For other uses, see Take the Money and Run (disambiguation).
| Take the Money and Run | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Woody Allen |
| Produced by | Charles Joffe |
| Written by | Woody Allen Mickey Rose |
| Narrated by | Jackson Beck |
| Starring | Woody Allen Janet Margolin Louise Lasser |
| Music by | Marvin Hamlisch |
| Editing by | Paul Jordan Ron Kalish |
| Studio | ABC Films |
| Distributed by | Cinerama Releasing Corporation |
| Release date(s) | August 18, 1969 |
| Running time | 85 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,530,000 |
| Box office | $3,040,000 |
Take the Money and Run is a 1969 American comedic mockumentary directed by Woody Allen and starring Allen and Janet Margolin (with Louise Lasser in a cameo role). Written by Allen and Mickey Rose, the film chronicles the life of Virgil Starkwell (Woody Allen), an inept bank robber. Filmed in San Francisco and San Quentin State Prison, Take the Money and Run received Golden Laurel nominations for Male Comedy Performance (Woody Allen) and Male New Face (Woody Allen), and a Writers Guild of America Award nomination for Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen (Woody Allen, Mickey Rose).
Plot
Virgil Starkwell (Woody Allen) enters a life of crime at a young age. The "plot" traces his crime spree, his first prison term and eventual escape, the birth and growth of his family, as well as his eventual capture at the hands of the FBI. His multiple crimes include stealing a pane of glass from a jewelry store, robbing a pet store and carving bars of soap into guns to escape from jail. He also robs a man who turns out to be his former friend who reveals he is now a cop, and the movie ends with Woody admitting he got 800 years in prison, but "with good behavior, can get that cut in half". Starkwell grew up in New Jersey, and played the cello (badly) in his town's marching band.
Cast
- Woody Allen as Virgil Starkwell
- Janet Margolin as Louise
- Marcel Hillaire as Fritz the Director
- Jacquelyn Hyde as Miss Blair
- Lonny Chapman as Jake the Convict
- Jan Merlin as Al the Bank Robber
- James Anderson as Chain Gang Warden
- Howard Storm as Fred
- Mark Gordon as Vince
- Micil Murphy as Frank
- Minnow Moskowitz as Joe Agneta
- Nate Jacobson as The Judge
- Grace Bauer as Farm House Lady
- Ethel Sokolow as Mother Starkwell
- Dan Frazer as Julius Epstein the Psychiatrist
- Henry Leff as Father Starkwell
- Mike O'Dowd as Michael Sullivan
- Louise Lasser as Kay Lewis
Production
This film was the second film directed by Woody Allen. He had wanted Jerry Lewis to direct originally, but when that did not work out, Allen decided to direct it himself. Allen's decision to become his own director was partially spurred on by the chaotic and uncontrolled filming of Casino Royale (1967), in which he had appeared two years previously. This film marked the first time Woody Allen would perform the triple duties of writing, directing, and acting in a film. The manic, almost slapstick style is similar to that of Allen's next several films, including Bananas (1971) and Sleeper (1973).
Allen discussed the concept of filming a documentary in an interview with Richard Schickel:
Take the Money and Run was an early pseudo-documentary. The idea of doing a documentary, which I later finally perfected when I did Zelig was with me from the first day I started movies. I thought that was an ideal vehicle for doing comedy, because the documentary format was very serious, so you were immediately operating in an area where any little thing you did upset the seriousness and was thereby funny. And you could tell your story laugh by laugh by laugh... The object of the movie was for every inch of it to be a laugh.
The film was shot on location in San Francisco. One scene is set in Ernie's restaurant, whose striking red interior was immortalized in Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958). It was also filmed at San Quentin State Prison. One hundred San Quentin prisoners were paid a small fee to work on the film. The regular cast and crew were stamped each day with a special ink that glowed under ultra-violet light so the guards could tell who was allowed to leave the prison grounds at the end of the day. Micil Murphy was one of the actors in the film. Coincidentally he had become an actor after being paroled from San Quentin three years earlier, in 1966, where he served five and a half years for armed robbery.
Allen initially filmed a downbeat ending in which he was shot to death, courtesy of special effects from A.D. Flowers. Reputedly the lighter ending is due to the influence of Allen's editor, Ralph Rosenblum, in his first collaboration with Allen.
Reception
By 1973 movie had earned rentals of $2,590,000 in North America and $450,000 in other countries. After all costs were deducted, it reported a loss of $610,000.
Critical response
The film received mostly positive reviews. Vincent Canby of The New York Times described it as "a movie that is, in effect, a feature-length, two-reel comedy—something very special and eccentric and funny", even though toward the end "a certain monotony sets in" with Allen's comedy rhythm. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times found the film to have many funny moments, but "in the last analysis it isn't a very funny movie", with the fault lying with its visual humor and editing.
On the review aggregator web site Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 93% positive rating from top film critics based on 14 reviews, with only one negative review from Roger Ebert. The film holds a 73% positive audience rating based on 10,893 ratings.
Awards and nominations
- Golden Laurel Nomination for Male Comedy Performance (Woody Allen)
- Golden Laurel Nomination for Male New Face (Woody Allen)
- Writers Guild of America Award Nomination for Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen (Woody Allen, Mickey Rose).
American Film Institute recognition
Bank Teller #1: "Does this look like 'gub' or 'gun'?"
Bank Teller #2: "Gun. See? But what's 'abt' mean?"
Virgil Starkwell: "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?"
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