It is the end of prohibition. Remy Marco (Edward G. Robinson) was a bootlegger that made beer. Now that prohibition has been repealed he decides to go legit. He himself doesn’t drink beer but he has no problem wanting to sell it. His enforcers are now salesmen. His beer is now called “Gold Velvet Beer”. There’s one problem with his plans. His beer tastes terrible, but nobody will tell him.
Four years later he is in hock up to his ears and he owes the bank almost half a million dollars in outstanding loans. The bank plans on taking over the Brewery and changing the formula for his beer. Remy tries to stall and tells them he has the money and he will give it to them tomorrow in Saratoga.
Every year Remy and his wife Nora (Ruth Donnelly) head up to Saratoga for the summer. This year they leave a day early. Their daughter Mary (Jane Bryan) is with them since they can no longer afford the fancy Paris school she was attending. Also in tow is an orphan, Douglas Fairbanks Rosenbloom (Bobby Jordan). Remy came from the same orphanage and wants to give a kid a chance to spend the summer in the country. This year it’s Douglas. Along with them is their chauffer Mike (Allen Jenkins).
Mary wants to tell her father that she is engaged to Dick Whitewood (Willard Parker) but is waiting for the right time. Dick is going up to Saratoga to surprise Mary with his new job. He is now a state trooper. Remy hates cops.
Before Remy and his family got to Saratoga there was an armored car heist. The five guys who stole the half million dollars are hiding out at Remy’s Saratoga house waiting to steal his money as well. One of the robbers hears the other four talking about getting rid of him. He kills the other four and leaves their bodies at Remy’s Saratoga house. Seeing Remy’s boys pulling in the driveway, he hides the money from the heist under the bed and himself in the closet.
When Remy finds out about the stiffs in his front bedroom he needs to get rid of them quick. He decides to deliver them to various people around town that he has had issues with in the past. When Remy’s men read in the paper that there is a reward of $10,000 for each man alive or dead, they hot foot it around town to collect them again. Now there are four dead guys, a killer, a half million dollars, a juvenile delinquent and a state trooper in the house. Time for a party.
“A Slight Case of Murder” was released in 1938 and was directed by Lloyd Bacon. It is a comedy/crime film. The movie is based on a play by Damon Runyon and Harold Lindsay.
Edward G. Robinson is no stranger to gangster movies and has done a few comedies. This time around he combines them both wonderfully. With a cast of wonderful character actors “A Slight Case of Murder” is a great spoof of the crime drama and a great vehicle to show of Robinson’s talent.
The juvenile delinquent is Bobby Jordan. He was one of the Dead End Kids and one of the East Side Kids along with Leo Gorcey. He also did some Bowery Boys films. By the age of four and a half he could sing, dance and play Saxophone.