Thugs with Dirty Mugs (1939)

Killer and his gang are robbing every bank in town in numerical order, except they skip the 13th National Bank. The police are unable to catch them, despite their predictability (and their ... See full summary »

Director:

Tex Avery

Writer:

Dave Monahan

Stars:

Tex Avery, Mel Blanc, John Deering

Cast

Uncredited cast:
Tex Avery	...	Ed. G. Robemsome as Killer Diller (voice) (uncredited)
Mel Blanc	...	Tattle-Tale Bank Clerk / Annoyed Mobster / Secret Agents / Man in Audience (voice) (uncredited)
John Deering	...	F.H.A. (Sherlock) Homes as Flat-Foot Flanigan with a Floy Floy (voice) (uncredited)

Storyline

Killer and his gang are robbing every bank in town in numerical order, except they skip the 13th National Bank. The police are unable to catch them, despite their predictability (and their endless sight gags). Finally, they get help from an unlikely source: the guy in the front of the theatre who sat through the picture before. They capture Killer, and he gets a long sentence, which he has to write on the blackboard 1,000 times.

---

Plot Keywords:

capture | bank robbery | jail | split screen | spoof | 

---

Genres:

Animation | Crime | Family | Short | Comedy

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 May 1939 (USA)

Also Known As:

Le crime ne paie pas

Company Credits

Production Co:

Leon Schlesinger Studios, Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

8 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film short is available as a bonus on the Warner DVD of The Roaring Twenties.

---

Goofs

They rob 2 different Worst National Banks.

---

Crazy Credits

At the beginning of this cartoon, "F.H.A. (Sherlock) Homes" is credited with playing "Flat-Foot Flanagan with a floy-floy" and "Ed G. Robemsome" is credited with playing "Killer Diller."

---

Connections

Referenced in The Great Piggy Bank Robbery (1946)

---

Soundtracks

"William Tell Overture"
(uncredited)
Music by Gioachino Rossini

User Reviews

Wonderful '30s Gangster Satire

Talk about dated: get this opening graphic as we see a cop pacing in the police station: "F.H.A. (Sherlock) Homes as Flat-Foot Flanigan with a floy floy (whatever that means!) Then billed is "Ed. G. Robemsome" as "Killer Diller"

Then we see headlines: "1st National Bank Robbed by Killer" followed by the 2nd, 3rd, 4th National Bank, etc., to the headline "13th National Bank Skipped; Killer Superstitious" and then all the way up to "19th bank" until the action starts.

We see a robbery (presumably the 20th National Bank) with a cool aerial shot. At ground, the sleek automobiles and very good artwork are great to view. It is capped off by yet another headline, "87 Banks Robbed In One Day."

For the first few minutes this was really a wild cartoon, a ton of fun to watch. The imitations of Edward G. Robinson and Fred Allen were very good and I enjoyed the 1930s gangster-type satire.

It kind of pooped out in the last few minutes with either too-corny or just not funny material, but overall I wish I could see more of these 1930s cartoons. Many of them are so dated they are a hoot. This short was included in "The Roaring Twenties" DVD and also is on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 3.