From this Saturday at 12am Eastern, that’s 4pm Saturday in NZ, 2pm in Sydney and 5am in the UK, and repeated every four hours throughout the day, it’s the described movies Arsenic and Old Lace from 1944 and Mildred Pierce from 1945.
Arsenic and Old Lace is a 1944 American black comedy film directed by Frank Capra and starring Cary Grant.
It was based on Joseph Kesselring's 1941 play, Arsenic and Old Lace.
The script adaptation was written by Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein.
The contract with the play’s producers stipulated that the film would not be released until the Broadway run ended.
The original planned release date was 30 September, 1942.
The play was a tremendous hit, running for three and a half years, so the film was not released until 1944.
The lead role of Mortimer Brewster was originally intended for Bob Hope, but he could not be released from his contract with Paramount Pictures.
Capra had also approached Jack Benny and Richard Travis before learning that Grant would accept the role.
On the Broadway stage, Boris Karloff played Jonathan Brewster, who is said to "look like Boris Karloff".
According to TCM, Karloff, who gave permission for the use of his name in the film, remained in the play to appease the producers, who were afraid of what stripping the play of all its primary cast would do to ticket sales.
Raymond Massey took Karloff’s place on screen.
The film's supporting cast also features Priscilla Lane, Jack Carson, Edward Everett Horton, and Peter Lorre.
Josephine Hull and Jean Adair portray the Brewster sisters, Abby and Martha, respectively.
Hull and Adair, as well as John Alexander (who played Teddy Brewster), were reprising their roles from the 1941 stage production.
Hull and Adair both received an eight-week leave of absence from the stage production, which was still running, but Karloff did not, as he was an investor in the stage production and its main draw.
The entire film was shot within those eight weeks. The film cost just over $1.2 million of a $2 million budget to produce.
Directed by: Frank Capra.
Produced by: Frank Capra and Jack L. Warner.
Screenplay by: Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein.
Based on: Arsenic and Old Lace 1941 play by: Joseph Kesselring.
Starring: Cary Grant, Raymond Massey, Peter Lorre, Priscilla Lane, Jack Carson, Josephine Hull and Jean Adair.
Music by: Max Steiner.
Cinematography: Sol Polito.
Edited by: Daniel Mandell.
Distributed by: Warner Bros.
Release date: 1 September , 1944 (New York City), 23 September , 1944 (US).
File Length: 118 minutes.
Country: United States.
Language: English.
Budget: $1,164,000.
Box office: $4,784,000.
Mildred Pierce is a 1945 American film noir directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, and Zachary Scott, also featuring Eve Arden, Ann Blyth, and Bruce Bennett.
Based on the 1941 novel by James M. Cain, this was Crawford's first starring role for Warner Bros., after leaving Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and she won the Academy Award for Best Actress.
In 1996, Mildred Pierce was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected for preservation in the United States Library of Congress National Film Registry.
Directed by: Michael Curtiz.
Produced by: Jerry Wald.
Screenplay by: Ranald MacDougall.
Based on: Mildred Pierce: by James M. Cain.
Starring: Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden, Ann Blyth and Bruce Bennett.
Music by: Max Steiner.
Cinematography: Ernest Haller.
Edited by: David Weisbart.
Distributed by: Warner Bros.
Release date: 28 September , 1945 (New York) .
File Length: 111 minutes.
Country: United States.
Language: English
Budget: $1,453,000.
Box office: $5,638,000 ($80 million in 2019 dollars).
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