A Slight Case of Murder (1938) Movie Review

Edward G. Robinson hadn't become a caricature by 1938, yet he had already figured out how to ham up his Little Caesar gangster persona. Here we have Robinson in one of his greatest roles ever, satirizing himself in the post-Prohibition era as he tries to figure out how a bootlegger should go straight. Referring to himself in the third person, he contends with his daughter marrying a cop, "legit" beer that tastes terrible (no one dares to tell him the truth), and old enemies who tend to die in his home. What to do? Forget the machinations of the plot. Robinson isn't even trying that hard and he comes off as utterly hysterical.