00;00;00;00 – 00;00;23;19
Christi
Looking to start a podcast but don’t know where to begin. Look no further. The team at Dodge Media Productions has 20 years of experience as podcast listeners and observing the industry, and eight years experience in podcast production. We can help you take your podcast from idea to fruition, and we’ll make the process seamless and easy. We’ll help you with everything from recording and editing to hitting the charts on Apple Podcasts.

00;00;23;20 – 00;00;29;04
Christi
So what are you waiting for? Contact us today and let’s get started! Dodge Media productions.com.

00;00;29;06 – 00;00;44;23
Brennan
You’re listening to Dodge Movie podcast. Your hosts are Christi and Mike Dodge, the founders of Dodge Media Productions. We produce films and podcast assets. So this is a podcast about films. Join them as they share their passion for filmmaking.

00;00;44;23 – 00;00;57;25
Christi
Welcome back, everybody, to the Dodge Movie podcast. This is episode 175 and we are talking about an oldie but goodie 1944 is Arsenic and Old Lace. It is directed by Frank Capra, who also did, It Happened One Night, which we talked about in 1934. And in 1939, he did a little known movie, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. And then an even lesser known movie, 1946 is It’s a Wonderful Life that Capra never really made himself into.

00;01;21;17 – 00;01;23;13
Mike
surprise. We ever heard of him?

00;01;23;15 – 00;01;26;09
Christi
Right. This movie stars Cary Grant,

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Christi
Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey, Jack Carson O’Hara, and Peter Lorre.

00;01;33;09 – 00;01;35;07
Mike
And Peter Lorre, who was busy back then.

00;01;35;10 – 00;01;58;01
Christi
Yes, the DP was sole Polito. He did Adventures of Robin Hood, Sergeant York, captains of the clouds, and it was filmed at the Warner Brothers studio in Burbank. The writer is Julius J. Epstein. Philip GFCI, and Joseph Kesselring. Kesselring. Kesselring. Excuse me. Joseph.

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Mike
Reminds me of the Kessel Run from Star Wars.

00;02;01;09 – 00;02;02;15
Christi
Okay.

00;02;02;15 – 00;02;09;16
Christi
the synopsis for Arsenic & Old Lace is a Brooklyn writer of books on the I book of the writer books. That seems,

00;02;09;16 – 00;02;14;00
Mike
Oh, tell me, there’s a book store in Brooklyn called Brooklyn. That would be.

00;02;14;00 – 00;02;15;28
Christi
Awesome. Yeah, I don’t know about that one.

00;02;15;28 – 00;02;34;00
Christi
a Brooklyn writer of books on the futility of marriage risks his reputation after he decides to tie the knot. Things get even more complicated when he learns on his wedding day that his beloved maiden aunts are habitual murderers.

00;02;34;00 – 00;02;39;09
Mike
Murderers. So after we go through the next bit, I do want to circle back to,

00;02;39;09 – 00;02;44;03
Mike
that particular bit there about him being opposed to marriage. But please continue. Okay.

00;02;44;05 – 00;03;00;10
Christi
I’ve got five taglines for you. Let’s see how they pan out. She passed out on Carrie. No wonder she’s just discovered his favorite aunts have poisoned their 13th gentleman friend.

00;03;00;13 – 00;03;02;17
Mike
Spoiler alert. Horrible tagline.

00;03;02;18 – 00;03;04;04
Christi
Strike! You’re out.

00;03;04;04 – 00;03;05;05
Christi
Oh, these are.

00;03;05;05 – 00;03;08;21
Mike
Horrible. Unrelated. Did they see the film before they wrote the tagline?

00;03;08;22 – 00;03;11;20
Christi
Okay. At least five times. As funny as the play.

00;03;11;20 – 00;03;12;07
Mike
Okay,

00;03;12;07 – 00;03;15;06
Mike
I actually like that. That’s pretty good.

00;03;15;06 – 00;03;16;24
Mike
At least five times.

00;03;16;26 – 00;03;24;17
Christi
Oh my gosh. And last. Everybody’s nuts. Including Cary Grant and Frank Capra’s Arsenic and Old Lace.

00;03;24;21 – 00;03;25;14
Mike
Now,

00;03;25;14 – 00;03;28;24
Mike
at least five times as funny as the play. That’s great. Oh.

00;03;28;26 – 00;03;31;21
Christi
All right, so you wanted to return to the

00;03;31;21 – 00;03;34;22
Christi
synopsis and him being a writer that,

00;03;34;22 – 00;03;36;20
Christi
did not approve of marriage?

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Mike
Yeah. It has absolutely nothing to do with the film.

00;03;39;05 – 00;03;58;03
Christi
Well, it’s interesting because when the film starts out, you think that’s what the film is going to be about. Is this. Right. Irony of this guy that’s always been opposed to marriage is getting married, and he’s got to hide it. And I mean very, quite literally, that is how the movie starts out. He’s hiding in the office where people get marriage licenses.

00;03;58;05 – 00;04;14;25
Mike
Although are they trying to make how to lose a corpse in ten days? But it it’s not a rom com. They could have showed up on the doorstep of the auntie’s house with, like, the cab pulls up and there’s like a a yard there with gravestones in it, oddly.

00;04;14;28 – 00;04;16;08
Christi
They could start of the movie there.

00;04;16;13 – 00;04;21;06
Mike
There’s no reason to have the rest and it never comes up again in the rest of the plot.

00;04;21;07 – 00;04;26;12
Christi
Exactly. Exactly. All right. we’re all over the place. Why don’t. Well, let’s see, let me,

00;04;26;14 – 00;04;34;20
Christi
So Cary Grant considered his acting in this film to be horribly over-the-top, and often called this one of his least favorite movies.

00;04;34;20 – 00;04;36;11
Mike
I hadn’t made it. Note that at one

00;04;36;11 – 00;04;42;02
Mike
point he breaks the fourth wall. Oh, wow. I mean it on purpose, but it’s that kind of a film.

00;04;42;03 – 00;04;44;26
Christi
Yeah. Oh, he’s kind of giving a wink to the audience.

00;04;44;27 – 00;04;52;10
Mike
Well, I mean, it’s just really over the top. Silly scenery, chewing at least five times as funny as the play.

00;04;52;11 – 00;04;58;13
Christi
what a Frank. Frank Capra’s mother’s greatest talents was. Her making of the elderberry wine,

00;04;58;13 – 00;05;01;19
Christi
which becomes part of the murder weapon.

00;05;01;19 – 00;05;02;15
Mike
Murder?

00;05;02;17 – 00;05;03;11
Christi
Yeah.

00;05;03;13 – 00;05;04;02
Mike
So,

00;05;04;02 – 00;05;09;11
Mike
I suppose that’s in some way different than grape wine. I had not heard of elderberry wine.

00;05;09;14 – 00;05;20;17
Christi
Maybe the maybe because elderberry is more unique. It was easier for someone to go. This tastes odd. And chalk it up to the fact that it’s right. A juice they’re not used to.

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Mike
I expect by the end of the evening, your friend al will have sent you a link to elderberry wine.

00;05;25;21 – 00;05;28;23
Christi
After we. If we keep saying elderberry tree.

00;05;28;23 – 00;05;29;11
Christi
All right.

00;05;29;11 – 00;05;37;03
Christi
this movie clearly indicates that it’s Halloween, yet the Dodgers are still playing baseball, which rarely happened.

00;05;37;06 – 00;05;42;10
Mike
That I think the implication was that it was the World Series.

00;05;42;10 – 00;05;45;10
Mike
if they were still playing in October, but I don’t know if they played at the.

00;05;45;10 – 00;05;47;12
Christi
End of October. Yeah.

00;05;47;13 – 00;05;57;26
Mike
Yeah, that seemed a little odd, but we knew it was Halloween because they have a little kids trick or treating. Yes. And they may also have had the cops have some dialog around that.

00;05;57;28 – 00;06;01;19
Christi
All right. Kick us off with your pickup line.

00;06;01;21 – 00;06;03;21
Mike
Well there’s a footnote to this one. Okay.

00;06;03;21 – 00;06;15;11
Mike
I looked up on IMDb the quote because I couldn’t quite understand it. IMDb says I’ll knock your block off, you big simp. Now, I think the tagline,

00;06;15;11 – 00;06;26;02
Mike
was I’ll knock your block off, you big stiff and simp is, to my ear, a modern phrase. I’ve only heard the younger generation use that.

00;06;26;09 – 00;06;33;02
Mike
So I’m not sure if that’s accurate, but whatever it is, it doesn’t meet my my theory very well at all.

