WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Josephina Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Haven Kaycee It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

martin-intercultural I didn't know that 1940s movies could be gimmicky, but this one is. I have watched quite a few screwball comedies from this era, and most of them show a director's steady hand, giving the story a nice build-up and flow; not to mention civil, timeless acting performances and loving cinematography. This film is a very different type of animal: Every frame, every line is contrived to an absurd degree. The scriptwriter and the director seem to have insisted that every second of the movie MUST be rip-roaringly, thigh-slappingly funny, or else! Needless to say, it doesn't work. The human brain is not built to absorb this kind of an all-out onslaught. The non-stop, frenetic action and the relentless fishing for laughs kill the story within the first few minutes. Cary Grant - who looks more stereotypically Semitic rather than a matinée idol - gives his level best in reacting and in physical comedy. But it's not enough to salvage this mess.

classicsoncall There obviously was something alluring about Boris Karloff that film makers took advantage of. He's referenced by name in at least two other movies I'm aware of - "Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome" (1947) and "Charlie Chan at the Opera" (1936) - and he's actually in both of those! Unfortunately he wasn't available to appear in this picture, but Raymond Massey's makeup job was pretty credible; the fist thing I thought of when I saw him was Boris Karloff! Director Frank Capra had a wonderful touch for his screwball comedy projects. Though viewers will find favorable comparisons to other Cary Grant films like "His Gal Friday" and "Bringing Up Baby", the picture I thought of while watching this was another Capra picture, "You Can't Take it With You". That one also featured a dysfunctional family, though with a larger and more disparate cast, and fortunately, no one gets murdered!What gives this story it's surreal comic edge is the vitality of the Brewer Sisters (Josephine Hull and Jean Adair), whose approach to putting elderly gents out of their misery is handled with genuine nonchalance and sincerity. As Mortimer Brewster, Grant has all he can do to maintain some semblance of sanity with all the lunacy surrounding him and his new bride. The only downside to the story for me was the short shrift given to the character of the new Mrs. Brewster (Priscilla Lane). Had her part been written to take advantage of the hysteria surrounding the Brewster household, I think audiences might have appreciated it even more.Even so, repeat viewings are probably in order to fully appreciate the zany antics of 'Teddy Roosevelt' (John Alexander), Dr. Einstein (Peter Lorre), Officer O'Hara (Jack Carson) and all the rest. For his part, Cary Grant was never more expressive than he was here, with each new turn of the story dealing yet another blow to his fractured psyche. His best scene for me was when he simply gave up the pretense of being surprised any more, and just sat down on the staircase with all the mayhem swirling around him while peacefully lighting up a cigarette - "Amazing, amazing, amazing".

richard-1787 I saw this play in the theater years ago and thought it was a masterpiece.The cast of this movie is first-rate, and includes many of my favorite actors.Frank Capra is one of my favorite directors, in both comedy - *You Can't Take It with You* - and drama - *Mr. Smith Goes to Washington*, etc.Why, then, did this movie seem so flat to me? Cary Grant, whom I have enjoyed in many comedies, seems to ham it up far out of all proportion.The timing often seems bad.And nothing explains how Mortimer, on his wedding day, can completely forget about his attractive bride - in an era when the audience could well have assumed that they had not already spent the night together.I watched this whole movie - at 118 minutes, it's long for a comedy - in the hopes that something would work for me. It just didn't.I must have been in the wrong mood, but I was really in a very good mood.

L R Not the happy movie I was hoping to watch. Killing aunts, killing Jonathan, Teddy a schizophrenic thinking he is a president.. Not my cup of tea. Didn't like it! I'm sure this movie was great 50 years ago, but it did not stand the test of time. Having watched lots of movies, I find a lot of old movies surprisingly good, but this is not one of them. There were a couple good "situational" jokes, and Cary Grant did a good job.Real rating: 6.7MY RATING SYSTEM:9.4 - 10 = rating 10 ***** 8.9 - 9.3 = rating 9 ***** 8.3 - 8.8 = rating 8 ***** 7.7 - 8.2 = rating 77.0 - 7.6 = 6 6.0 - 6.9 = 5 5.0 - 5.9 = 4 4.0 - 4.9 = 3 3.0 - 3.9 = 2 1.0 - 2.9 = 1