Arsenic and Old Lace The movie Arsenic and Old Lace uses a variety of film techniques to tell its story. Rather than opening with a voice over, it uses text on the screen to provide background information for the story.

The director frames shots in interesting ways: in one scene, Mortimer fills one side from top to bottom, while on the other side, his aunt is at the other side of the frame. In other shots, Jonathan and Mortimer are centered. Some scenes resemble tableaus, with the heights of four characters carefully arranged. This is repeated with Jonathan (the taller one) on the left, and his assistant on the right.

Close-ups that are close to extreme emphasize the scars on Jonathan's face. Close-ups are used on Mortimer (Cary Grant) several times, to emphasize his shock when he first realizes his sisters have poisoned a lonely old man, and then again when he realizes they have done it eleven times. Close-ups are used multiple times, especially of Jonathan with Elaine.

A low angle shot is used on Jonathan when he has Mortimer tied up in the basement,

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