St. Benny the Dip

Produced byStarringCinematographyDon MalkamesMusic byRobert W. StringerDistributed byUnited Artists80 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish

St. Benny the Dip is a 1951 American comedy film directed by Edgar G. Ulmer. The film is also known as Escape If You Can in the United Kingdom.

Plot

Benny, Monk, and Matthew are three small-time crooks trying to escape a police dragnet in New York City. After hiding in a church and taking minister's suits and dog collars, they emerge, dressed as priests, and find shelter in an abandoned Bowery mission. When beat cops mistake them for real ministers sent to restore the soup kitchen, they are forced to go along with repairs, holding services and feeding the poor. They have to decide whether to stay, steal the mission money and run, or... change their lives. As with Jean Valjean in Les Misérables, when the bishop he has robbed lets him go, it is the first time they have been treated with respect and had a chance to do good work. The question is whether the police detectives or junior priests will turn them in before they even have a chance.

Cast

• Dick Haymes as Benny
• Nina Foch as Linda Kovacs
• Roland Young as Matthew
• Lionel Stander as Monk Williams
• Freddie Bartholomew as Reverend Wilbur
• Oskar Karlweis as Mr. Kovacs
• William A. Lee as Police Sergeant Monahan
• Dick Gordon as Reverend Miles
• Jean Casto as Mrs. Mary Williams
• Eddie Wells as Patrolman McAvoy
• James Bender as House Detective
• Ron & Don Ansell-Smyth as the Twins

Soundtrack

I Believe
Words and Music by Robert W. Stringer

External links

• St. Benny the Dip at IMDb
• St. Benny the Dip at the TCM Movie Database
• St. Benny the Dip is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive