Take the Money and Run (1969)

Director:

Woody Allen

Writers:

Woody Allen (original screenplay) and
Mickey Rose (original screenplay)

Release Date:

13 March 1971 (Japan)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Romance

Tagline:

crime lives!

Plot:

The life and times of Virgil Starkwell, inept bank robber.

Plot Keywords:

Wilhelm II | Quebec | Glasses | Mockumentary | Directed By Star

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Woody Allen	...	Virgil Starkwell
Janet Margolin	...	Louise
Marcel Hillaire	...	Fritz
Jacquelyn Hyde	...	Miss Blair
Lonny Chapman	...	Jake
Jan Merlin	...	Al
James Anderson	...	Chain Gang Warden
Howard Storm	...	Fred
Mark Gordon	...	Vince
Micil Murphy	...	Frank
Minnow Moskowitz	...	Joe Agneta
Nate Jacobson	...	The Judge
Grace Bauer	...	Farm House Lady
Ethel Sokolow	...	Mother Starkwell
Dan Frazer	...	The Psychiatrist (as Don Frazier)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:PG (DVD rating) | Iceland:L | Norway:12 | Argentina:Atp | Canada:PG | Finland:K-8 | France:U | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:M | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

San Francisco, California, USA

Company:

American Broadcasting Company (ABC)

Trivia:

Allen initially filmed a downbeat ending in which he was shot to death, courtesy of special effects from A.D. Flowers. Allen's editor, Ralph Rosenblum (whose first work with Allen this was), convinced him to go for a lighter ending.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Virgil was born December 1935. When he was still a teen, playing cello in the marching band, the year would've been circa mid-1950s at the latest. Cars current to the actual filming can be seen all around the background, as well as the long hair-styles of the boys marching. Most of the characters are also dressed in the late-60s fashion throughout most of the film.

Quotes:

Bank Teller #1: Does this look like "gub" or "gun"?
Bank Teller #2: Gun. See? But what does "abt" mean?
Virgil: It's "act". A-C-T. Act natural. Please put fifty thousand dollars into this bag and act natural.
Bank Teller #1: Oh, I see. This is a holdup?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Todd Killings (1971)

Soundtrack:

Soul Bossa Nova

Laugh-a-Minute spoof of Crime Documentaries a Must For Woody-ites...

TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN is Mel Brooks-like in structure and gags, but definitely Woody Allen at his comical best. Its not his greatest picture by any means, but perhaps the best of his early slapstick flicks (SLEEPER, BANANAS). "Virgil Starkwell" has a hard time stealing right from the start. When a criminal gets a gumball machine "stuck to his hand", you know he's in the wrong gig. Woody Allen is right at home with this innocent, documentary-style drip on the unintentional hilarity of 60's crime documentaries. Woody, or "Virgil", seems to be playing Woody as usual, something we all know runs through his entire body of work. This movie is very much like his innovative ZELIG of 1983, a black and white docu-spoof about a fictional chameleon.

Jackson Beck's narration is PERFECT in making the outrageous material seem "serious". It no doubt inspired the short spoofs "Saturday Night Live" would go on to produce for years, investigative reporting seemingly important, yet ridiculous in content. "Virgil's" parents are in disguise (Groucho Marx nose and glasses) whenever they are "interviewed". The chain gang escape is one of the funniest sequences I have ever seen. Woody also moves into romantic territory with the beautiful Janet Margolin, who had a nice, fat purse for "Virgil" to steal, but also has a quick reaction to his inept robbery attempt and, of course, they fall in love. She is there for "Virgil" to live for during his always brief prison stays and to pick out his clothes for a robbery. There are some familiar elements here, most obviously the beautiful young girl falling for a middle-aged homely Woody.

TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN is all about raw comedic filmmaking and mockery. It is not a situational film at all, just a bunch of perfectly cohesive episodes of this perfectly moronic bank robber, who spells gun G-U-B. Wouldn't that throw us all off if we were the bank tellers taking a note during a stick up ?