Arsenic and Old Lace (film) that the deep theme of the play and film is the conflict in American history between the liberty to do anything (which the Brewsters demand), and America's bloody hidden past. The contemporary critical reviews were uniformly positive. "The New York Times" critic summed up the majority view, "As a whole, "Arsenic and Old Lace", the Warner picture which came to the Strand yesterday, is good macabre fun." "Variety" declared, "Capra's production, not elaborate, captures the color and spirit of the play, while the able writing team of Julius J. and Philip G. Epstein has turned in a very workable, tightly-compressed
Old Lace (comics) hold onto a wall. Gert discovered that she had a telepathic bond to Old Lace when the dinosaur halted from attacking the Runaways because Gert yelled out "NO!" in fear. In one of the Runaways' early encounters with the Pride, Gert also discovered she had an empathic bond to Old Lace when she experienced the same pain Old Lace felt. Gert's telepathic bond to Old Lace allowed her to directly communicate with the dinosaur and command it to do anything she wished. The bond worked both ways, enabling Old Lace to transfer her thoughts directly to Gert, but Old Lace