By Richard Harland Smith
Stop, You're Killing Me
Brief Synopsis
The surprise appearance of four corpses interferes with a beer baron's plans to crash high society.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Roy Del Ruth
Director
Broderick Crawford
Remy Marko
Claire Trevor
Nora Marko
Virginia Gibson
Mary Marko
Bill Hayes
Chance Whitelaw
Charles Cantor
Mike
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Crime
Musical
Release Date
Jan
17,
1953
Premiere Information
New York opening: 10 Dec 1952
Production Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the play A Slight Case of Murder by Damon Runyon and Howard Lindsay (New York, 11 Sep 1935).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 26m
Synopsis
In New York City, after the repeal of Prohibition, bootlegger Remy Marko, encouraged by his wife Nora, decides to go straight and sell his beer legally. Unfortunately for Remy, no one will buy his foul-tasting beer and having his three faithful cohorts, Mike, Lefty and Giuseppe, use strong-arm tactics to force sales is not a legitimate business practice. In addition, Remy must now pay taxes, so money is short when the bank calls in his half-million dollar loan. Remy decides to consider his prospects at his Saratoga Springs mansion, but before leaving, his daughter Mary unexpectedly returns from school with boyfriend troubles. Mary tells her parents that her fiancé, wealthy Chance Whitelaw, will not get a job, but Remy is pleased that the romance is faltering after he learns that the Whitelaws have been in law enforcement for generations. Later, the Markos drive to Saratoga Springs, accompanied by Remy's three pals and Donnie Reynolds, an orphan boy from his favorite charitable institution. Unknown to Remy, five gangsters have robbed Sad Sam Callahan, a racetrack bookie, and are hiding out in Remy's house. Just before Remy's group arrives, Innocence, one of the robbers, kills the other four, leaving their corpses in a bedroom. Upon arriving at the mansion, Donnie begins terrorizing the household and finds the robbers' satchel of stolen money, which he hides in a chandelier. Still undiscovered, Innocence tries to get back the satchel and escape, but Donnie repeatedly outwits him. Equally defenseless against Donnie are Remy's three pals, who, having been paid with Remy's IOUs, are surprised to learn that Donnie is the only one among them with money. Meanwhile, Chance shows up in a state trooper uniform, having joined the force to please Mary, and invites her to dine with his socialite mother. Dreaming of a blue-blooded future for Mary, Nora encourages her to go, and arranges for the Whitelaws to return with Mary to the house. Later, Remy tells Nora about the bank loan, and although his pals would happily solve the problem mobster-style, Nora begs Remy to stay legitimate. The discovery of the corpses temporarily distracts Remy from his money worries. Afraid he will be accused of the murders, Remy has the men deliver the bodies to the homes of various people whom they dislike. Later, Remy's pals learn that a reward is being offered for each bandit, dead or alive, and seeing a way to pay off the loan, they retrieve the bodies, but have no opportunity to tell Remy about the reward before Mary and the Whitelaws return from dinner. A party spontaneously erupts when many of the Markos' friends come to call, including Sad Sam, several nightclub bandmembers with their instruments, a shady commissioner and dancing girls. Remy works the crowd, hoping to find someone to help him pay off the loan, and stalls the bank officers, Clyde Post and Cal Ritter, when they show up to demand payment. Despite Nora's attempts to maintain decorum, the haughty Mrs. Whitelaw, appalled by the scene, declares that the engagement is off and tries to leave, but is pulled into a vigorous dance against her will. After being rescued by Nora, she is taken to rest upstairs, where Donnie is still eluding Innocence. When the boy throws some of the stolen money to the floor below, the crowd thinks Remy is giving out expensive party favors, except for Sad Sam, who finds one of his tickets floating down with the money and concludes that Remy has robbed him. Remy, meanwhile, gets the rest of the money from Donnie and uses it to bluff Post and Ritter into granting a loan extension. In the bedroom, Mrs. Whitelaw finds the corpses, and although Remy's men sneak them to a different hiding place before the others see them, she inadvertently stumbles onto them again. As no one else sees or acknowledges the existence of the corpses, she is again urged to rest. Meanwhile, Chance, at Sad Sam's insistence, attempts to arrest Remy for the robbery, but is interrupted by a scream from Mrs. Whitelaw, who has discovered the corpses yet again, this time hanging in a closet. Thinking quickly, Nora exclaims that Mrs. Whitelaw is being harassed by the men who stole their money and sends Remy and Chance upstairs to shoot the burglars. With the help of Remy's guiding hand, Chance shoots at the closet. Although his shots miss their marks completely, he does inadvertently hit Innocence, who is escaping out the window with the money, which he finally retrieved. Remy convinces Chance and other policemen who are called to the scene that Chance heroically killed the robbers. As a result, Chance gets a reward and a promotion, and Mary and Chance proceed with wedding plans. After being convinced to "loosen her corset," Mrs. Whitelaw agrees to help Remy. The Markos decide to adopt Donnie and it appears that Remy will remain a legitimate businessman.
