A Slight Case of Murder (1938)

When in 1931 Little Caesar became a surprisingly huge hit, Edward G. Robinson was cemented as the cinema's most popular and most representative gangster star. However often after that movie Robinson would not just act in serious gangster movies, he also often appeared in comedies that parodied these gangster films. These comedies included movies like The Little Giant, The Whole Town's Talking, Brother Orchid and Larceny Inc.. A Slight Case of Murder is one of those comedies and a really good one as well.       

The director of A Slight Case of Murder was Lloyd Bacon, one of the great studio directors of the 1920's, 30's and 40's. While Bacon had been a director (before directing he had been an actor in some of Charlie Chaplin's best short comedies) since the silent era directing short comedies (starting for comedian Lloyd Hamilton and then for comedian producer Mack Sennett), his career really took off in the early talkie era when he started directing feature films for Warner Brothers. During his stay at Warner Brothers, he would become one of that studio's most reliable directors with such great (and diverse) movies as 42nd Street, Marked Woman, Action in the North Atlantic, Footlight Parade and many many more. He would also direct Edward G. Robinson in the comedies Brother Orchid and Larceny Inc.. A Slight Case of Murder was just one of the many great films Lloyd Bacon worked on for Warner Brothers.

During Prohibition Remy Marco (played by Edward G. Robinson) is the king of beer. However when prohibition ends, he decides to go legitimate and sell his beer legally. Since Remy never drinks though he has no idea just how bad his beer is, and now that people can get the good stuff, they have little to no interest in Marco's beer. With the assistance of his wife (played by Jane Bryan), and his gang (played by Allan Jenkins, Edward Brophy and Harold Huber) he tries to keep this business afloat. To add to Remy's troubles when his daughter (played by Ruth Donnelly) returns from school she is engaged to a guy who just got a job as a cop (played by Willard Parker).

This film is a fast paced, laugh out loud funny comedy that never loses its audience's enjoyment. The movie is simply so much fun from start to finish. Edward G. Robinson (as he has in quite a few other movies) proves he is just as good at comedy as he is at crime dramas. Adding heavily to the fun are Remy's Henchmen. Allan Jenkins, Edward Brophy and Harold Huber were in a whole lot of Warner Brothers movies at this time and though they were mostly in supporting roles, they were fantastic in each of these movies, and this movie is no exception. The three have perfect chemistry together and with Robinson and often bring this movie's biggest laughs. By the way my fellow Disney fans probably know Edward Brophy as the voice of Timothy Mouse in Dumbo and my fellow Hanna-Barbera fans might know Allan Jenkins as the voice of Officer Dibble in Top Cat. The whole cast here in fact plays their roles almost perfectly. Adding to this is a very smart and very funny script by Earl Baldwin and Joseph Schrank and expert direction by Lloyd Bacon.

The film was a huge success with both audiences and critics when released. Even though this movie may not be as well remembered as it should be, more people should definitely watch it as it will continue to delight many people today.  

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/90494/A-Slight-Case-of-Murder/articles.html
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030764/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt