fiction.wikisort.org - Movie

A Slight Case of Murder is a 1938 American comedy film directed by Lloyd Bacon. The film is based on the 1935 play by Damon Runyon and Howard Lindsay. The offbeat comedy stars Edward G. Robinson spoofing his own gangster image as Remy Marco.

A Slight Case of Murder
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Lloyd Bacon
Written by	Earl Baldwin Joseph Schrank
Based on	A Slight Case of Murder 1935 play by Damon Runyon and Howard Lindsay
Produced by	Samuel Bischoff
Starring	Edward G. Robinson Jane Bryan Allen Jenkins Ruth Donnelly
Cinematography	Sidney Hickox
Edited by	James Gibbon
Music by	Heinz Roemheld (uncredited)
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	February 26, 1938
Running time	85 minutes
Language	English

Plot

With the end of Prohibition, bootlegger Remy Marco ("Marko" in a sequence of the film, and in the closed captioning) becomes a legitimate brewer; but he slowly goes broke because the beer he makes tastes terrible, and everyone is afraid to tell him so. After four years, with bank officers preparing to foreclose on the brewery, he retreats to his Saratoga summer home, only to find four dead mobsters who meant to ambush him, but were killed by their confederate whom they meant to betray. More and more problems begin to pop up in the life of the former bootlegger, as he has taken in a bratty orphan, and his daughter comes home with a fiancé that turns out to be a state trooper.

Cast

Actor	Role
Edward G. Robinson	Remy Marco
Jane Bryan	Mary Marco
Allen Jenkins	Mike
Ruth Donnelly	Nora Marco
Willard Parker	Dick Whitewood
John Litel	Mr. Post, banker
Edward Brophy	Lefty
Harold Huber	Giuseppe 'Gip' ("Guiseppe" in the film credits)
Eric Stanley	Mr. Ritter, banker
Paul Harvey	Mr. Whitewood
Margaret Hamilton	Mrs. Cagle
Bobby Jordan	Douglas Fairbanks Rosenbloom (aka The Orphan)

Critical response

The movie continues to receive positive reviews. A Classic Film Guide review calls it "a satisfying comedy, which is enhanced by some great character work by veteran supporting players": Allen Jenkins, Edward Brophy, and Harold Huber as members of Remy's former gang gone legitimate; Margaret Hamilton as Mrs. Cagie, director of the orphanage where Marco grew up; and Paul Harvey as Marco's daughter's prospective father-in-law.[1]

Adaptations

The story was remade as Stop, You're Killing Me (1952) with Broderick Crawford and Claire Trevor.

On April 8, 1945, Old Gold Comedy Theatre presented an adaptation of the film on NBC radio. The 30-minute program starred Edward G. Robinson and Allen Jenkins.[2] On January 24, 1954, it was presented on NBC Star Playhouse starring Edward G. Robinson.

Although not an adaptation, Sylvester Stallone's movie Oscar (1991) bears a resemblance to the plot (minus the corpses), and all three movies can trace their ancestry to Molière's The Bourgeoise Gentleman.

See also

• List of American films of 1938

References

External links

• A Slight Case of Murder at IMDb.
• A Slight Case of Murder at the TCM Movie Database
• A Slight Case of Murder at AllMovie
• A Slight Case of Murder at the American Film Institute Catalog

---