Larceny, Inc. (1942)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Memorable, crazy movie

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

I couldn't help but think as I watched Larceny, Inc. that it was a vehicle originally intended for The Three Stooges. Edward G. Robinson, Broderick Crawford, and Edward Brophy star as three ex-cons who appear to go straight by buying a luggage shop, but they're secretly digging underground to get to the neighboring bank. Their rapport is adorable, and with the quick banter and slapstick antics, it's easy to imagine Moe, Larry, and Curly in the leads instead.I love Edward G. Robinson, so I'm always rooting for him when he's playing someone who doesn't get a fair shake. Broderick Crawford is surprisingly sweet and funny in this role, making me wonder why Hollywood ever cast him as a bad guy when he's so believable as a good, dumb sidekick. Usually Edward Brophy takes small roles, but as the second lead, he's given a large amount of screen time, and he holds his own and has great chemistry with Eddie. Jack Carson joins the cast as a confident luggage salesman who's intent on wooing Eddie's surrogate daughter Jane Wyman, who looks absolutely adorable as a blonde! Anthony Quinn, as you might guess, plays a gangster, and Harry Davenport, as you might guess, plays a likable old man. With this many recognizable faces in the cast, how can you resist this classic?My favorite line is when Barbara Jo Allen tries to get Eddie's romantic attention. She owns the neighboring lingerie store and she invites him over to check out her supply. "You come over sometime and look at my trunks," Eddie answers back. Larceny, Inc. is very funny, as the quips fly across the screen, you might find the plot a little familiar. If you remember a movie in which three ex-cons dig underground next to a bank, you might be thinking of Woody Allen's remake, entitled Small Time Crooks. Both are very funny, so matter which one you start with, you're in for a treat.

. . . all the time. One blew up there just last week. So when clueless thugs start jack-hammering in a shop's basement with absolutely no guidance from "Miss Dig" halfway through LARCENY, INC., viewers begin a vigil for the other shoe to drop. First the hapless mugs hit the water line. Next they "strike" oil--fueling the store's furnace. Gas would be the logical next step. But LARCENY, INC. was released during WWII, meaning that special effects budgets were low, and skittish audiences subject to nightly black-outs and air raid drills were NOT in any mood for gratuitous explosions. So instead of ending with a bang, LARCENY, INC. closes with a whimper, as Edward G. Robinson--just clipped in the street by a car--"runs" from the police. The rest of LARCENY, INC. is equally Uninvolving, drifting off on implausible scatter-shot tangents at the drop of a portmanteau. Though Anthony Quinn's escaped con character, "Leo," is mildly menacing, Jane Wyman's role--comparable to WEST SIDE STORY's "Anybody's"--lends little spark to this listless story. Daughter of a dead man, Robinson's ward, and "Jug's" crush, she falls much too easily into the clutches of the first Film-Flamming fellow flirting her way.

Three criminals buy a luggage store next to a bank so they can tunnel their way to riches, but the luggage business takes off. It takes a while to hit its stride, but it is an enjoyable comedy. The only problem is that it has a tendency to sink to the level of The Three Stooges, with Robinson playing the Moe role. Crawford is amusing as a lovable lug, and Brophy fits in well as the third member of this motley crew. It is not clear if Wyman is Robinson's girlfriend or his "stepdaughter," as he puts it. Anyway, it is Carson and Wyman who provide the romantic subplot. Gleason is hilarious in a bit role as a nosy soda jerk.

This film is real hard , not just to get, but hardly ever's shown on t.v. The last time I saw it was about 15 years ago, man,I miss it,It's a shame, because this film will have you rolling in laughter for at least 3/4 of it. The Late Robinson and Crawford took their tough guys characters and turned them into the funniest you've ever seen ! This movie was made when entertainment WAS entertainment. There are no nude scenes, no foul or vulgar language. There is some shooting action, but the main story line here, is the chemistry between Robinson & Crawford. Around the 6th minute after the movie starts, when Robinson's telling Crawford that the warden's neck tie was the hardest to get from him , is hysterical , not to mention when their playing baseball in the prison's yard, or when they're digging a hole in the basement of the luggage store. This is pure clean comedy !