A Slight Case of Murder (1938)

Director:

Lloyd Bacon

Writers:

Earl Baldwin (screen play) and
Joseph Schrank (screen play) ...
(more)

Release Date:

5 March 1938 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

High finance teaches a racketeer new tactics !

Plot:

Former bootlegger Remy Marco has a slight problem with forclosing bankers, a prospective son-in-law, and four hard-to-explain corpses.

Plot Keywords:

Beer | Prohibition | State Trooper | Corpse | Orphan

Cast

Edward G. Robinson	...	Remy Marco
Jane Bryan	...	Mary Marco
Allen Jenkins	...	Mike
Ruth Donnelly	...	Nora Marco
Willard Parker	...	Dick Whitewood
John Litel	...	Post
Edward Brophy	...	Lefty
Harold Huber	...	Guiseppe
Eric Stanley	...	Ritter
Paul Harvey	...	Mr. Whitewood
Bobby Jordan	...	Douglas Fairbanks Rosenbloom
Joe Downing	...	Innocence
Margaret Hamilton	...	Mrs. Cagle
George E. Stone	...	Kirk
Bert Hanlon	...	Sad Sam
Jean Benedict	...	Remy's Secretary
Harry Seymour	...	The Singer
Betty Compson	...	Loretta
Joe Caits	...	No-Nose Cohen (as Joe Caites)
George Lloyd	...	Little Dutch
John Harmon	...	Blackhat Gallagher
Duke York	...	Champ
Pat Daly	...	Pete Ryan
Harry Tenbrook	...	The Stranger
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sam Ash	...	Cocktail Lounge Manager (uncredited)
Brooks Benedict	...	Partygoer (uncredited)
Wade Boteler	...	First Policeman (uncredited)
Frank Bruno	...	Gangster (uncredited)
Tommy Bupp	...	Freckle-Faced Kid (uncredited)
Loia Cheaney	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Harry Cody	...	Pessimistic Beer Patron (uncredited)
Ralph Dunn	...	Third Policeman (uncredited)
Jimmie Fox	...	Customer (uncredited)
Harrison Greene	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Ben Hendricks Jr.	...	Second Policeman (uncredited)
Al Herman	...	Jim (uncredited)
John Hiestand	...	Radio Commentator (uncredited)
Al Hill	...	Gangster (uncredited)
Stuart Holmes	...	Partygoer (uncredited)
Jerry Jerome	...	Ryan (uncredited)
Carole Landis	...	Partygoer Leaning on Piano During Song. (uncredited)
Frank Mayo	...	Partygoer (uncredited)
Tom McGuire	...	Partygoer (uncredited)
Sue Moore	...	Partygoer (uncredited)
Jack Mower	...	Beer Drinker (uncredited)
Harry Myers	...	Partygoer (uncredited)
Louis Natheaux	...	Partygoer (uncredited)
Anne O'Neal	...	Orphanage Singing Teacher (uncredited)
Jane Ray	...	Partygoer (uncredited)
Bert Roach	...	Speakeasy Proprietor (uncredited)
Ronald R. Rondell	...	Partygoer (uncredited)
Jeffrey Sayre	...	Hotel Manager (uncredited)
Harry Semels	...	Partygoer (uncredited)
Myrtle Stedman	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Doc Stone	...	Gangster (uncredited)
Elliott Sullivan	...	Beer Salesman (uncredited)
George Taylor	...	Gangster (uncredited)
Billy Wayne	...	Customer (uncredited)
Dick Wessel	...	Partygoer Popping Cork (uncredited)
Huey White	...	Gangster (uncredited)
Harry Wilson	...	Butch (uncredited)
Robert Winkler	...	Orphan (uncredited)
Jack Wise	...	Partygoer (uncredited)

Directed by
Lloyd Bacon

Writing credits
Earl Baldwin		(screen play) and
Joseph Schrank		(screen play)
Damon Runyon		(from a play by) and
Howard Lindsay		(from a play by)
Mary C. McCall Jr.		contributor to screenplay construction (uncredited)

