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"Take the Money and Run" is an absolutely hilarious Woody Allen film, done in a quasi-documentary style, about a career criminal, Virgil Starkwell, who has a very unsuccessful career. His prison breaks don't go as planned, his robberies are a disaster and usually coincide with someone else's robbery of the same place, and his planning of a job would be fine if only he weren't talking to an associate in a restaurant while the police are in the booth behind him. One nice perk of failure: while attempting to rob a young woman's purse, he falls in love with her (Janet Margolin). Virgil does admit at one point thinking of foregoing robbery and taking up a career in singing. He doesn't mention the cello, which gave him his start in music - and crime.

This is one of those laugh out loud even when you're alone movies of which there are all too few. But this is one. Over a tough, FBI-type narration, we watch Virgil's futile attempts at making money through crime, see his parents (disguised) interviewed, as well as his wife and the various police and investigators he meets along the way.

It's amazing to look at this film and then look at "Match Point" done 35 years later and see the evolution of this brilliant man. Woody Allen is capable of rock-solid comedy as well as provocative movie-making. Although he's had a few blips along the way, one wonders what he'll think of next.

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 ?

The clumsy Virgil Starkwell (Woody Allen) is bullied when he is a child. Then he decides to play cello, but without musical talent, the loser joins a street gang and ends in prison. When he escapes, he meets the laundry worker Louise (Janet Margolin) and lies to her, telling that he plays cello in the symphonic orchestra.

He is arrested in a hold up and Louise finds him in prison. He breaks out and flees with Louise to another state. He tries to be honest but he is incapable to fit in any job. When he finally finds a job position suitable for his intellect, he is blackmailed by a colleague and returns to his criminal life. But his heists are disastrous and he always ends in prison.

"Take the Money and Run" is the second film by Woody Allen in a documentary style the same way he does with "Zelig" in 1983, and tells the saga of a clumsy smalltime thief. The last time I had seen this film was on 22 August 1999 and this time I found it still enjoyable, but less than the last time.

Virgil Starkwell is an incompetent loser obsessed with bank heists. The narrative and interviews in the documentary style of the 60's and 70's have hilarious moments and is closed by the funny interview of his neighbor that asks to the interviewer how an imbecile like Virgil could plan the heist of banks. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Um Assaltante Bem Trapalhão" ("A Very Clumsy Thief")

Now I'm rarely a man to agree with any 'consensus view' of particular films, yet I very much have to go along with the tide as regards 'Take the Money and Run' - only the second Allen film I have commented upon here, though I have seen many more.

Basically, the film is enjoyable viewing throughout, but not an entirely consistent, successful comedy. Allen had yet to hone his skills in fashioning feature length films; I have reservations more so for 'Bananas', less so for 'Sleeper' and 'Love and Death'; the two films with which he really hits his stride. This is his first film as a director and thus maybe it is to be expected that we'll see a transitional film. One can tell Allen is trying to work out a formula to translate his largely verbal stand-up humour to film. He really does a pretty good job of this. There are plenty of very good jokes and a generally very lightweight, genial tone to this picture. It is seen through by this, yet is hamstrung by its very effervescence; the film is likeable and won me over, yet it is too scattershot in approach and delivery to really satisfy.

Woody himself is an instantly winning figure in his comic persona; that of a physically diminutive and verbally bumbling Jewish intellectual. With in this film the vocation of a bank robber; a displacement which results in much of the expected amusement. There's not yet any attempt to go very deep into this character of his, but this is a pure, light comedy. No real New York or indeed Bergman or Chekhov reference points yet.

