A Slight Case of Murder: Going Straight Ain’t Easy

Remy Marko can’t figure it out. During the Prohibition years, he was a highly successful bootlegger. He had every reason to believe going into business as a legitimate brewer would be a success, too. He keeps on his old staff of loyal henchmen — after confiscating their hardware, a.k.a. firearms — turning them into law abiding citizens, more or less. But Remy (who always refers to himself in the third person, like Rico in Little Caesar) has a serious problem with sales which he can’t for the life of him understand.

In the film of A Slight Case of Murder, based on the Broadway play by Damon Runyon and Howard Lindsay, Remy Marko is played by Edward G. Robinson. Robinson was such a versatile actor that his comic abilities are sometimes overlooked. But throughout the course of his career, he chafed at being typecast as a tough guy, and strove to play different roles — and he spoofed his gangster image with enthusiasm.

Remy has his boys give up their hardware after
the repeal of Prohibition

And a very good spoof this one is. Warner Brothers happily cast their familiar supporting players, including Ruth Donnelly, Allen Jenkins, Edward Brophy, Harold Huber, George E. Stone, Margaret Hamilton, and John Litel. Bobby Jordan, of the Dead End Kids, is a scene-stealing standout.

Remy’s loyal henchmen, Edward Brophy, Harold Huber,
and Allan Jenkins

The story has a worried Remy, his wife Nora (Ruth Donnelly) and grown daughter Mary (Jane Bryan) driving out of town to a New York state vacation home near the Saratoga racetrack, chauffeured by the long-suffering Mike (Allen Jenkins). On the way, they stop at the orphanage where Remy grew up, run by the benevolent Mrs. Kagle (Margaret Hamilton). Remy is scheduled to give an uplifting talk to the boys. He also plans to pick up an orphan and take him home for a healthy summer in the country.

Remy is ready with an inspiring lecture.

“Never treat a sucker like so much dirt when he’s down,” he advises his audience. “Play ball with them and you’ll find that you always get a little better edge in the end. I’m telling you guys, when you leave this joint, keep your chin up… and whatever you do, don’t be a chiseler, or a gyp, or a gumshoe. Stay kosher. Keep your nose clean.”

When the time comes to choose an orphan, Remy tells Mrs. Kagle he’s not looking for a good boy — he wants the worst boy they have, so he can help him reform. Mrs Kagle draws herself up and says,

Douglas Fairbanks Rosenbloom meets Remy Marko

“Pedro, take three of the other older boys and go down to the cellar and unlock Douglas. Bring him to my office.”

This turns out to be the cynical, wisecracking Bobby Jordan as a teenage orphan rejoicing in the name of Douglas Fairbanks Rosenbloom, Douglas immediately demonstrates his skills by pickpocketing Remy’s watch, causing Remy to remonstrate, “Aw, Douglas, you hadn’t oughta do that!”. There will be many more occasions for him to say this over the next few days.

Douglas is not too keen on a healthy summer vacation in the country. In fact, his main objective is finding the nearest pool parlor and a bottle of beer. But Remy insists on treating him like a normal kid, and tells Mike to tell him a story as they drive.

We are treated to the enjoyable scene of Allen Jenkins, cigarette hanging from his lower lip, recounting the adventures of the Little Red Riding Hood in his own Runyonesque terms, as Douglas sourly slides down in his seat.

“So Little Red Riding Hood grabs herself a basket of chow and hotfoots it to her grandmother’s. But the Wolf, who’s hanging around for no good, gets a load of her trotting through the woods and tails her. “

The movie’s plot is quite complex, as are other Damon Runyon stories like Lady For a Day or Little Miss Marker; here Remy, Nora, and his staff of ex-thugs are dismayed to find that Mary has become engaged to a young man who has taken a job as state trooper. Remy is outraged, feeling that respectability is one thing, but taking up with an actual policeman is going too far.

Remy draws the line at actually having a policeman in the family

Even more unsettling is the discovery of four corpses sitting around a table in an upper room. They had obviously been shot as they sat playing poker. The boys recognize them as old enemies of Remy’s, Little Dutch, Slats Gallegher, and No-Nose Cohen — plus one complete stranger. It emerges that there has been an armed robbery of the bookies at the nearby racetrack. Remy and his boys conclude that these were the robbers, who apparently fell out over distribution of their loot, resulting in a fatal confrontation.

Meanwhile, crooked upper crust bankers are planning to foreclose on Remy’s brewery and take it over, knowing that turning a handsome profit only depends on changing the recipe for beer. Remy has carefully built up the infrastructure, from brewing to bottling to delivery. If the beer was any good, he’d be a big success.

Oh, yes; Remy finally finds out what everyone is afraid to tell him — the truth is, Remy’s beer tastes terrible.

The real problem with Remys beer is revealed

Through the course of an evening, with some quick thinking, Remy and his allies manage to tie all the threads together so everyone comes out all right for everyone. The best part of the movie, though are the many gangster movie in-jokes. Remy and his boys, for example, since they need to dispose of the inconvenient bodies, decide to have a little fun getting rid of them, and distribute the bodies around town to their old rivals’ hangouts.

Remy and the boys find one effort particularly hilarious — propping up the late No-Nose Cohen in the doorway of an old enemy so that when the door is opened he will fall right into the house.

Now, gangster movie fans will recognize this as the eventual fate of Tom Powers, the hoodlum played by James Cagney in William Wellman’s iconic 1931 film The Public Enemy.

Remy and Nora are a devoted couple

His slightly macabre sense of humor aside, Remy is actually a model citizen, devoted to home and family, and taking a responsible interest in his employees. He calls his wife, apparently an ex-showgirl, “Mama,” and likes nothing better than an evening at home with a few pals. Certainly the pals include gamblers, grifters, and other formerly shady types. But that”s all water under the bridge.

In the end, Remy shows why he was able to steer his business through the rough and ready days of Prohibition. He and Nora have a big party to celebrate their homecoming, forming a jolly background as Remy, in a display of quick and creative thinking, ties all the strands together, solves his problems, and secures a nice little nest egg for his daughter and her fiance at the same time.

More about Edward G. Robinson

Words Were Weapons Too: Edward G. Robinson in World War 2

A Hero of the Mind Dr. Ehrlichs Magic Bullet

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