00;06;33;02 – 00;06;38;26
Mike
It’s just from an angry baseball fan which again not really sure what that was in there for.

00;06;38;28 – 00;06;45;05
Christi
Yeah I was trying to wedge it in there for you and I. I can’t do it.

00;06;45;07 – 00;06;50;05
Mike
Yeah I mean I tried to stretch it to say violent people dying.

00;06;50;05 – 00;06;54;17
Mike
I just think that’s too far of a stretch. I think it was. It just, my theory doesn’t work on this film.

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Christi
Okay.

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Christi
what did you think of the cinematography? This is a film in black and white.

00;07;00;08 – 00;07;06;22
Mike
Yeah. It’s interesting. We talked a little bit about. There’s a scene at the marriage license at City Hall that,

00;07;06;22 – 00;07;11;17
Mike
I felt was unnecessary. They had a nice dolly shot in the hallway, though. And then,

00;07;11;17 – 00;07;16;06
Mike
their first shot of Priscilla Lane, I believe, is the name of the actress who played Elaine.

00;07;16;06 – 00;07;18;21
Mike
it was the classic Hollywood Jell shot.

00;07;18;22 – 00;07;19;13
Mike
I love it.

00;07;19;14 – 00;07;20;19
Christi
I love you love it.

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Mike
I do.

00;07;21;19 – 00;07;22;07
Mike
and there’s,

00;07;22;07 – 00;07;33;07
Mike
hair light on her when she first meets auntie’s. There’s. I made a note that there’s a lot of camera movement, mostly panning to track people walking back and forth in that,

00;07;33;07 – 00;07;44;20
Mike
living room, but also some tilts, and you can kind of see how it would be a stage play, because for the most part, everything takes place in there living room or the first floor or whatever you’d call it.

00;07;44;20 – 00;07;46;11
Mike
and it’s neat that they,

00;07;46;11 – 00;07;49;24
Mike
shot. At one point, they shot Mortimer through the balusters.

00;07;50;12 – 00;07;51;14
Mike
And then there is,

00;07;51;14 – 00;07;52;01
Mike
when,

00;07;52;01 – 00;07;53;07
Mike
when the,

00;07;53;07 – 00;08;10;26
Mike
brother talks about being Teddy Roosevelt, they shot from worm’s eye view. They had the camera down at foot level, which is just fascinating. I don’t really remember seeing that back then. So the cinematographer really, he was kind of pulling out all the stops and then,

00;08;10;26 – 00;08;17;23
Mike
I noticed that it was mostly with some lungs again, really did evoke the feel of the play.

00;08;17;26 – 00;08;20;23
Mike
There weren’t really many closeups in that,

00;08;20;23 – 00;08;23;20
Mike
at all. And they did a pretty good job of making,

00;08;23;20 – 00;08;26;11
Mike
Raymond Massey’s character seem kind of creepy.

00;08;26;11 – 00;08;39;17
Mike
again, I’m not real sure about that. If they needed the the Boris Karloff style makeup for that character, I think he would have been menacing just by himself. But so it was a bit of a mixed bag and kind of the tone.

00;08;39;19 – 00;08;49;19
Christi
I have a note here. That low key lighting was used throughout the film to give it a spooky Halloween tone. Interior scenes in the Brewster house,

00;08;49;19 – 00;08;51;20
Christi
were shot in sequence.

00;08;51;20 – 00;09;06;25
Christi
And although he planned to do the entire production on a single set, Frank Capra did have to make some exceptions for the scenes that added to the story in the script adaptation, the baseball game, the marriage license office, and then the sanatorium.

00;09;06;27 – 00;09;24;01
Christi
For the most part, though, Capra and the cinematographer confined themselves to the set. Designed by art director Max Parker, based on Capra’s sketches, and the house was constructed so that they could shoot interiors and exteriors.

00;09;24;03 – 00;09;27;13
Mike
I bet the producers loved it. They just used the one set, basically.

00;09;27;13 – 00;09;34;13
Christi
Oh my goodness, that’s so easy to control and scheduled for and planned.

00;09;34;14 – 00;09;40;03
Mike
And it was on a soundstage at large. Like even like the exteriors were also on soundstage. So that was great.

