Clever tricks and cunning ploys are the order of the day in 1942’s Larceny, Inc., a neat little comedic heist film set during the holidays, starring legendary tough guy Edward G. Robinson. This one plays around with the gangster hoodlum persona Robinson was well-known for, sticking him in a knockabout festive farce to rewarding effect. He’s “Pressure” Maxwell, the leader of three clumsy ex-cons who buy a luggage store just so they can sneakily tunnel in and knock over the bank next door. Things get silly when the business inadvertently starts doing well and they slowly realise that they might actually be able to make a go of it and go legit. Just as they’re having second thoughts and winning the hearts of the neighbourhood, old criminal associate Lou (Anthony Quinn) busts out of the joint and forces the boys to go through with it anyway.
It's a fun movie, with Robinson doing what he does best as a motor-mouthed crook who could sell snow to Eskimos. He starts out fresh out of Sing Sing prison, determined to go straight but old habits die hard and, when the bank knocks him back for a loan, he swears revenge and it’s right back to grifting and swindling.
Much comedy ensues with the boys doing anything they can to get potential customers out of the shop so they can plan the raid, including selling all the store’s luggage for a song. Of course, business is soon booming and everyone starts to think they’re just a bunch of swell guys leading to lots of repeat business and their dilemma.
The comedy is in watching these guys unwittingly become pillars of the community. Pressure is the kind of guy who’s always looking for an angle to help him pull a job, oblivious to the fact that his schemes are making the shop mega-successful. His transformation is a little ‘Scrooge’-like, becoming a real hero by the end, but he still keeps his cunning, scheming edge, so it’s not all “God Bless Us, Everyone!” cheese.
It’s not the most Christmassy film on our list but does take place during the holidays, with the heist planned for Christmas Eve and Pressure dressed as Santa on lookout duties. He shows a real aptitude for comedy and slapstick here and a film that starts out a hard-boiled heist flick soon turns into a feel-good festive delight.
This was based on a successful play, ‘The Night Before Christmas,’ and it cheers me up on a typically dour, rainy Scottish Monday Bank Holiday. Its goofy spirit lifts my spirits and it’s easy to see why Robinson was such a star, spitting out fast-paced, smart-arse dialogue like a gifted rapper, with no lack of cheeky charm. He always seems like he knows what he’s doing, even when things are fast going pear-shaped.
The film’s closing moments pile on the happy clappy festive cheer, hammering home the theme of redemption and good will to all men. It all ends up quite predictable, with the obligatory clichéd burst water main hampering the hapless crooks, but it’s churlish to complain when the movie hits all of its comedy beats so darn effectively.
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