Plantiana Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Protraph Lack of good storyline.

Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Edgar Allan Pooh . . . makes a nice companion piece to KIDNAPPING MR. HEINEKEN, which I saw a couple weeks ago. In A SLIGHT CASE OF MURDER, Edward G. Robinson's "Gold Velvet Beer" tastes almost as bad as Heineken's. Unlike his Dutch counterpart, Robinson's "Remy Marco" character realizes that brewers of cheap, yucky, vomit-inducing beer require the priciest bodyguards money can buy IF they wish to walk around as free men. When a gang of five lies in wait for Remy, all of them get shot (and four of them die). When a gang of five kidnaps Mr. Heineken for weeks on end, no one gets shot. As Remy says, "Drink Gold Velvet--it's the tops!" Pabst has the Blue Ribbon, and Budweiser is the King of Beers. (Plus, you don't want to mess around with people surrounded by Clydesdales!) It's all enough to make Heineken green with envy.

zardoz-13 Edward G. Robinson of "Little Caesar" fame plays a big-shot bootlegger in director Lloyd Bacon's "A Slight Case of Murder" who struggles to earn money legitimately now that Prohibition has been repealed. During Prohibition, our mobster hero raked in the dough with illegal beer that was too hideous to drink. Since Remy Marco's beer was the only booze in town, people had to guzzle it. Now, since Prohibition has ended, Remy is finding it difficult to turn a profit on his beer that everybody reviles. You see, Remy doesn't imbibe so he doesn't know how dreadful his beer is. At this point in his career, Marco has hit rock-bottom. He cannot pay his bills. Furthermore, he has to pull his beautiful daughter Mary (Jane Bryan of "Marked Woman") out of an expensive Parisian boarding school and bring her home. Later, he finds himself in hot water with the bank because he owes $462-thousand. They give him 24 hours to come up with the cash, so Remy carts the family off to Saratoga. The scheming bankers want to appropriate Remy's brewery. They agree to meet Remy in Saratoga. Before our hero leaves town, Remy picks up an orphan, Douglas Fairbanks Rosenbloom (Bobby Jordan of "Spook Busters"), from the Star of Good Hope Orphanage. Douglas is a sticky-fingered pickpocket. While Remy is on the way to his Saratoga residence, a group of gunsels await Remy's arrival. They have a falling out among them, and one gunman, Innocence (Joe Downing of "Invisible Stripes") mows down his former accomplices. Unfortunately, Innocence isn't able to leave the house because Remy and his family and friends barge in to celebrate. What poor Remy isn't prepared for occurs when Jane introduces her dad to State Policeman Dick Whitewood (Willard Parker) and he is even more surprised when he learns that Mary and Dick are about to be married. The humor hits the mark and this comedy doesn't let you down. Clocking in at 85 bare minutes, "A Slight of Murder" ranks as a memorable gangster epic.

thinker1691 In the early days of his career, the late great Edward G.Robinson, often took on roles which for him were a change of pace. Here is a good example. One of the most memorable character roles he portrayed, was the tough guy character "Rico" in 'Little Ceasar' ruler of his tiny empire. However that was when gunmen ruled the town and bootleg whiskey was all the rage. However as with every era, Prohibition was soon repealed and as in this film, the bootlegger went straight. Edward G. Robinson is now tough, legitimate and respectable, Remy Marco. Together with his wife, Mary Marco (Jane Bryan) daughter, Nora Marco (Ruth Donnelly) and his old gang plan on making a go of the new lifestyle, a brewery, making domestic beer. However, trappings of his former life follow. Several hoodlums plan on ambushing him at his Saratoga home, but end up as excess baggage and Marco must deal with them as well as an uninvited State Trooper and son-in-law visiting him at that very moment. In addition, Marco has invited a juvenile delinquent and 'Dead End Kid' Douglas Fairbanks Rosenbloom (Bobby Jordan) to come and learn how to be an upstanding citizen. The hilarity of this film is a mad-cap series of quick changing comical situations which invite humor only if one remembers how serious the 1930's were. Much more interesting is the quick thinking dialog between the characters as they adapt to life after criminal prohibition. ****

Michael O'Keefe Veteran actor Edward G. Robinson with tongue-in-cheek pokes fun at his gangster movie image in this comedy about the end of Prohibition. Alcohol once again is allowed to flow freely and former bootlegger Remy Marco(Robinson)decides to go legit, but after four years he faces a money problem. His beer tastes so foul that no one wants to drink it...even legally. He renames his beer and his brewery is about to be taken by the bank...time to take a trip to the vacation house. Headaches don't go away easily when you find four corpses of former enemies in a room upstairs. They are remnants of a gang that robbed a syndicate of bookies. Its really interesting that Marco's daughter(Jane Bryan) is home from school abroad and her new boyfriend(Willard Parker) is a new state trooper...and Marco hates cops, period.This fast paced comedy also stars:Ruth Donnelly, John Litel, Joe Downing, Edward Brophy and Bobby Jordan. A fun look at a different side of tough guy Robinson.