One is reminded in Allen of David Thomson's insightful comments on Chaplin and the persona he projected to audiences; trying to charm them and win them over by a certain vulnerability and status as 'underdog'. It is very true that in many of Allen's films, like Chaplin, he is right at the centre of the film, and the world outside is not portrayed with any sense of the mechanics of reality. Conflicts are never all that serious or convincing; he draws from a limited pool of character types, in socio-political terms. Allen has done films with other leads; though his usual concerns always find their way through. 'Take the Money and Run' is full of the Chaplin tendency to have bullish, physically imposing figures, or indeed perhaps a wider society, threatening the 'little man'. There is a wish-fulfilment woman in the languid person of Janet Margolin's Louise; as a character more a projection than of flesh and blood or shades of grey. She works well as a slightly wan, attractive comic foil for Allen, who doesn't mind getting her hands dirty, but she's really not Diane Keaton.

This film is slight, no question about that... it fails under real scrutiny, yet it is largely very enticing stuff; an early glimpse of Allen getting his filmic technique in order. If you like what the man does - and surely most (wryly bespectacled) film cineastes such as I do! - then you are sure to enjoy this film. Just don't count on it being a triumph in the major key.

Rating:- *** 1/2/*****

For those of you who think that all Woody Allen's movies are vapid stories of neurotic rich New Yorkers, you need to see his early movies. "Take the Money and Run" is a good example. Allen plays Virgil Starkwell, an inept criminal. No matter what sort of crime he tries to pull off, something always goes wrong. Probably the funniest scene is when he tries to escape from jail like John Dillinger did. Other scenes include the time when the authorities use him in an experiment, with a silly result.

Anyway, Woody Allen's old movies were really funny. The thing was that he created a bunch of outlandish premises and infused his New York Jewish humor. This is what comedy is all about!

This slightly uneven, but often hilarious, Woody Allen outing delivers the goods. There are some memorable bits, which are significant of his comic style. The one involving the chain gang, I'm sure, will always be remembered. Of course, some of the bits are too far-fetched and cartoonish to be funny, but Woody's routines often work and I can't lie that this movie is extremely fresh and original. I just watched it recently, and was laughing my head off, so I know it's not one of those outdated comedies.

I've seen funnier Woody Allen movies, but I would still recommend it for all those who are curious of his early work--like I am. And for something that was made when he was still an up-and-coming filmmaker, it was done extremely well.

My score: 7 (out of 10)

In an age of tee hee funny blockbuster comedies, this is a FUNNY knee- slapping side-splitting tear-producing pause-the-DVD-so-as-to-not-miss-a-line-movie. Hollywood just does not make movies like this. It's a love story between a crook and a beautiful woman. No, it's the story of a little red headed kid who went on to pull off the worst bank heist ever. No, it's the story of a cons escape from prison. It's all of these. Only Woody could have had Virgil fall madly in love with Louise, want to spend the rest of his life with her, then only later on, decide he doesn't want to steal her purse. Classic. Only Woody would have his bank robber pull off a bank job with a mis-spelled note then have him escape from a chain gang on foot running beside men on bikes. Fantastic movie and fun for all. Prepare to laugh.

Woody Allen's first outing as director, writer, and actor turns out to be a hilarious quip of a film that almost always steadily throws the laughs at you.

Allen plays Virgil Starkwell, outcast. He didn't really fit in as a child, so he turned to a life of crime. But, as we see him now in his adult years, he has yet to commit a sucessful crime. As he's trying to steal purses in the park, he meets Louise (Janet Margolin), and the fall in love. This time, the love seems true because he isn't 60 years old and falling in love with her. In documentary style film, we find out about more of his escapedes.

The documentary style didn't do anything for me in Zelig, but it worked here because it was more of a mockumentary. It had more "acting" scenes and less interviews. A lot of times, there was no narration, just like a "real" movie, and that added to the movie some. Allen's comedic style is one I adore, and this is no exception. He is very funny and his comedy is genuine and original. There's been too many "crime is glorious" movies, but this one made you actually feel for the criminal. That's no easy task.

I hadn't heard of Janet Margolin before this, but she was pretty good as Allen's lover. However, a couple times it seemed like she tried too hard in the "dramatic" parts, but I can overlook that. Speaking of dramatic parts, there were a few too many lulls in the comedy, especially during the romantic collages, but those too can be overlooked if just the comedy is anaylzed.

