Le bal des mauvais garçons

In this remake of A Slight Case Of Murder, Broderick Crawford steps into the shoes of Edward G. Robinson in a remake of the film that had its origins as a Broadway play written by Damon Runyon. It was a flop play on Broadway in the Thirties but a roaring success as a film.

Both Crawford and Robinson in the leads of their respective films got a chance to burlesque the tough guy images both so carefully cultivated. Both looked like they were enjoying themselves on screen.

The film concerns the end of Prohibition and a gangster who made it big in the illegal beer racket now wants to go legitimate and gain some respectability. Crawford and his wife Claire Trevor rent a big country mansion near the Saratoga racetrack and throw a huge party. They want respectability not just for themselves but for daughter Virginia Gibson who is engaged into some upper crust WASP family.

But a robbery of bookies at Saratoga (remember this is set in the 30s before pari-mutual machines so the tracks had bookies to take bets) and the crooks using this 'abandoned' mansion as a hideout interrupt all those plans. Without revealing more all the legal and domestic and financial problems all get nicely resolved as the film concludes in a very funny way.

Other than some really unnecessary musical numbers the film is practically a carbon copy of the original. Stop, You're Killing Me is highly recommended as tonic for the funny bone.