Take the Money and Run

Woody Allen counts this as his real directing debut, setting aside What's Up, Tiger Lily?, because here he says he actually wrote the picture and then directed it. He was explicit about choosing the mockumentary form: the documentary format is so serious that any small thing you put inside it upsets that seriousness and becomes funny. The film's most famous gag runs on exactly that logic, a pistol carved out of soap that melts in the rain. The cutting room saved it. Allen had shot a darker ending in which his character dies, and editor Ralph Rosenblum's choices steered it toward something lighter. It was shot in San Francisco and at San Quentin State Prison, where a hundred inmates were paid small fees to appear. The budget was 1.53 million dollars. It earned 3.04 million in rentals but recorded a 610,000 dollar loss after costs. The American Film Institute later placed it 66th among the greatest comedies. Who it is for: viewers who like early Allen at maximum joke density. Who it is not for: anyone looking for character or feeling. This is a gag machine, and some of the gags miss.