Allen's gags are not outrageous, not controversial or anything like that. Most of them are simple one-liners, though there are a good number of sight gags, most involving his crimes. One particually funny scene is when Allen and his gang are about to rob a bank, when another gang comes in, also wanting to rob the bank. It's a fun 86 minutes that will leave you giggling from beginning to end.

My rating: 7/10

Rated PG for brief language and criminal overtones.

Take the Money and Run (1969) was Woody Allen's motion picture debut (sans 'Tiger Lily). The film follows the life of a criminal loser, shot in a faux documentary style. Allen used the most out of his small budget and made an amusing film. This was the beginning of his slapstick/farce phase that would last until the early 70's. An interesting start for one of America's most unique film-makers of that era. The script by Mickey Rose and Woody Allen is deeply engraved with screwball humor from their childhood icons such as the Marx Brothers and Charles Chaplin. This film showed the promise of a brilliant director who would become a major player in Hollywood in the years to come. Highly recommended.

A.

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.

Wow, when I was young and very much secularist back when this came out, and for a couple of decades later, I found this movie hilarious and nothing offended me. I can't say that anymore as Allen's bias against religion, which he has made public many times over the years, hit me right in the gut in a number of scenes here.....ruining the fun of watching this anymore. Allen is quick to insert in this story that the misguided couple (he and actress Janet Margolin) are screwed up because their parents "beat religion into them." In case you didn't get that message, Allen repeats it several times!

Otherwise, it's a funny movie that reminded me of the more modern Christopher Guest "mockumentaries" in which the film is supposed to look a documentary of sorts but is all fiction. Since this is a one-joke movie, Allen was smart in keeping it short at 80-some minutes because it starts to wear by the end.

Very early Woody Allen winner has the all-time lovable loser trying to make ends meet with girlfriend and future wife Janet Margolin. Allen, obviously pretty unskilled in most everything, decides that he can do just what the title of the film says and achieve true happiness with his one true love. Documentary-styled footage makes the picture unfold in a quietly uproarious way as Allen uses corny techniques used by most news organizations to tell a story that would have looked very odd without his insight being involved. Allen's films only work because he makes them work usually and that is definitely the case with "Take the Money and Run". Once again he shows unlimited potential and would use this movie, more than any other, as a spring-board for much future success in the 1970s, 1980s and beyond. 4 stars out of 5.

Take the Money and Run was Woody Allen's first film as star-writer-director and the start of a career pattern that saw classics like Manhattan, Hannah and Her Sisters, A Midsummer Nights Sex Comedy and Curse of the Jade Scorpion. Allen had partly written and had supporting roles in earlier comedies like What's New Pussycat? and the mess that was Casino Royale but this was his first complete film with him as director as well. He was initially skeptical about whether he could pull it off and suggested that Jerry Lewis direct him. In fact, you can see the influence of the more physical type of Jerry Lewis humor in this and much less of the Woody Allen dialog driven humor. There is almost no suggestion of the neurotic Jewish character that Allen later typecast himself in.

Take the Money and Run is interesting viewing for all Woody Allen fans because this is where it all started. There are several funny gags as well. Woody Allens taste in women was good even at the start of his career. On the whole, the entire documentary style was an interesting approach, but there appear to be holes in the structure and in many ways this reminded me of one of Jerry Lewis's earliest films as a solo performer - The Bellboy. The similarity is in the concept of piecing together several funny skits, the whole being less than the sum of its parts.

Woody Allen hit gold with his second film, "Take the Money and Run", which is a basic film that works on so many levels and is memorable strictly for its charm and good wit.

The story follows Allen's Virgil Starkwell, whose life is told in documentary fashion. We learn he had a strange childhood and turned to crime to fulfill his needs. We learn of his romance and sympathize with him as we engage in prison escapes and witness him put in a chain gang. The documentary style might prove to be a "gimmick" of sorts, but it works because had the story been told any other way it simply would not have worked.

