AMUSEMENTS

Opotiki News, Volume II, Issue 177, 3 May 1939, Page 4

AMUSEMENTS

“A SLIGHT CASE OF MURDER” • ' ' \> i. >■.;, .. ... “A Slight Case of Murder”, a farce film that frankly and' unreservedly makes fun of the whole business of gangsterism and racketeering, is. scheduled to scl’ecSn 1 at the ltegent Theatre on Thursday and Friday. It is at Warner Bros, production with Edward' G. Robinson as star. But lie’s a different Edward G. Robinson. He’s no menacing, gun-toting, sinister underworld character this, time. He’s a fellow wlio was a beer baron in dry days and now, sincei prohibition repeal, lias been trying to get along as a legitimate brewer. But lie’s a dry at heart; lie’s never tasted his own brew. His mob, which used to run rum* steal rivalsC loads and force Eddie’s beer upon the speakeasy proprietors, , are now salesmen without guns, forced to dlress nicely and have. daily shaves and' baths. In addition to all of this, .his beer is so bad that nobody wants to drink it. The hoys can’t sell it. but nobody dares to tell the Big Boss why! Eddie loses all of his money except about- a half million, and a rival outfit tries to get away with that. Then comes the shooting—for naturally there must be gunplay in a gangsterracketeer picture.- But the would-be - looters shoot each other up, and the result is four dead men—just a ‘.slight’ case of murder! The way the gangsters die, however, is so laughable that no one 'in the audience can take their demises seri- , ously. Possibly that can be ' understood when it is made known that “A Slight Case of Murder” was adapted from a stage play by Damon Runyon and Howard Lindsay. For a change, Eddie Robinson doesn’t die in this picture, as he has in many of liis earlier films. He’s happy and grinning at the end. He lias learned! about liis bad beer, has remedied it, and is a contented and prosperous '‘square shooter.” '