One of the 10 greatest comedies in my opinion. The cast if perfect with Ed Trophy and Allen Jenkins showing what comedic ability they have, needless to say Robinson's. i have loved this movie ever since i was young and watched this so many time over the years i cannot even estimate. Just shows that comedy can be done without the vulgar crassness of what they call comedy today.

During Prohibition, Gold Velvet Beer was a big seller, along with being darn right illegal. But when the Prohibition laws were repealed the beer sales hit rock bottom. The brewery owner, Remy Marco (Edward G. Robinson), can't quite understand why the bar owners (who earlier gladly stocked his beer) refused to continue purchasing his product ('taste the beer Remy, taste it').He asks the brewery's 'managerial team'(a bunch of stumble-bum hoods)to get him the answer to the sudden turn of events ('taste the beer Remy, taste it'). Oh, they know the answer but are afraid to tell the big boss.Marco is forced to sell off all his assets and go into debt to keep the brewery afloat. With only days remaining before the banks would call in his loans, Marco takes his family (along with his 'managerial team') to Saratoga, hoping to get new financial backing. Along the way, he stops at an orphanage to pick-out an orphan, one who would be treated with a short vacation with the Marco family.Once the Marco's and company finally reach Saratoga, things go from bad to worse. The orphan is played by a young Bobby Jordan, one of the early Eastside Kids...and he is a handful...a laugh-out-loud handful. And dead bodies start showing up everywhere, all while poor Remy is desperately trying to get that financial backing.Remy may not have enjoyed the ensuing events, but I sure did...I'm giving it '9 Gold Velvets'...'taste the beer Remy...taste it'

This is a great spoof of the Edward G. Robinson crime dramas, first given laughs in 1933's "The Little Giant" (a forgotten gem.) He is a former bootlegger who can't believe that no one will buy his beer, which he later discovers is disgusting. Ruth Donnelly is his low-class wife living a high-class existence, and is hysterical. It's great to see this wonderful Warner Brothers character actress from the early 30's finally getting a part to sink her teeth into. She is what Helen Broderick was to RKO. I would have loved to see them play sisters. (Think Elaine Stritch and Eileen Heckart, or Joan Blondell and Ann Sothern together....Similar enough to be siblings, but different enough to be individuals.) Ms. Donnelly gets more to do than the top-billed female lead Jane Bryan, then being groomed by Warners to take over the type of parts that Jean Muir used to play. The basic premise has them moving to the country with orphan Bobby Watson (their guest for the summer) and dealing with other gangsters who have hidden a stash of cash in the mansion. Watson, unfortunately, isn't seen enough; It would be like one of the Dead End Kids interacting with the veteran gangster (as the DE Kids did with Cagney and Bogart), and the passing of the torch. Still, the dialogue is typically Runyon-esquire (think "Guys and Dolls" and "The Big Street" set in the country), but not quite "Capra-Corn" either. Allen Jenkins is typically amusing as Robinson's major sidekick. Willard Parker is the police officer engaged to Bryan whom Robinson keeps trying to get rid of. Margaret Hamilton has a great part as the principal of Watson's school. Toss in character names like Sad Sam, No-Nose Cohen and Blackhat Gallagher, and you've got a period comedy that they don't make anymore. Warners later remade this as a musical "Stop! You're Killing Me!" with Broderick Crawford and Claire Trevor in the Robinson/Donnelly roles which isn't bad, but catch the original first.

Edward G. Robinson was one of the most gifted leading actors to appear in film. However, he had two major strikes against him. First, he was physically unattractive---short of stature and homely of appearance. Second, he had the misfortune to achieve early success as a Warner Brothers gangster-type---so much so that he had great difficulty in breaking out of this mold. After all, why would the studio tinker with the popular packaging of one of its great stars, when all it had to do was keep putting him in similar vehicles year after year? Humphrey Bogart, george Raft and James Cagney had comparable problems with Warner Brothers.Every now and then----even under the rigid confines of the studio system at its peak----something happens to show us the existence of other possibilities. Jane Wyman began her career as a chorus girl, and became an important dramatic actress. Joan Crawford and Barbara Stanwyck early on were dancers before becoming stars in a wide range of roles. Dick Powell was a light singing juvenile before making the transition to tough-guy characters. James Cagney was able to demonstrate under this same studio system that given the opportunity, he could be exceptional in both dramatic and musical performances. And of course we all know what happened when Bogart got the chance to play Rick in "Casablanca." (1942) Therefore----while this vehicle for Robinson was somewhat unusual----it was by no means unprecedented for him to be cast against type in such a delightful spoof of those very gangster roles he had made his own for several preceding years. That he pulled it off so well is a testament to his great range as an actor."A Slight Case of Murder" has plot elements that are common to such later films as "Arsenic and Old Lace" and "The Trouble With Harry." But it is unique in combining the humorous troubles that inadvertently befall a mobster who sincerely wants to "go straight" with how he has to at the same time handle an assortment of unwanted corpses that seems to keep entering his life again and again. Both of these situations create the endless comic possibilities in the story----and make it such an enduring classic of its kind.The Warner Brothers stock company of well-known character actors was on hand to lend their full support to Robinson, and the result is an absolute joy.Many years later, Robinson would reprise his classic gangster type in "Key Largo" (1948) Too bad that he never again had the chance to revisit his comic version of that same role. To see how difficult this is to do----take a look at the remake of "A Slight Case of Murder" with Broderick Crawford (in the Robinson role) called "Stop, You're Killing Me"(1952). Crawford may have been a gifted actor in his own right, and was an Oscar winner for "All The King's Men"(1949). But his performance is clearly inferior to Robinson's.Watch "A Slight Case of Murder" to see a great dramatic actor at his prime doing comedy of all things----and very successfully!