Also, "Take the Money" is an early token of what's to come and what the general audience will expect of Allen; smooth drama balanced by fast, witty monologues and lots of self-humiliation. To see this is to witness the early work of the director who ultimately brought us "Bananas", "Sleeper", "Manhattan", and the Oscar-winning "Annie Hall". And if anything, just track it for its over-the-top humor, not as in-your-face funny as "Sleeper" or as sexually hilarious as "Annie Hall", but it's warm and withdrawn, balanced all together by a very good ending (always one of the weaker parts in almost all of Allen's films).

Highly recommended! ***+ (8.5/10)

To me, only two films of his are better from this period and they are Love and Death(which is one of his best) and Sleeper. Bananas is also very good with some of the funniest stuff in any of his films(ie. the courtroom scene) but the story and pacing for me were more even in Take the Money and Run. Take the Money and Run is not quite among Allen's best, but it apart from a cloyingly written romance that bogs the pacing down, a rather draggy last 10 minutes and the somewhat passive performance of Janet Margolin is a very strong second film of his(as writer, director and actor), a vast improvement over What's Up Tiger Lily? Take the Money and Run is skilfully made and while there is understandably still a finding-his-feet feel at times Allen keeps things on a tight leash and in command of the material. The dialogue is so funny that you're in danger of missing something from laughing so much, a lot of it is quotable too. Jackson Berk's voice-over is just superb with some of the funniest material coming from the narration alone. But what's going on on camera is every bit as funny, the chain gang and bank robbery scenes as a matter of fact are just hilarious. The mockumentary style of the story is very cleverly done and structured if not as ground-breaking as Zelig, and the pacing very rarely sags(it's only with the romance when it does), never feeling confusing or simplistic. The music fits the film very well indeed, appropriately slapstick in tone, and is catchy, enough though Allen has had better music in his films. Allen looks like he's having a ball and there's nothing drastically wrong with the rest of the acting either. Overall, a strong second film and while not one of Woody Allen's very best it's one of the better films of the pre-Annie Hall period. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Take the Money and Run

This was my favorite Woody when I was a young fella. I guess the rapid succession of quick little gags appealed to me. Now I'm less amused by it (perhaps partly due to overexposure) but there are some great bits. The whole "gub" thing is really inspired, and the chain gang scene, and some of the small throwaway jokes like the "disguises" Virgil's parents wear. Others fall kinda flat, but there's nothing truly awful in the entire movie. Although not one of the greats, it's generally a fun time.

Rating: 7/10

Another Woody Allen farce. This time it details the life of a born loser who begins to lead a life of crime but can't seem to do anything right.

His parents, while interviewed, wear masks since they're ashamed of his son. Allen and the entire cast should have taken their advice and worn them as well.

This film is Woody at his stupidest. Scenes include bank personnel discussing among themselves the note that Allen (Virgil) has handed a teller in order to rob another bank.

Even the scene with the chain gang is ridiculous at best. Here is where the movie could have taken off but fails to do so. Robbing a bank only to meet up with several other robbers at the same time is handled poorly. No one really knows what's going on and maybe they're the better for it.

Janet Margolin, an attractive beauty, plays Virgil's wife. She wants to know what color shirt he is wearing to the bank robbery.

Louise Lasser comes in at the very end and acts like she is still Mary Hartman.

Take the Money and Run ranked rather high on the AFI's list of the 100 Funniest movies, which surprised me. Although it's got some hilarious bits of comedy (the bank robbery, of course, is the funniest bit), the humor seems a bit dated, on par with What's New Pussycat or Casino Royale as opposed to Bananas and Sleeper (his two early comedy classics, in my opinion). Janet Margolin (RIP) was a talented actress, but I didn't find her particularly funny in this movie. She was better in a brief role as one of Woody's high-strung ex-wives in Annie Hall. Louise Lasser and Diane Keaton were worthier (and funnier) replacements. A good bet for rainy day laughs, but not one of the funniest movies of all time.