When Arsenic and Old Lace opened at the Fulton Theatre in New York City on January 10, 1941, it was an immediate success with the public as well as the critics. Rosamond Gilder, in her review for Theater Arts noted its "continuous hilarity, "and deemed it "the ultimate in the genre. Arsenic and Old Lace lives up to its beguiling title and succeeds in turning homicide into side-splitting farce." Brooks Atkinson insists in The New York Times that he does not exaggerate when he writes, "Joseph Kesselring has written [a play] so funny that none of us will ever forget.....
This is a free excerpt of 99 words. This section contains 197 words. This
study guide contains 6,938 words (approx. 23 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Literature Guide with our Arsenic and Old Lace Access Pass.
