Take the Money and Run (1969)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Woody Allen

Writers:

Woody Allen (original screenplay) and
Mickey Rose (original screenplay)

Release Date:

13 March 1971 (Japan)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

crime lives!

Plot:

The life and times of Virgil Starkwell, inept bank robber.

Plot Keywords:

Bank Robbery | Parade | Cello | Baseball | FBI

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Woody Allen	...	Virgil Starkwell
Janet Margolin	...	Louise
Marcel Hillaire	...	Fritz - Director
Jacquelyn Hyde	...	Miss Blair
Lonny Chapman	...	Jake - Convict
Jan Merlin	...	Al - Bank Robber
James Anderson	...	Chain Gang Warden
Howard Storm	...	Fred
Mark Gordon	...	Vince
Micil Murphy	...	Frank
Minnow Moskowitz	...	Joe Agneta
Nate Jacobson	...	The Judge
Grace Bauer	...	Farm House Lady
Ethel Sokolow	...	Mother Starkwell
Dan Frazer	...	The Psychiatrist (as Don Frazier)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:12 | Iceland:L | USA:PG (DVD rating) | Argentina:Atp | Canada:PG | Finland:K-8 | France:U | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:M | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

San Francisco, California, USA

Company:

American Broadcasting Company (ABC)

Trivia:

Micil Murphy returned to prison for a role in the film. He had become an actor after being paroled from San Quentin in 1966 after serving five and a half years for armed robbery.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Virgil is walking toward the shore of the beach after done eating the one slice of pepperoni, the shadows of the camera and boom mic are visible on his sweat jacket.

Quotes:

Virgil: Nobody wears beige to a bank robbery!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Police Squad!: Testimony of Evil (Dead Men Don't Laugh) (#1.6)" (1982)

Soundtrack:

Soul Bossa Nova

Remember: You can't wear a beige shirt to rob a bank!

"Take the Money and Run" is an absolutely hilarious Woody Allen film, done in a quasi-documentary style, about a career criminal, Virgil Starkwell, who has a very unsuccessful career. His prison breaks don't go as planned, his robberies are a disaster and usually coincide with someone else's robbery of the same place, and his planning of a job would be fine if only he weren't talking to the police in the booth behind him. One nice perk of failure: while attempting to rob a young woman's purse, he falls in love with her (Janet Margolin). Virgil does admit at one point thinking of foregoing robbery and taking up a career in singing. He doesn't mention the cello, which gave him his start in music - and crime.

This is one of those laugh out loud even when you're alone movies of which there are all too few. But this is one. Over a tough, FBI-type narration, we watch Virgil's futile attempts at making money through crime, see his parents (disguised) interviewed, as well as his wife and the various police and investigators he meets along the way.

It's amazing to look at this film and then look at "Match Point" done 35 years later and see the evolution of this brilliant man. Woody Allen is capable of rock-solid comedy as well as provocative movie-making. Although he's had a few blips along the way, one wonders what he'll think of next.