Review of Larceny, Inc

Very fast and very funny gangster-comedy from Laura and S.J. Perelman's play "The Night Before Christmas" features Edward G. Robinson as a just-sprung ex-con who finagles his way into becoming the owner and operator of a luggage store in New York City. Why? Because the National Bank is right next door...and its vault is just behind the cellar wall in Robinson's shop. Opening with a hilarious prison baseball sequence, the movie keeps rising higher with each new scene and eccentric new character, like a balloon you don't want to see pop. The dialogue is full of tickling, hard-boiled wit, and Robinson's cuddly cohorts-in-crime (Broderick Crawford and Edward Brophy) are absolutely wonderful. The picture doesn't have a mean-spirited thorn to quibble over, however the third act doesn't live up to the spirited lunacy of the rest--and the final tag jumps too far forward in time. Mostly a delightful enterprise, with a marvelous supporting cast including Jack Carson and Jane Wyman as would-be sweethearts. Woody Allen borrowed the basic premise in 2000 for his hit comedy "Small Time Crooks". *** from ****