00;09;40;03 – 00;09;58;25
Christi
Throughout the film, the grandfather clock below the staircase, the minute hand of which always drops to the sixth position when Teddy Roosevelt slams or Johann Alexander slams his door, keeps correct time. Boy, did they look out for you in this one.

00;09;58;28 – 00;10;04;19
Mike
Well, I’m going to say that our hand kept correct time. You have a minute, ma’am? Been a hand kept falling.

00;10;04;19 – 00;10;15;02
Christi
So right. But the hour hand and advance is in time with the action. And this is extremely uncommon in feature movies is, you know, where clocks are usually,

00;10;15;02 – 00;10;16;20
Christi
left either,

00;10;16;20 – 00;10;21;14
Christi
on one time for the whole duration or not shown at all.

00;10;21;17 – 00;10;23;08
Mike
Just in lazy films.

00;10;23;08 – 00;10;28;02
Christi
what did you think of, like, the plot in the whole story? I mean, it was very,

00;10;28;02 – 00;10;33;01
Christi
is I don’t know about farcical, but it’s just it’s almost like this. Absurd.

00;10;33;07 – 00;10;34;01
Mike
Yeah.

00;10;34;01 – 00;10;37;07
Mike
I made a note that it’s a broadly drawn comedy.

00;10;37;07 – 00;10;37;29
Mike
it had,

00;10;37;29 – 00;10;39;28
Mike
some funny wordplay.

00;10;39;28 – 00;10;44;07
Mike
one of them is, I like insanity runs in my family. It practically gallops.

00;10;44;07 – 00;10;47;06
Mike
so there were some really funny pieces of,

00;10;47;06 – 00;10;50;09
Mike
wordplay in there, but it wasn’t kind of,

00;10;50;09 – 00;10;52;23
Mike
you know, like, in Anything Goes.

00;10;52;24 – 00;11;08;21
Mike
That was not its main humor. And I think when you have the basic plot being these cute little old ladies are killing people, you’re already somewhat farcical. And I think you need to go over the top for it not to feel like a thriller or horror film.

00;11;08;21 – 00;11;21;21
Mike
but as I mentioned before, I don’t really think that the plot point of him not liking marriage, but getting married had anything to do with anything, and we could have Skip that whole thing saved him one of the sets that the producers had to pay for.

00;11;21;23 – 00;11;22;09
Mike
and,

00;11;22;09 – 00;11;41;05
Mike
there’s the whole point of kind of his reaction. It’s by the premise, by the bit. I think most people, when you found out that your aunties had been killing people would would react a little differently. But we buy it right? Until we go down this and there’s a guy in the, in the,

00;11;41;05 – 00;11;48;04
Mike
the window seat, and then somebody else was but a second guy in the window seat, and they talked about, well, they buried him in the basement.

00;11;48;06 – 00;12;00;15
Mike
Well, I mean, digging 12 graves is a non-trivial amount of work for too, little lady. So a lot of this is kind of a little bit like I said, I think it’s by the premise, by the bit, but it has that feel of that,

00;12;00;15 – 00;12;05;08
Mike
you know, people running into the room and out of the room and, and I think it lands for what it is.

00;12;05;09 – 00;12;07;19
Christi
Yes. It’s very, very silly.

00;12;07;19 – 00;12;28;18
Christi
I was going to make a case not to be argumentative or try to be that guy, but did they feel like they needed it? Because when he comes home, he’s basically in a hurry because him and his bride, now that they’re newly married or no, they weren’t able to get married at the office.

00;12;28;20 – 00;12;44;18
Christi
So they want to go up to Niagara Falls to get married. And I made a note. Remember when everyone used to go to Niagara Falls to get married? Yeah, I used to think, like, what is it with Niagara Falls? That that’s where everybody goes. Because it’s like in movies as a kid, 70s and 80s, everybody went to Niagara Falls.

00;12;44;18 – 00;12;51;14
Christi
Like, were the the laws different there that you didn’t need, like to have a license or something.

00;12;51;16 – 00;12;52;15
Mike
So here,

00;12;52;15 – 00;13;08;19
Mike
that would be my guess. And my thought is Niagara Falls is literally the border between New York and Canada. So in Canada, where the laws difference of people get up there, because I do know in LA in that era,

00;13;08;19 – 00;13;13;15
Mike
people would drive down to Tijuana to get divorced because it was faster and cheaper.

