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
Lace (miniseries) UK import. Both "Lace" and "Lace II" were released on DVD through the Warner Archive Collection in 2010, but "Lace II" was discontinued a few months later. "Lace" was followed by a two-part sequel, "Lace II", which aired on ABC from May 5–6, 1985. The principal cast was identical to "Lace", with two exceptions: Deborah Raffin replaces Bess Armstrong in the role of Judy Hale, and Michael Fitzpatrick replaced Simon Chandler as Nick Cliffe. The plot of "Lace II" involves Lili's search for the identity of her father. It used the marketing line "Which one of you bastards is my