy Stickney
Abby Brewster

Mildred Natwick
Martha Brewster

Tom Bosley
Teddy Brewster

George Voskovec
Dr. Herman Einstein
Farrell Pelly
Rev. Dr. Harper

Dort Clark
Officer Brophy
Media1
Posters
Director

George Schaefer
Director →
External Links
Reviews1
Tony Randall ("Mortimer") is great as the nephew who returns to his family home, and to his two maiden aunts "Abby" (Dorothy Stickney") and "Martha" (Mildred Natwick) who look very much the refined, gracious, butter-wouldn't-melt type. Shortly afterwards, however, he discovers that these two elderly spinsters have a grisly secret in their basement and when his long-lost brother "Jonathan" (Boris Karloff) arrives; he discovers that this runs in the family! It hasn't quite the charm of the 1944 iteration, and the theatrical staging - and frequently annoying interventions of "Teddy" (Tom Bosley) do detract a bit from the comedy, but the principals are on good form and all in all it's quite a charming outing for Karloff, especially, who plays his menacing, comedic, part as much to camera as to his partners on the "stage". Luckily, I've never been partial to elderberry wine...
Nov 19, 2024