Produced by
Samuel Bischoff	....	producer (uncredited)
Hal B. Wallis	....	executive producer (uncredited)
Jack L. Warner	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Cinematography by
Sidney Hickox		(photography by) (as Sid Hickox)

Film Editing by
James Gibbon

Art Direction by
Max Parker

Costume Design by
Howard Shoup		(gowns)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Richard Maybery	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Stanley Jones	....	sound

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director
M.K. Jerome	....	music: songs
Jack Scholl	....	lyrics: songs
Adolph Deutsch	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
Howard Jackson	....	composer: title music (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (A First National Picture)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1938) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. Pictures (1947) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:14A (video rating) | USA:Approved (certificate #3916) | USA:TV-G (TV rating)

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Several actors in studio records/casting call lists did not appear or were not identifiable in this movie. These were (with their character names): William Worthington (Banker), Isabel La Mal (French Teacher), Al Bridge (Tony - Factory Worker) and John Harron (Freddie).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Remy drinks from the glass of beer from which Whitewood drank, there is inexplicably more beer in the glass.

Quotes:

Remy Marco:Come on in, honey, into the music room.
Nora Marco:Music room? Up to now this has always been the slot machine room.
Remy Marco:Well, that's all going to be changing now. We got to start putting on plenty of class. Oh, and by the way, have Mike take the spittoons out of the living room.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Public Enemies: The Golden Age of the Gangster Film (2008) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Bob White (Whatcha Gonna Swing Tonight?)

Diversifying After Prohibition

A Slight Case of Murder had its origins on the Broadway stage where this play by Damon Runyon and Howard Lindsay flopped miserably with only 69 performances in the 1935 season. It certainly adapted better for the screen when Warner Brothers bought it for one of their gangster stable, in this case Edward G. Robinson.

The story concerns a gangster Remy Marko who is trying to go straight and get out of the bootleg beer racket now that Prohibition has been repealed. It was a problem faced by any number of people who were not Lucky Luciano or Meyer Lansky.

In Robinson's case he's decided to go legitimate and brew beer legally. Of course no one has the heart to tell him that the stuff he's been peddling for years has been nothing but swill, not even his family, Ruth Donnelly and Jane Bryan, nor his closest associates Allen Jenkins, Harold Huber, and Ed Brophy.

While all this is going Robinson and the family and friends go to his summer home near the Saratoga racetrack where a big robbery of the bookie's money has taken place. This was in the days before the para-mutual machines and track bets were taken at the sight by legal bookmakers. The gang decides to hide out in what they think will be Robinson's deserted home.

Daughter Jane Bryan is romancing state trooper Willard Parker, a prospect the going straight Robinson still finds appalling. No less so than Paul Harvey, Parker's nervous blue-blood father.

All these elements mix well for a very funny screen comedy. Robinson who was really getting tired of all the gangster parts, seems to be enjoying himself, referring to himself constantly in the third person, and earning quite a few laughs and keeping up with some of the best scene stealers around. Ruth Donnelly keeps up very well who most of the time remembers she's now supposed to be respectable, but every so often slips back to her familiar background.

The guy who really is funny here is Paul Harvey. He's mixing with people he's not used to and it's putting quite an evident strain on him.

One of the running gags in A Slight Case of Murder is how bad the beer Robinson makes. He never drinks himself so he doesn't know and no one is brave enough to tell him. Damon Runyon who probably sampled every kind of illegal liquor available during Prohibition, knew well the kind of rot gut that was peddled. The classier places imported stuff from across the border, but the dives used whatever they could get. Marko's lousy beer was something drinking people during Prohibition knew well from. A Slight Case of Murder is one of the few films that ever dealt with that fact albeit in a comic way.

Though the plot situations are certainly dated, the talent of this very good cast is timeless.