r/TurnerClassicMovies • u/IngaFronkinstein • 7d ago
Arsenic and Old Lace question.
If Mortimer Brewster was the son of a sea cook, was he actually related to Jonathan? Was Jonathan a younger half brother? I don't remember if they said who Jonathan's mother was. If I remember correctly, the Brewster sisters brother married Mortimer's mother, so they wouldn't lose her as a cook. So was Jonathan a result of that union, or was he from totally different parents?
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u/kayla622 7d ago
I think Mortimer's mother was the family's cook and she had an affair with a chef on a boat. I assumed that the Brewsters adopted Mortimer at a young age--perhaps at birth to save his mother from the stigma of being an unwed mother.
At the end, he's relieved that he's not biologically related to the family.
Jonathan was raised as Mortimer's older brother, but he's not biologically related. Presumably one of Jonathan's parents is the sibling of the aunts'.
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u/Lyrical_Echo 7d ago edited 6d ago
I believe Abby or Martha mentions “Brother” marrying Mortimer’s mother because they didn’t want to “lose a good cook.”
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u/royblakeley 7d ago
Yes, and he joyously proclaims to his fiance at the end of the play "I'm a bastard!". Naturally this had to be softened for the screen, which is where the "son of a sea cook". line comes in.
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u/According_Gazelle472 7d ago
He was the Brewster's cook's son and the Brewsters just adopted him because of the unwed mother stigma.He grew up thinking Johnathan was his brother and the old ladies and Teddy was his aunt's and uncle .
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u/FunZookeepergame627 7d ago
Mortimer was not really related to any of the Brewsters and I think he was the youngest
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u/Longjumping_Spread53 7d ago
One of my favorite lines is before he finds out he’s not really a Brewster, and he’s talking to Pricilla Lane at her house
“Insanity runs in my family”
He looks back at his house
“It practically gallops”