Arsenic and Old Lace is one of the first black and white movies I remember ever seeing.  Since then, I have seen many, many black and white movies, but this is still one of my favorites.  I love Cary Grant.  Not as much as my sister, but I still love him.  This is one of his most hilarious roles.

Imagine, if you will, Halloween in Brooklyn, back in the 1940’s.  Mortimer Brewster, despite being very anti-marriage, has just married Elaine Harper.  His two saintly aunts are thrilled that their successful theater critic nephew has fallen for the girl next door.  On the other hand, Mortimer is horrified to find a dead body in the window seat.  His aunts explain that one of their “charities” is to poison old men who are alone in the world, and this one was number 12.

Mortimer decides he will pin the murders on his brother, who thinks he is Teddy Roosevelt, and starts the process for committing him.  He makes his aunts promise to not let anyone in while he goes to get a judge’s signature.  While he is gone, his brother Jonathon and his accomplice invade the house with intentions of burying their own murder victim in the basement.

Although the plot sounds pretty serious, and murder generally is, it is an incredibly funny film.  The entire cast is terrific, including the two aunts who originated the roles in the Broadway play the film was based on.

Essie’s Lacy-Not-Racy is a beautiful polish. When K mentioned it, I kind of imagined an off-white polish, but it was actually a really pretty, jelly-like burgundy.  This is my first Essie polish, and I am pretty impressed.  The formula is good, but it did take a long time to dry, which is typical for these shimmer-less polishes.  This picture is three coats. ~E