It’s rare to come across a comedy so refreshingly free of any sense of trying too hard. I went into this film without much anticipation, and I suspect that actually made it even more enjoyable: adapted from a successful play, it's an extraordinary comedy brimming with oddity and playful antics, managing to avoid dull moments while delivering unexpected turns that elicit laughter and amusement. The story kicks o…

Really? Thirteen corpses down there? What nonsense. Just as drama critic Mortimer Brewster is settling into married life, he learns something shocking: his kindly aunts have been poisoning elderly men with their homemade wine and concealing the remains in a cellar. This wildly absurd comedy is how I first encountered Cary Grant’s talent. The dark humor holds up remarkably well, and there's constant laughter to be …

A whirlwind, like something straight from a Frank Capra movie! The stage production this film comes from enjoyed a run of about four years, reflecting a desire for lively romantic comedies in the nineteen-forties, and so the adaptation feels almost relentlessly energetic. With Cary Grant in an ideal role, the film hardly lets up, only briefly taking time to introduce a touch of unsettling darkness into what is oth…