Runtime: 95 minutes
Directed by: Lloyd Bacon
Starring: Edward G. Robinson, Broderick Crawford, Edward Brophy, Jack Carson, Jane Wyman
From: Warner Bros.
It's time for me to catch up on movies I've seen while in Kansas. So far, it's been two, although I hope to view then review one sometime Thursday proper.
As I am now in Wichita-and will be until I fly back to Florida on Friday-I have the opportunity to see more than one movie and participate on this platform again. The drive here was as exhausting as in August of last year, including the traffic and all the hours on the road. I'll give more details in a later review but I visited some locations that can't be experienced in Florida.
Larceny played on Turner Classic Movies this morning. As the movie was a comedic version of a heist movie and featured quite a few recognizable faces, I was happy to see an old-timey picture. Turns out, not only is this a Christmas film, Larceny was quite delightful. Robinson plays a hoodlum nicknamed PRESSURE who teams up with his lunkheaded friend JUG and their pal WEEPY to purchase a luggage store once the first two are released from prison... instead of proving that they're reformed and wish to succeed in a legitimate business, a bank is next door and they wish to rob it via drilling in the basement. I've heard that Woody Allen's 2000 movie Small Time Crooks was “heavily inspired” by Larceny.
The absurdity is that despite their best efforts, they were victims of circumstance & the luggage business becomes a success for them. The film-by my tastes-is hysterical, the humor still landing after over 80 years. Not a surprise that Woody would want to remake it, credited or otherwise. Robinson of course nailed his smooth-talking debonair part. Broderick Crawford was a delight as the dim-witted Jug and I was quite amused by Edward Brophy as Weepy. There's also Jane Wyman as Pressure's moll, Anthony Quinn as a foil, Jack Carson, Harry Davenport, George Meeker, and several faces I won't reveal here who would become famous (or in one case, much more famous) in later decades. This Warner Brothers production offered many of their stock players. To my delight, Fred Kelsey had a small part-I best know him for appearing in a few Three Stooges shorts.
I was happy to have finally seen this underrated early 40's comedy from Lloyd Bacon where Robinson was swell at spoofing his tough guy persona; this includes dressing up as Santa Claus at one point. It's unknown how many more reviews will be done in the upcoming week--to reiterate, I'm doing fine in Kansas at the moment.
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