Arsenic and Old Lace/Trivia


 * Actor Allusion:
 * The Boris Karloff Casting Gag below (which was only for the original run of the play).
 * For the movie, Cary Grant leans against a tombstone with the name "Archibald Leach" (his real name).
 * The casting of Peter Lorre as a crazed German surgeon may be a callback to Mad Love.
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: You might not recognize Mr. Witherspoon's face, but you've probably heard Edward Everett Horton narrating "Fractured Fairy Tales" on Rocky and Bullwinkle.
 * Money, Dear Boy: Inverted-- Cary Grant was so dissatisfied with his performance in this movie that he donated his entire salary from it to charity rather than profit from it at all.
 * Playing Against Type: Cary Grant, who usually plays suave and sophisticated characters, in the movie plays a character who starts out like that, but becomes increasingly panicked and flustered as the story goes on.
 * What Could Have Been: Frank Capra originally wanted Bob Hope to play Mortimer in the film, but Hope was under contract with Paramount, who refused to loan him out. Jack Benny and Ronald Reagan were also considered for the role before they settled on Grant.