The play became even better known through the release of the film version, which was held back until the end of the Broadway run. Directed by Frank Capra (who went on to direct It's a Wonderful Life and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) and starring several of the actors from the Broadway version, together with Cary Grant, Raymond Massey and Peter Lorre, the film was – and remains – as successful as the play.

Ronald Regan and Jack Benny had turned down Grant’s role of Mortimer Brewster. Bob Hope originally accepted the part, but Paramount refused to ‘lend’ him to Warner Brothers. Grant apparently considered his acting in this film to be ‘horribly over the top’ calling it ‘the least favorite’ of his movies. He donated his entire salary of $100,000 to the US War Relief Fund, equivalent to $10 million in today’s money.

Joseph Kesselring was born in 1902 in New York of German parents. He left teaching music after two years to take up a career on the vaudeville stage and freelance play writing. Arsenic and Old Lace was his only notable success. After his death in 1967, The National Arts Club created the Joseph Kesselring Prize – $10,000 awarded annually to promising playwrights nominated by theaters across the USA and funded by his widow, Charlotte.

Horror film actor Boris Karloff played Jonathan Brewster in the Broadway production – a self-referential running joke in both the play and then all subsequent versions. The Questors Theatre last performed Arsenic and Old Lace almost twenty-five years ago, in a run which opened on New Year's Eve, 1982. Many of the cast and crew are still active Questors members; several are involved in today’s performance, as you will see...