HIGH FINANCE TEACHES A RACKETEER NEW TACTICS!

When Prohibition ends, bootlegger Remy Marco (Edward G. Robinson) forces his gang (and wife) to go straight, building a brewing empire… but nothing goes his way.

Not one of the most famous screwball comedies of the 1930s, but an excellent example of the genre, set in the world of organized crime. Robinson is perfect as the mobster who wisely sees a path forward when circumstances change, but fails to see that surrounding oneself with yea-sayers is a mistake. Plays out largely in Marco’s summer house in Saratoga, where the farce gets livelier with the addition of four surprise corpses.

Lots of laughs; Ruth Donnelly is a hoot as Mrs. Marco.

1938-U.S. 85 min. B/W. Directed by Lloyd Bacon. Screenplay: Earl Baldwin, Joseph Schrank. Play: Damon Runyon, Howard Lindsay. Cast: Edward G. Robinson (Remy Marco), Jane Bryan (Mary Marco), Allen Jenkins (Mike), Ruth Donnelly (Nora Marco), Willard Parker, John Litel, Margaret Hamilton. 

Trivia: Remade as Stop, You’re Killing Me (1952).