Just when you think your family is messed up, comes a film that will change your mind. The Light Factory’s “Family Portraits” Reperatory Film Series will screen Arsenic and Old Lace. The 1944 film — directed by Frank Capra and based on the play by Joseph Kesselring — stars Cary Grant as Mortimer Brewster, a newlywed who discovers his delusional family members (two kind-hearted aunts and a mentally handicapped younger brother) are killing folks and throwing their bodies in the basement. Further worry surfaces when Brewster learns his other brother (played by Raymond Massey) is a cold-hearted murderer conspiring to kill him. In addition to saving his own life, Brewster struggles with his inner fear of following his family’s footsteps toward a path of insanity. He must hurriedly take care of the crisis, so he can enjoy his honeymoon. Free. 7 p.m. The Light Factory (Held in Knight Gallery), 345 N. College St. 704-333-9755. www.lightfactory.org.
This article appears in Feb 22-28, 2011.
