Dead End Kid Bobby Jordan using the piano as a bottle opener
Another Warner/First National attempt to capitalize on Edward G Robinson's gangster persona by spoofing the genre. Little Giant (1933) was an earlier attempt by Warners to do the very same thing with Robinson but Slight Case of Murder is a gut-buster, far funnier than Little Giant. The script is brilliant - based on a failed (!) play by Damon Runyan. This one has been recognized for its great use of language, especially slang and idiomatic phrases as Robinson's family and crew try to go "legit" after Prohibition is repealed. I could have sworn the dialogue was written for Bugs Bunny there were so many jokes flying by at top speed.
Robinson plays a beer-running crook who tries to sell his goods honestly but still finds himself nearing bankruptcy. With his creditors on his tail, the family escapes to a rental property in the country only to find three or four "stiffs" in the kitchen, shot by persons unknown. Trying to host a party, impress future in-laws and "mentor" a grubby reform school urchin all at the same time competes with their efforts to get classy. The whole film is well-cast and Ruth Donnelly, who plays Robinson's wife Nora, is particularly good, lapsing from nouveau riche lady of the house back to aging moll in a state of constant exasperation.
A skunky bottle: slight case of the guh-guh-guh gags
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