00;13;13;15 – 00;13;14;18
Christi
Yes, yes. You’re right.

00;13;14;19 – 00;13;15;01
Mike
So,

00;13;15;01 – 00;13;15;22
Mike
I’m going.

00;13;15;28 – 00;13;17;20
Christi
Canada to get married and.

00;13;17;20 – 00;13;18;10
Mike
Mexico,

00;13;18;10 – 00;13;21;27
Mike
like, we’re exporting business. We’re we’re big that way.

00;13;21;27 – 00;13;36;19
Mike
but yeah, that’s interesting that I know that Niagara Falls was the wedding place, and it kind of got supplanted a little bit by Las Vegas. Yes, because that had the quick and cheap weddings, although I, I don’t know if that’s quite the case anymore.

00;13;36;20 – 00;13;45;16
Christi
Maybe it’s West Coast versus East Coast, like how could you live on the West Coast, go to Vegas, and if you live big, you’re east of the Mississippi. You head up to Niagara Falls.

00;13;45;16 – 00;13;49;27
Mike
Yeah, that’s a good point. Well, yeah. What if you live in Mississippi? I don’t know,

00;13;49;27 – 00;13;51;29
Mike
we’ll have to. Maybe some of our listeners.

00;13;52;02 – 00;13;55;02
Christi
I’m in the Mississippi River, so. Yeah, that would be okay.

00;13;55;03 – 00;13;55;15
Mike
Sure.

00;13;55;17 – 00;14;03;02
Christi
so this film will it was originally in play, and it was written in the anti-war atmosphere of the late 30s. And so Capra,

00;14;03;02 – 00;14;21;19
Christi
a Capra scholar, Matthew Gunter argues that the deep theme of both the play and the film is America’s difficulty in coming to grips with both the positive and negative consequences of the liberty it professes to uphold, in which the Brewster’s demand r the Brewster’s the

00;14;21;21 – 00;14;23;14
Mike
And I think so, yeah.

00;14;23;17 – 00;14;29;21
Christi
And although their house isn’t that is the nicest in the street. There are 12 bodies in the basement.

00;14;29;23 – 00;14;32;03
Mike
And that guy’s stretching a bit for his,

00;14;32;03 – 00;14;33;17
Mike
book or is thesis.

00;14;33;25 – 00;14;34;21
Christi
Okay.

00;14;34;21 – 00;15;01;01
Christi
Julius obscene thought Cary Grant mug to match. He later said that Frank Capra intended to go back and reign in the broadest scene. But near the end of principal photography, the Japanese attacked on Pearl Harbor, and Capra was eager to move on to his military assignment and thus retakes were never done. So I wonder if that’s partially why Cary Grant was upset because he thought he would get to redo

00;15;01;01 – 00;15;03;27
Christi
and then was not given the opportunity to write.

00;15;03;27 – 00;15;07;15
Mike
And I just imagine that to choose to,

00;15;07;15 – 00;15;09;28
Mike
go to your military assignment instead of,

00;15;09;28 – 00;15;13;08
Mike
finish your film. I don’t think I’d make that choice.

00;15;13;08 – 00;15;16;20
Mike
I think if it was up to me, it would have taken four years to get out of post.

00;15;16;22 – 00;15;18;10
Christi
You just keep saying, nope, we’re not done.

00;15;18;10 – 00;15;20;01
Christi
No, no, no, we’re not done yet.

00;15;20;03 – 00;15;21;15
Mike
gotta go back to the edit bay.

00;15;21;19 – 00;15;47;01
Christi
At the time of this production, Warner Brothers did announce that the Brewster house was the largest set ever built at the studio, and the house was complete room by room in every detail. Production records confirm that several scenes were shot in various rooms of the Brewster House. Mortimer’s grandfather’s study. The aunts bedroom and the cellar were filmed, but not included in the final cut of the film.

00;15;47;01 – 00;15;48;21
Mike
Oh, that’s interesting.

00;15;48;23 – 00;15;53;03
Christi
I know that. So I mean, I guess it just goes back to,

00;15;53;03 – 00;15;58;03
Christi
you know, you shoot when you’ve got everybody there, and then they just decided, I guess, that they didn’t need it.

00;15;58;05 – 00;16;05;18
Mike
Yeah, yeah, they must have. But that’s to me, that’s odd to go to the expense and then to shoot those scenes and not use them.

