mmallon4 How can you resist a film like Larceny Inc once you've heard the plot? It's one of those quirky film concepts I just love. A cocky criminal and his two buffoons buy a luggage store to they can dig their way into the bank next door. Perhaps the film's greatest strength is how it plays out like a live action cartoon. Nothing ever goes beyond the scene in the moment; for example in one scene a set of oil pipes are burst during the digging process and the basement from which they are digging from is drenched in oil and yet this is never mentioned again. Even as one character who is not involved in the ban heist comes across the two drenched in the oil he bizarrely does not comment on their appearance; that's the twisted cartoon world Larceny Inc incorporates. I've always thought actors from the 1930's resembled cartoon characters with their exaggerated facial features and distinctive accents; very true with this cast including Edward G. Robinson, Jack Carson and even a young Jackie Gleason; all live action caricatures. Actors who emerged after the war generally didn't have this and instead were actually more lifelike. You really get a sense of the world the movie takes place in with a street populated with such memorable and mostly ethnic characters giving the movie that Shop Around the Corner edge to it.Maxwell aka Pressure's gift wrapping has to be the comedic highlight of Robinson's career; a comedy moment which couldn't be timed more perfectly. His uttering of "$9:75" is funny enough as it is but his pathetic attempt at gifting wrapping which follows had me in stitches. I also love Jack Carson's attempt at hitting on Jane Wyman. This scene has nothing to do with the rest of the movie but has got to be the ultimate "skipping the pleasantries" monologue I've ever heard.There are so many layers within Larceny Inc. Is the movie a celebration or an indictment on capitalism? The gangsters involvement in legitimate business is what makes them renounce their past ways but only after they've essentially been seduced and consumed by the capitalist system. Larceny Inc was released in 1942 just months after the US got involved in the war but the film's production began prior to that with its themes of business and consumerism are completely counterproductive to the war effort, something I've noticed with many films released in 1942. There is also the irony that the gangster is the one who brings the community together and the authority figures in the movie are played as fools.Larceny Inc can also join films like Rocky IV and Die Hard as Christmas movies which aren't about Christmas; and Edward G Robinson dressed as Santa Claus? Sold!

John T. Ryan MADE DURING THE great, Golden Age of the Sound movie, this is a great example of Warner Brothers at the zenith of its production machine. Not so coincidentally, it was during the first year of our (the USA's) official involvement in World War II.WE SEE FROM the credits that this is a film that was adapted from a stage-play. This was not an unusual method of movie-making then, nor is it now. Adaptation of even plays that were considered to be unsuccessful for not having been produced often led to what would be considered to be at least a passable motion picture. We do seem to recall that Warners bought the rights to one here to for unheard of play called EVERYONE COMES TO RICK'S. The play was adapted without any pretensions of being a major motion picture into CASABLANCA (Warner Brothers, 1942). Ever hear of it Schultz? SO IT WAS with that same sort of casual attitude that the studio adopted in its prosecution of this story. It was just to be another of the yearly output. This was a policy that was wisely followed and insured that a great and entertaining roster of pictures would guarantee moviegoers of America and the World would get their money's worth on "Movie Night" at the local movie houses.IN EXAMINING AND dissecting the very crux of LARCENY INC., we find a certain adherence to formula. Basically speaking, they take a preexisting story and bring it to the celluloid medium via their employing the roster of contract players to deliver the finished product. On the top spot in billing, we have Edward G. Robinson as the proverbial crook with the heart of gold. His support is furnished by folks like: Jane Wyman (then Mrs. Ronald Reagan), Jack Carson, Broderick Crawford, Ed Brophy, John Qualen, Barbara Jo Allen, Grant Mitchell and others; including young Anthony Quinn and Jackie Gleason.THE STORY's PLOT is kind of old hat, even having whiskers then. Simply stated, a group of hardened (but with hearts of Gold) ex-cons plot to open a luggage shop as a means of using the cellar as a venue to tunnel into the bank vault adjacent to the storefront. But things go wrong as the new business turns out to be quite lucrative, as well as its being strictly legit.IN THE END (of course) the gang opts for staying in the luggage business. Chalk this up to the State Pen's Correctional system! ANOTHER ASPECT THAT we must consider is that of "the comical and lovable" good crook. In this they area, the movie's pedigree can also be traced to folks like Damon Runyan; who made a living by turning out tales of members of the underworld, whom he romanticized.WE CERTAINLY ARE not suggesting that one should skip getting the chance to screen this whenever it shows up. It is a delight in the development of character and in the interplay between the thugs. Jack Carson, Broderick and Edward Brophy tend to steal many a scene and Jane Wyman provides us with a fine, if somewhat diminutively crafted role.BUT TO US, both Schultz and I agree that it is a testament to the versatility of Edward G. Robinson. Sometimes it's difficult to believe that such a brilliant comedy role is done so well by one who is a virtuoso dramatic actor and an iconic figure in Hollywood history.

moonspinner55 Very fast and very funny gangster-comedy from Laura and S.J. Perelman's play "The Night Before Christmas" features Edward G. Robinson as a just-sprung ex-con who finagles his way into becoming the owner and operator of a luggage store in New York City. Why? Because the National Bank is right next door...and its vault is just behind the cellar wall in Robinson's shop. Opening with a hilarious prison baseball sequence, the movie keeps rising higher with each new scene and eccentric new character, like a balloon you don't want to see pop. The dialogue is full of tickling, hard-boiled wit, and Robinson's cuddly cohorts-in-crime (Broderick Crawford and Edward Brophy) are absolutely wonderful. The picture doesn't have a mean-spirited thorn to quibble over, however the third act doesn't live up to the spirited lunacy of the rest--and the final tag jumps too far forward in time. Mostly a delightful enterprise, with a marvelous supporting cast including Jack Carson and Jane Wyman as would-be sweethearts. Woody Allen borrowed the basic premise in 2000 for his hit comedy "Small Time Crooks". *** from ****

vawlkee_2000 This film's yet another example of wayyyyy under appreciated Warner's in house director, Lloyd Bacon. Why do people ignore this guy??? He was really good! Look at how he handled Cagney and O'Brien if you need convincing. As usual Eddie G steals the show.....How did he do it? I have yet to see him in a bad performance. This is a great little film that just builds and builds... Everything seems to be going well until Anthony Quinn shows up and throws a monkey wrench into the whole works and the "gang" have to go (reluctantly) legit. Jack Carson, as usual, plays a bumbling but earnest character, a-la his cop "playwright" done the same year in "Arsenic and Old Lace"( released oddly in '44.) Another film made the same year (again, on the eve of Pearl Harbor) was Bogie's "All Through the Night" that also included Gleason and a young Phil Silvers.....All in the same vein! Jeezus, why can't they make 'em like this anymore??