Larceny, Inc. (1942)

Director:

Lloyd Bacon

Writers:

Laura Perelman (play) and
S.J. Perelman (play) ...

Release Date:

2 May 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

Plot:

Three ex-cons buy a luggage shop to tunnel into the bank vault next door. But despite all they can do, the shop prospers...

Plot Keywords:

Luggage | Sing Sing | Bank Robbery | Con Artist | Automobile Accident

Cast

Edward G. Robinson	...	J. Chalmers 'Pressure' Maxwell
Jane Wyman	...	Denny Costello
Broderick Crawford	...	Jug Martin
Jack Carson	...	Jeff Randolph
Anthony Quinn	...	Leo Dexter
Edward Brophy	...	Weepy Davis
Harry Davenport	...	Homer Bigelow
John Qualen	...	Sam Bachrach
Barbara Jo Allen	...	Mademoiselle Gloria
Grant Mitchell	...	Mr. Aspinwall, a banker
Jackie Gleason	...	Hobart (as Jackie C. Gleason)
Andrew Tombes	...	Oscar Engelhart, a merchant
Joe Downing	...	Smitty, a convict (as Joseph Downing)
George Meeker	...	Mr. Jackson, a merchant
Fortunio Bonanova	...	Anton Copoulos, a barber

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Sweden:(Banned) | USA:Approved (PCA #7928)

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

No children were seen in the film; although 'Philo Reh' (Urchin), Fred Walburn (Urchin) and Janice Ohman (Little girl) are in studio records/casting call lists for their roles, they were either cut from the final print or never filmed at all.

Goofs:

Continuity: Charles Sullivan hits a fly ball in the baseball game, but you see the pitcher field a ground ball.

Quotes:

Jug Martin: Weepy, I don't like the idea of going into a bank through the front door.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Small Time Crooks (2000)

Soundtrack:

Jingle Bells

very funny, with Edward G. Robinson heading a great cast

"Larceny, Inc." is a 1942 film starring Edward G. Robinson, Broderick Crawford, Jane Wyman, Anthony Quinn, Jack Carson, Ed Brophy, Jackie Gleason and Henry Davenport. The idea behind this film consciously or subconsciously may have inspired Woody Allen's "Small Time Crooks." Gangsters buy a luggage shop situated next to a bank in order to break through the wall into the bank vault; instead, they find themselves dragged kicking and screaming into legitimacy.

Edward G. Robinson is "Pressure," an ex-con who at first tries to keep customers out of the store ("if a customer comes in, blow him off") - but when he tells the young woman like a daughter to him (Wyman) that he's sincere, she starts working with a luggage salesman (Carson) on big promotions. Soon the store is jumping with customers. The merchants on the street ask for Pressure's support - the street is being torn up, and it's right before Christmas; he becomes their hero. However, when an ex con comes into the store to borrow money, he realizes the store is a front for a bank robbery and goes back and tells a scary prisoner, Leo (Quinn) who escapes and decides to do the job himself.

The funniest scene is the aggravated Robinson wrapping a suitcase when a customer asks for gift-wrapping. Robinson is hilarious - he could be doing Little Ceasar, he takes it so seriously, and he's all the funnier for it. Broderick Crawford did some comedy before "All the King's Men" - he's excellent as a dumb associate of Pressure's who's digging the hole to the bank. Jackie Gleason plays a soda jerk - and makes the most of it. Wyman and Carson don't have much to do, alas. The rest of the cast is uniformly delightful.

This is a real gem - "Small Time Crooks" takes the basic plot and goes in another direction with it - both are wonderful films. Try and catch this one on TCM.