00;16;05;18 – 00;16;15;20
Mike
Because that would, you know, take it from feeling like a play into more like a film. But perhaps Capra ran out of time, I was.

00;16;15;20 – 00;16;17;07
Christi
Going to say, and maybe it was the length.

00;16;17;07 – 00;16;22;01
Mike
And also or just in the edit, you know, he had to go off to war so and have a chance to go talk to the editor.

00;16;22;02 – 00;16;32;19
Christi
I enjoyed the harpsichord piece that was being played early on. It’s Mozart’s Turkish March, and, it’s been a while since I had heard harpsichord music.

00;16;32;22 – 00;16;34;02
Mike
Yeah, that’s true.

00;16;34;02 – 00;16;39;12
Mike
that was, I guess, back in the day when the harpsichord was a more popular parlor musical instrument.

00;16;39;12 – 00;16;42;04
Christi
Right. That’s probably what they called that room. The parlor.

00;16;42;24 – 00;16;45;25
Christi
Was there any head trauma in this film? I understand there was,

00;16;45;25 – 00;16;48;19
Christi
other maladies, but yeah.

00;16;48;21 – 00;16;51;04
Mike
There was quite a bit of poisoning off screen, but,

00;16;51;04 – 00;16;57;22
Mike
at the beginning, the many players in the Empire get punched during the baseball game fight that breaks out.

00;16;57;22 – 00;17;02;14
Mike
Mortimer Scorpions over a chair when chasing a potential victim out of the house.

00;17;02;14 – 00;17;09;28
Christi
I know I pointed out we’ve been watching too much ridiculousness because the minute I saw his body go into that backward bend, I was like, he just. Scorpion.

00;17;09;28 – 00;17;10;18
Mike
Yeah.

00;17;10;18 – 00;17;21;12
Mike
Teddy Roosevelt off screen falls down the basement stairs while carrying a dead body. We hear it, but we don’t see it. And then Mortimer gets punched in the chops during the fight with Jonathan, the brother.

00;17;21;14 – 00;17;22;22
Christi
All right,

00;17;22;22 – 00;17;25;21
Christi
how about a smoochy smoochy smoochy smoochy?

00;17;25;23 – 00;17;26;20
Mike
We have,

00;17;26;20 – 00;17;29;15
Mike
Mortimer and Elaine smooch in the phone booth at the,

00;17;29;15 – 00;17;41;12
Mike
at the courthouse, and also in the front lawn and also through her bedroom window. He’s a spooky fellow that Mortimer. And then he kisses her to prevent her from telling the cops about the dead bodies.

00;17;41;15 – 00;17;47;06
Christi
Something else we don’t see in movies anymore, which is understandable now that there probably are no,

00;17;47;06 – 00;17;51;02
Christi
phone booths except for maybe in London or something. Is the,

00;17;51;02 – 00;17;52;11
Christi
there was,

00;17;52;11 – 00;18;01;08
Christi
you know, to get the boy and girl together uncomfortably close, right? They would end up in a phone booth, or sometimes,

00;18;01;08 – 00;18;07;12
Christi
you would put two gents because generally they wouldn’t be that close in proximity to yourself.

00;18;07;12 – 00;18;07;22
Mike
Rob.

00;18;07;22 – 00;18;08;06
Christi
Right.

00;18;08;06 – 00;18;14;07
Christi
is there anything that you noted that this film did that couldn’t be done today?

00;18;14;10 – 00;18;16;05
Mike
Yeah, there were a few things.

00;18;16;05 – 00;18;27;05
Mike
when the Asian lady looks at Elaine in the line at the marriage office, they play the, ching chong music, you know? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Long before 16 Candles.

00;18;27;05 – 00;18;27;20
Mike
then,

00;18;27;20 – 00;18;35;16
Mike
the Brewster aunties have a lawn jockey that looks exactly like a slave in front of their house.

00;18;35;16 – 00;18;36;14
Christi
No, no, no.

00;18;36;16 – 00;18;52;02
Mike
Mortimer is a little bit aggressive with Elaine. Now, maybe you could argue that the fact that they’re about to get married implies some sort of consent, but he is pretty handy. And lastly, he smacks his auntie fully on the buttock.

00;18;52;03 – 00;18;54;01
Christi
Oh, no. Thank you.

00;18;54;01 – 00;18;56;19
Mike
Yes, yes, a different era, but let’s not.

