MovieChat Forums > Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) Discussion > Was Boris pissed?

Was Boris pissed?

posted 15 years ago by SeanJoyce
14 replies | jump to latest

From what I understand, most of the principal cast members were granted a leave of absence to make the movie...all except Boris who, as the play's star attraction, was forced to remain to promote it.

Sounds like a raw deal, especially since this would have been such a great opportunity for Boris; a real gem to add to his filmography. Massey is a serviceable replacement, but the part of Jonathan is clearly Boris', and it would have been a joy to see him, Grant, and Lorre together here.

Does anybody know what his thoughts were?

"...if that was off, I'd be whoopin' your ass up and down this street." ~ an irate Tarantino

[–] shemp56 14 years ago

I don't know Boris Karloff's thought's but he was allowed to do the radio version of the play and it's available in a CD box set featuring Karloff's radio shows.

[–] wtl471629 11 years ago

I agree they should have let Boris do the movie. Very selfish of the play producers. What a huge loss this was. Raymond Massey did good but Boris would have been terrific. A great movie anyway but it would have been a little better with Boris. Thanks for nothing 1944 Broadway.

[–] janeofthewakinguniverse 11 years ago

I know! I love this movie and every time I watch it and they get to the lines referencing Boris Karloff (esp. when the police lieutenant played by James Gleason says, "They said he looked like Karloff!") I always think how great it would have been if Boris had actually been able to play the part in the film version.

Morse's Law: There's always time for one more pint.

[–] paul-987 10 years ago

Agreed. There's a great moment in "His Girl Friday" where Cary Grant describes Ralph Bellamy's character as looking like "that actor, Ralph Bellamy."

[–] beatabeatrix 11 years ago

I think I read that it was more than a matter of Boris promoting the play - he was one of the shareholders, if you like, so he had to be in the play for the box office draw to recoup his investment. (Whether the studio should have bought him out is open to question; but imagine if you had bought tickets for the play, thinking that Boris was going to be there, and he wasn't; you'd be pretty miffed!)

[–] first-things-first 10 years ago

I didn't know about the play or the Boris Karloff connection, but this is great as it stands. Raymond Massey was great. I wish I could have seen Mr. Karloff. Usually, he's so subdued, and this part is anything but that.

If we can save humanity, we become the caretakers of the world

[–] Doghouse-6 9 years ago

Only three actors from the Broadway cast appeared in the film: Hull, Adair and Alexander.

The film was shot in Nov-Dec, 1941, but by June of '42, Karloff was back in Hollywood completing his commitment to a multi-picture deal with Columbia (and replaced on Broadway by Erich von Stroheim), before going on tour with the play.

So, as droll as I find Massey in the role, the irony is that it's possible Karloff might have indeed been able to appear in the picture if it had been shot at another time between mid-1942 and mid-1944. But if so, it would have been done without Capra and, very likely, without Grant.

On the other hand, with different scheduling, who knows how many others might not have been able to appear in the film: Lorre; Carson; Gleason; Horton? I'd hate to have lost any of them.

Poe! You are...avenged!

[–] smileyking1975 9 years ago

If you want to see the 1962 Hallmark version with Boris Karloff in it, it's either on Amazon or Ioffer. I've seen it, and it's great! Just tell them not to write directly on the disc.

Brian Pinette at [email protected] may have it and the 1969 Fred Gwynne/Jack Gilford version. He has a short clip of the 1969 version on YouTube.

[–] smileyking1975 9 years ago

The email address is [email protected]

[–] Doghouse-6 9 years ago

Many thanks for that info.

I've always had difficulty imagining Allyn Joslyn as Mortimer - his films often cast him as something of a pill - and the problem many have with the film was Grant's frenetic performance (I understand Grant himself was among them), but Tony Randall strikes me as very well suited to the role, so it'll be interesting to see (and, of course, fascinating to witness Boris recreating the one he originated).

I'm guessing no copy of the 1955 production with Orson Bean as Mortimer is known to exist, but I can visualize him as handling it effectively as well.

Poe! You are...avenged!

[–] greenbudgie (2355) a year ago

Boris Karloff was very upset that he was unable to appear in the film because he was kept under contract to the stage version at the time. I think this film would have been a Karloff fan favorite, for some, had he been in it.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7421) a year ago

I already said this in another topic but Boris Karloff did the movie House of Frankenstein the year this came out. So he did that instead of this one.

[–] greenbudgie (2355) a year ago

I didn't think I'd ever get to see Boris Karloff playing Jonathan Brewster but a fortnight ago I did see him in the 1962 TV Movie version. A shocking print of the movie but it was still good to see Boris playing the character.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7421) a year ago

I'll have to see if I can find that version.