Stop, You're Killing Me

After the ban was lifted, a brewer decides to sell the beer legally, but no one wants to buy his rebellious beer, and he doesn't want to force sales. Sorry,

This is a remake of "A Slight Case of Murder," and suffice it to say that Broderick Crawford is no Edward G. Robinson! The remake, with Crawford as the reformed bootlegger who won't even drink the horrid beer he makes, is funny enough, but be sure to see it first, then the 1938 original. The decline may have something to do with the 50's sensibility's being too far removed from both Prohibition and 1930's screwball comedy.

Prohibition ends and beer baron Remy Marko (Broderick Crawford) is out of work. He decides to make beer legitimately. He is going broke since his beer isn't any good. He and his wife Nora (Claire Trevor) have daughter Mary (Virginia Gibson) who is marrying policeman Chancellor "Chance" Whitelaw (Bill Hayes). Nora throws a lavish reception and chaos ensues.

This musical is based on the play A Slight Case of Murder which was made into a movie in 1938. I like that movie although I don't remember too much of it. I immediately recognized this plot really quickly. I don't recall it being a musical and this comedy does not make me laugh. Chance and his mother annoyed me. He is stupid without being funny and she screams too much. I don't like most of these characters. It also feels rather 50's musical and out of time. Even the dead bodies don't strike me as funny.

Daffy bit of nonsense that benefits from the perfectly matched leads. Big, brawling, braying Broderick Crawford and the divine Claire Trevor at her brassy, sassy height. As a hood and his wife/moll longing to go straight and enter high society for the sake of their daughter the pair tear it up, Broderick with his over the top performance, which is just right for the material and Claire's more shaded but equally well measured work.

Joining them in the fun are several distinguished character actors, Ned Glass, Sheldon Leonard, Harry Morgan, Margaret Dupont etc., all doing some variant of their patented shtick and adding to the jolly nature of this black comedy.

The only place where this fall short is in the casting of the secondary leads. Neither Bill Hayes, who went on to decades of fame on the daytime soap Days of Our Lives, nor Virginia Gibson make much of an impression against the colorful juggernaut and polished scene stealing of the stars.

Prohibition beer baron Broderick Crawford goes legit with repeal. He doesn't change his production methods, so he also goes broke. He needs half a million dollars or he loses everything. Fortunately, one of the mugs at a party he is throwing in Saratoga to celebrate the engagement of daughter Virginia Gibson has left a satchel containing that amount from a racetrack robbery.

It's from a play co-written by Damon Runyon. Warners had made it in 1938 with Edward G. Robinson in the lead role, and now was the time to offer the world a Technicolor version. Crawford plays it as big and blustery except around wife Claire Trevor. However, while everyone puts in good effort, it's another story whose time has passed. Still, fun to see the Runyonesque characters at play, particularly Sheldon Leonard. With Harry Morgan, Margaret Dumont, and Jack Pepper.