00;18;56;21 – 00;18;58;14
Christi
How about a driving movie?

00;18;58;17 – 00;19;11;13
Mike
well, we really didn’t see much of a vehicle. We only saw a taxi. It’s a 1936 DeSoto Airstream, and that was a common vehicle platform for the taxi industry.

00;19;11;13 – 00;19;21;21
Mike
that was because DeSoto had a long standing and profitable relationship with the taxicab industry. So I think they were kind of similar to Apple. They courted the industry in specific.

00;19;21;23 – 00;19;25;22
Mike
So that was a nice, nice taxi. And it was in several scenes.

00;19;25;22 – 00;19;46;09
Christi
and before we go to the numbers, I want to share this little bit of trivia that I find fun. And I think you will too. One gag in the original Broadway production that could not be reproduced in the film was after the cast members had taken their final curtain call, the cellar door open and 13 men representing the bodies buried

00;19;46;09 – 00;19;51;14
Christi
during the play who never appeared on stage, filed in and took a bow.

00;19;51;16 – 00;19;53;15
Mike
That’s kind of fun, I know.

00;19;53;17 – 00;20;00;23
Christi
Can you imagine? I mean, these 13 people were paid to basically just kind of hang out until the very end, and the final curtain call?

00;20;00;26 – 00;20;03;07
Mike
Yeah, I think with a film they would be,

00;20;03;07 – 00;20;11;00
Mike
crew that you’d just put through some costume. I don’t know if you could do that in a play. If you have enough crew members, that would be done.

00;20;11;00 – 00;20;12;19
Christi
Yeah, yeah, I don’t know.

00;20;12;19 – 00;20;13;18
Christi
shall we go to the numbers?

00;20;13;18 – 00;20;14;22
Mike
Let’s go to the numbers.

00;20;14;22 – 00;20;18;12
Christi
A couple things before we do the hard and fast numbers.

00;20;18;12 – 00;20;25;03
Christi
and an example of product placement. The phone booth outside the marriage office where Grant and Lane,

00;20;25;03 – 00;20;39;03
Christi
Lou’s pursuing reporters, features a large bell telephone system with logos on the glass. The contract with the play’s producer stipulated that the film would not be released until the broadways end, so,

00;20;39;03 – 00;20;39;06
Christi
oh.

00;20;39;06 – 00;20;39;25
Mike
Wow.

00;20;39;27 – 00;20;51;13
Christi
So as not to take away from ticket sales for the Broadway run. And since the film wasn’t released until after near the end of the war. So,

00;20;51;13 – 00;20;52;11
Christi
because of,

00;20;52;11 – 00;20;54;08
Christi
Capra leaving,

00;20;54;08 – 00;21;04;05
Christi
the or. No, because the play was still running on Broadway. So that’s why the film was released in 44, and then, gosh, give it up for Kerry Grant.

00;21;04;05 – 00;21;37;01
Christi
He sounds like a mensch. There are conflicting reports about the size of his salary for the film and what he did with the money. Some sources claim that Grant earned $100,000 for making the picture, and that he donated all of that money to the U.S War Relief Fund. Oh, I know other perhaps credit. More credible sources such as the Warner Brothers Studio archives suggests that he received $160,000 for his efforts, of which 50,000 went to Hollywood’s division of the British War Relief Association.

00;21;37;01 – 00;22;03;01
Christi
In Southern California, 25,000 went to the American Red cross, 25,000 went to the USO, and 10,000 was paid to his agent. So still other sources claim that he donated $100,000 of his salary to an unspecified wartime charity and kept the remainder of the salary about $60,000 for himself. Each of these sources are consistent on at least two main points.

00;22;03;06 – 00;22;11;25
Christi
He earned $100,000 for making the film, and he donated at least $100,000 of his salary to Allied wartime charities. So

00;22;11;25 – 00;22;13;09
Christi
that’s pretty awesome.

00;22;13;11 – 00;22;14;28
Mike
Yeah, we go, Mr. Grant.

00;22;15;03 – 00;22;16;06
Christi
Yes.

00;22;16;06 – 00;22;25;17
Christi
Capra also received about 100,000. Raymond Massey’s salary was set at 25,000, Peter laureate 13,000. And,

00;22;25;17 – 00;22;31;22
Christi
Jean Adair and Josephine Hall. I believe those are the ants. They got 10,000 for making the film.