Director
Roy Del Ruth
Director
Cast
Broderick Crawford
Remy Marko
Claire Trevor
Nora Marko
Virginia Gibson
Mary Marko
Bill Hayes
Chance Whitelaw
Charles Cantor
Mike
Sheldon Leonard
Lefty
Joseph Vitale
Giuseppe
Howard St. John
Commissioner Mahoney
Henry Morgan
Innocence
Margaret Dumont
Mrs. Whitelaw
Stephen Chase
Cal Ritter
Don Beddoe
Clyde Post
Henry Slate
Ryan
Jack Pepper
The singer
Louis Lettieri
Donnie Reynolds
Ned Glass
Sad Sam Callahan
Joe Mcturk
Ex-jockey Kirk
Ralph Sanford
Policeman
John Crawford
State trooper
Phil Arnold
Little Dutch
Frank Richards
Black Hat
Mushy Callahan
No Nose
Ralph Peters
Stranger
Vera Marshe
Soretta
Eddie Parks
Crawfoot
Phyllis Kirk
Nurse
Larry Blake
Police captain
Frank Marlowe
Taxi driver
Joann Arnold
Party girl
Sherry Moreland
Party girl
Dick Reeves
Wolf
Dolly Jarvis
Secretary
Crew
Harry Akst
Composer
Gordon Bau
Makeup Artist
Edward Carrere
Art Director
Charles H. Clarke
Art Director
Benny Davis
Composer
Mel Dellar
Assistant Director
Louis F. Edelman
Producer
David Forrest
Sound
Ray Heindorf
Music Director
Victor Herbert
Composer
Bob Hilliard
Composer
George James Hopkins
Set Decoration
Stanley Jones
Sound
Norman Luboff
Vocal Arrangements
Moss Mabry
Assistant Designer
Owen Marks
Film Editor
Ted Mccord
Director of Photography
James O'hanlon
Screenwriter
Leroy Prinz
Dances staged by
Howard Shoup
Wardrobe
Carl Sigman
Composer
Robert B. Smith
Composer
Videos
Movie Clip
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Crime
Musical
Release Date
Jan
17,
1953
Premiere Information
New York opening: 10 Dec 1952
Production Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the play A Slight Case of Murder by Damon Runyon and Howard Lindsay (New York, 11 Sep 1935).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 26m
Articles
Stop, You're Killing Me
"If I had my choice," actress Claire Trevor said in 1950, "I'd rather be a bad girl in a good picture than a good girl in a bad one." However she may have opined her lot as one of Hollywood's go-to women of ill repute, the Brooklyn-born actress had the last laugh in 1949 when she received the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for playing gangster Edward G. Robinson's alcoholic gun moll in John Huston's Key Largo (1948). Change of pace roles followed, with Trevor cast as an undercover cop in William Seiter's Borderline (1950) and a young tennis player's overstepping mother in Ida Lupino's Hard, Fast, and Beautiful (1951), but she was back in a moll's minks for Joseph Kane's Hoodlum Empire (1952). A variation on this theme came with her spirited turn in Roy Del Ruth's Stop, You're Killing Me! (1952), a remake of Lloyd Bacon's A Slight Case of Murder (1938), both based on the Damon Runyon-Howard Lindsay Broadway production of 1935. As the loyal wife of reformed bootlegger Broderick Crawford (in a role intended for Danny Kaye), Trevor had a chance to play comedy for a change and a character whose heart really was in going legitimate. Contributing to the shenanigans inside Crawford and Trevor's Saratoga Springs mansion are Harry Morgan, Sheldon Leonard, and Ned Glass. Look fast for Phyllis Kirk (her next role was the lead in André De Toth's House of Wax [1953]) in a bit as a nurse and listen for Merv Griffin as a radio announcer.
By Richard Harland Smith
By Richard Harland Smith
Stop, You're Killing Me
"If I had my choice," actress Claire Trevor said in 1950, "I'd rather be a bad girl in a good picture than a good girl in a bad one." However she may have opined her lot as one of Hollywood's go-to women of ill repute, the Brooklyn-born actress had the last laugh in 1949 when she received the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for playing gangster Edward G. Robinson's alcoholic gun moll in John Huston's Key Largo (1948). Change of pace roles followed, with Trevor cast as an undercover cop in William Seiter's Borderline (1950) and a young tennis player's overstepping mother in Ida Lupino's Hard, Fast, and Beautiful (1951), but she was back in a moll's minks for Joseph Kane's Hoodlum Empire (1952). A variation on this theme came with her spirited turn in Roy Del Ruth's Stop, You're Killing Me! (1952), a remake of Lloyd Bacon's A Slight Case of Murder (1938), both based on the Damon Runyon-Howard Lindsay Broadway production of 1935. As the loyal wife of reformed bootlegger Broderick Crawford (in a role intended for Danny Kaye), Trevor had a chance to play comedy for a change and a character whose heart really was in going legitimate. Contributing to the shenanigans inside Crawford and Trevor's Saratoga Springs mansion are Harry Morgan, Sheldon Leonard, and Ned Glass. Look fast for Phyllis Kirk (her next role was the lead in André De Toth's House of Wax [1953]) in a bit as a nurse and listen for Merv Griffin as a radio announcer.
By Richard Harland Smith
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
June and July 1952 Hollywood Reporter news items add the following actors to the cast of the film: George Spotts, Thomas Herman, Libby Burke, Becky Davis, Delores Durrett, Dorothy Howell, Eva Lee Kuney, Joan Maloney, Kay Tapscott, Vicky Van Zandt and the Ernie Felice Quintet. However, their appearance in the released picture has not been confirmed. Although a June 1952 Hollywood Reporter news item and production chart list Edward Carrere as art director, only Charles H. Clarke is listed onscreen. Warner Bros. studios suffered a major fire during production, but according to a July 1952 Hollywood Reporter news item, shooting for Stop, You're Killing Me was not interrupted. A new type of face makeup called "Liquid Lightning" was perfected by Gordon Bau, the head of Warner Bros. makeup department, and tested during the filming of the party sequence. Warner Bros. previously had adapted Damon Runyon and Howard Lindsay's play in 1938, under the play's title, A Slight Case of Murder, starring Edward G. Robinson and directed by Lloyd Bacon (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40).
