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Woody Allen, Janet Margolin, Marcel Hillaire, Lonny Chapman, Jacquelyn Hyde ... see more see more... , Jan Merlin , James Anderson , Grace Bauer , Henry Leff , Don Frazier , Dan Frazer , Jackson Beck , Howard Storm , Mark Gordon , Minnow Moskowitz , Nate Jacobson , Mike O'Dowd , Louise Lasser , Micil Murphy , Ethel Sokolow

When Woody Allen's fans refer to his "earlier, funnier" pictures, they often cite his directorial debut as a shining example. Co-written by Allen and Mickey Rose, this side-splitting takeoff of crime ... read more read more...documentaries stars Allen as Virgil Starkwell, a sweetly inept career criminal. The film's most celebrated sequence involves Virgil's inability to write coherent holdup notes ("I have a gub"), but others include Virgil's losing battle with a recalcitrant coke machine and his misguided effort to emulate John Dillinger by carving a gun out of a bar of soap (his weapon disintegrates in a heavy rain). As was often the case in Allen's early films, not all the gags work, but for the most part, Take the Money and Run is a delight, enhanced by the on-target supporting performances of Janet Margolin, Marcel Hillaire, and (uncredited) Louise Lasser, as well as the energetic musical score of Marvin Hamlisch. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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56% want to see it

10,920 ratings

Critics

93% liked it

14 critics

PG, 1 hr. 25 min.

Directed by: Woody Allen

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DVD Release Date: March 13, 2001

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Flixster Reviews (614)


  • December 18, 2009
    Take the Money and Run is a surrealist crime comedy that's little more than a loosely bound series of gags, and yet somehow the whole thing works. Woody Allen plays Virgil Starkwell, perhaps the world's worst criminal. He gets caught trying to rob a bank because the tellers can... read more't read his hold-up note. He tries to pull another bank job with a gang, and a separate gang holds up the same bank at the very same time. Life is a series of hard knocks for Virgil, until one day when he's about to rob a beautiful girl, and decides to talk to her instead. The two soon become a couple and marry, and it's here the movie makes it's strongest point. The dialogue is at it's strongest and most realistic in the couple's exchanges, especially in the way she refuses to allow him to get away with lying. She knows him all too well, you see. The rest of the world are idiots, though. Unable to recognize even the lamest of schemes, everyone from cops and judges on down to the everyday people are all at the mercy of slightly-above-average-intelligence Virgil, and yet he always manages to do himself in due to his extreme ineptitude. In a movie that's just a series of gags, with the barest and loosest of plots, its fortunate that most of time it works.
  • September 29, 2009
    I found it quite tame and Allen a little annoying!
  • November 20, 2008
    I remember I was reading some Woody Allen Q&A session with Eric Lax and he was talking about how inexperienced he was while making this movie and how difficult it was to direct, so I was surprised to find that this was actually a very tightly structured narrative. All the physica... read morel comedy scenes are priceless but it's never like tiresome joke, joke, joke one after the other. The story works passably as well. It's actually one of the better comedies, believe it or not - miles ahead of Bananas and Love and Death. And the women Woody goes for are all so pretty and awesome too - sweet and willing to take a joke, but not in a wallflower sense at all.
  • January 15, 2008
    Virgil: After fifteen minutes I wanted to marry her, and after half an hour I completely gave up the idea of stealing her purse.

    Woody Allen's first big movie. It is done in the style of a mockumentary with hilarious dead pan narration.

    This movie surrounds the life of Virgil ... read moreStarkwell, a career criminal...a terrible career criminal who gets caught nearly every time he robs something.

    The movie goes on about his life, using plenty of gags and running jokes along the way, the majority of which are very funny.

    Eventually Allen would find his calling in his dialog, but this is a very funny movie in a loony sort of way.

    Louise: He is always very depressed. I think that if he'd been a successful criminal, he would have felt better. You know, he never made the 'ten most wanted' list. It's very unfair voting; it's who you know.
  • August 12, 2007
    I used to love this movie when I was a youngin' - but now it seems lame.
  • June 7, 2007
    Another of Woody Allen's earlier, more joke orientated spoofs, this has some really funny moments in his once favoured mockumentary style.
  • November 13, 2006
    One of Allen's funniest. The cellist in the marching band and the Dillinger bit were classic.
  • June 5, 2008
    Great early Woody film..laugh out loud..silly...funny stuff...enjoyable for any fan of the 'funny' side of Woody...
  • March 9, 2012
    Absolutely hysterical. This was my first viewing and I was impressed with how time has not affected the humor. And I had no idea that the Austin Powers theme came from another movie. You will find a lot of laughs in this movie - check it out. Big Recommend.
  • August 13, 2011
    Several years after seeing my very first Woody Allen flick ever and eventually naming him my favorite director, I finally make my way around to his directorial debut, and it is FUNNY. A constant series of hilarious sight gags and zany jokes, many of which sent me into fits of gig... read moregles. I feel like this is one of those movies that might grow on me the more I watch it, so it's definitely one to add to to my collection.

Critic Reviews


Emanuel Levy
May 8, 2011
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

This good natured, episodic spoof of gangster movies was Woody Allen's first film as a director. Full Review

Steve Crum
November 3, 2007
Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com

Sight gags and one-liners abound in this funny Woody Allen comedy, one of his earliest.

Ken Hanke
November 12, 2002
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Not really good, but interesting early Allen.

John J. Puccio
January 1, 2000
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis

The plot is just a thin excuse on which to hang Allen's nonstop visual and verbal antics.

March 26, 2009
Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

Vincent Canby
May 9, 2005
Vincent Canby, New York Times

Click to read the article Full Review

Roger Ebert
October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Click to read the article Full Review

Cole Smithey
October 17, 2007
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com

No review available.

Thomas Delapa
November 4, 2005
Thomas Delapa, Boulder Weekly

No review available.

Emanuel Levy
June 11, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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Facts


    • Virgil Starkwell: I never met such a pretty girl, and I guess I'm just sensitive because real--- real beauty makes me want to gag.

Take the Money an... : Watch Free on TV


Take the Money and Run Trivia


  • "I think crime pays. The hours are good, you meet a lot of interesting people, you travel a lot." is a quote from which Woody Allen film?  Answer »
  • What 1971 movie is this where Woody Allen plays a small-time bandit who at one time in his life, plays cello in a marching band?  Answer »
  • Who directed 'Take the Money and Run'?  Answer »
  • Know your directors: What's Up, Tiger Lily? Take the Money and Run Interiors Zelig  Answer »

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