00;22;31;22 – 00;22;33;07
Mike
Yeah, not not a lot.

00;22;33;08 – 00;22;35;05
Christi
Not as much as good old.

00;22;35;05 – 00;22;36;22
Mike
But back in the day, that was probably,

00;22;36;22 – 00;22;39;00
Mike
a decent wage. Yes. Right. Yes.

00;22;39;03 – 00;22;56;15
Christi
So this like I said, was a 1944 film. The budget for this film was $1.2 million, and it made domestically 2.8 million. And internal only 1.9, for a total of 4.8 million. So it did quite well, probably from,

00;22;56;15 – 00;23;01;11
Christi
I would think, kind of notoriety from the play, kind of.

00;23;01;13 – 00;23;06;20
Mike
Yeah. Once the Broadway run finished in, they said this one’s at least five times as funny.

00;23;06;27 – 00;23;08;09
Christi
Right? Exactly.

00;23;08;09 – 00;23;33;04
Christi
it gets a 7.9 out of ten on IMDb. It’s 86% with the critics and 92% with audiences. It’s just under two hours at 158. It is before the rating board. So it received an approved, not a letter rating like we’re used to today. It is listed as a comedy crime thriller. I would say more comedy than thriller.

00;23;33;06 – 00;23;35;21
Mike
Yeah, there’s no real mystery. Who did whodunit?

00;23;35;21 – 00;23;52;14
Christi
Whodunit? Yeah, they’re pretty straightforward, right? Yeah. Right away. And it received one nomination. I did, I think. I can’t remember if IMDb was specific about what that nomination was, but I don’t have it down.

00;23;52;14 – 00;24;05;00
Christi
in the studio, like I said, was Warner Brothers and Warner Brothers borrowed Cary Grant from Columbia for the production back when they used to borrow and trade, let’s say.

00;24;05;03 – 00;24;05;29
Christi
Yeah, actors.

00;24;06;01 – 00;24;07;00
Mike
It sounds

00;24;07;00 – 00;24;11;27
Mike
odd that that one studio owned Cary Grant. Right.

00;24;11;27 – 00;24;15;25
Christi
We watched this on Apple for 3.99 and,

00;24;15;25 – 00;24;25;02
Christi
I, I’d say it, I enjoyed it. I’m glad I saw it. It feels like one of those historically right necessary films to watch.

00;24;25;05 – 00;24;28;24
Mike
I believe I had seen it when I was a youth and,

00;24;28;24 – 00;24;36;28
Mike
didn’t remember much. And so I was glad that we rewatched it again. I don’t know that I would go out of my way to watch it again. third time.

00;24;36;28 – 00;24;39;09
Mike
but it’s a fine film. Nothing wrong with it.

00;24;39;09 – 00;24;39;21
Mike
just,

00;24;39;21 – 00;24;40;12
Mike
you know,

00;24;40;12 – 00;24;41;23
Mike
maybe not.

00;24;41;26 – 00;24;44;07
Mike
I think it’s a broad comedy, but,

00;24;44;07 – 00;24;50;03
Mike
for some reason, it’s not just one of those. You should probably cut all that out. Don’t throw shade to the poor movie. That’s fine.

00;24;50;05 – 00;24;51;17
Christi
All right, let’s just let’s,

00;24;51;17 – 00;24;53;26
Christi
select and see what we’re watching.

00;24;53;26 – 00;24;57;29
Christi
next week.

00;24;58;05 – 00;25;03;14
Mike
Coincidentally, I just watched this movie, The Devil Wears Prada.

00;25;03;17 – 00;25;06;08
Christi
Well, fun. Well, you’ll have to watch it again.

00;25;06;08 – 00;25;06;28
Christi
All right.

00;25;06;28 – 00;25;11;15
Christi
I have a great rest. Rest of your weekend, everybody, and never forget that.

00;25;11;15 – 00;25;13;28
Mike
Just never stop. And neither do the movies.

00;25;14;00 – 00;25;33;09
Brennan
Thanks for listening to Dodge Movie Podcast with Christi and Mike Dodge of Dodge Media Productions. To find out more about this podcast and what we do. Go to Dodge Media productions.com. Subscribe. Share. Leave a comment and tell us what we should watch next. Dodgers never stop and neither do the movies.