Woody Allen's first Imovie is a slapstick comedy with a brilliant series of gags about a failed cello player who takes up a life of crime. Virgil Starkwell is being hunted by the FBI and the movie is a newsreel account consisting of side-splitting skits: Virgil escaping from prison using a bar of soap; trying to rob a bank as tellers argue over the meaning of his notes; chain gangs on the loose as everyone overlooks the obvious clanging of the chains. The clichés are endless and exaggerated to the point of hysteria. Interviews with his parents (in Groucho Marx disguises) are part of the narrative. We can see the style of humor that at the time was reminiscent of Mel Brooks. Interesting to compare these with his mature movies such as those set in Manhattan in the 1980's and later on, Crimes and Misdeameanors and Manhattan Murder Mystery, where the word play and script were dominant. Yet the early Woody Allen was a budding genius and very funny.
Review of Take the Money and Run
