Trivia / Take the Money and Run

Trivia for the film:

• Actor-Shared Background: Virgil Starkwell was born on December 1, 1935. This is Woody Allen's actual date of birth.
• Billing Displacement: TV ads for the film when it aired put Louise Lasser on equal billing with Woody Allen. She had one cameo.
• Breakthrough Hit: For Woody Allen as a full-fledged filmmaker.
• California Doubling: Although set in New Jersey, the film was shot in San Francisco.
• Cast the Expert: Micil Murphy returned to prison for a role in the film. He had become an actor after being paroled from San Quentin in 1966 after serving five and a half years for armed robbery.
• Cast the Runner-Up: Woody Allen wanted to cast Louise Lasser as his love interest (who is called Louise), but she was a screen unknown. He did, however, cast her in a comic interview scene as a neighbor stunned to learn that the "idiot" she knew was actually a criminal mastermind. Ironically, TV ads for the film when it aired did put Lasser on equal billing with Allen, possibly because she was better known in television thanks to Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.
• Completely Different Title:
  • In Spanish, while the film was released in Spain under a faithful translation of the title, in Latin America it was released as Robó, huyó y lo pescaron ("He stole, he fled, and he was caught").
  • Brainiac wanted for robbery in Greece.
• Creator Couple: Woody Allen's then-wife Louise Lasser appears as an interviewee.
• Executive Meddling: One of the more interesting positive examples. The entire movie was restructured after its first screening because the executives hated the original cut but saw its potential. They hired Ralph Rosenblum to serve as “editorial supervisor” to make the movie funnier, thus starting a long-lasting work relationship between Woody Allen and Rosenblum which would eventually give the latter an editing BAFTA.
• Harpo Does Something Funny: Woody Allen encouraged his cast to improvise, often shooting as many as three impromptu gags for each scene.
• Hey, It's That Place!: On their first date, Virgil takes Louise to dinner at Ernie's, the restaurant made famous by Vertigo.
• Production Posse: This was the first of several Woody Allen films to be edited by Ralph Rosenblum.
• Technology Marches On: One of the film's big laugh lines comes when Virgil, bluffing his way through a job interview, is asked if he's "ever had any experience running a high-speed digital electronic computer", and answers in the affirmative, adding, "My aunt has one."
• What Could Have Been:
  • The original cut of the film had Louise and Virgil dying in a shootout with police. This was deemed way too dark, and Ralph Rosenblum would later call it "grotesque and offensive". Said ending would have been followed by a brief humorous scene at his funeral when his wife hears him whisper from below ground, "Get me out."
  • Woody Allen asked Jerry Lewis to direct. Jerry was busy with his own projects and suggested to Woody that he direct it himself.
  • To really capture the documentary feel of the film, Allen wanted to shoot it in black and white, but was overruled by the studio.
  • In the initial drafts, Virgil was named Woody.

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