Take the Money and Run (1970) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

While in prison serving his ten-year sentence for the bank robbery, Virgil made a whimsical request to his girlfriend Louise: to bake a cake containing a gun wrapped in cellophane, alongside a dozen chocolate cookies each embedded with a bullet. This darkly comic request reflects Virgil's delusional persistence in trying to escape or continue his criminal lifestyle even behind bars, showcasing his inability to accept his situation. Louise, sensibly, did not follow through on this scheme.

• virgil starkwell
• cake
• gun
• prison
• louise
• escape plan

During his bank heist, Virgil wrote a demand note with the phrase 'I am pointing a gub at you.' The cashier, confused by the illegible handwriting, asked what 'gub' meant. Virgil insisted it was supposed to read 'gun,' but his terrible penmanship turned a threatening robbery note into an absurd mix-up. This moment of comedic confusion gave the police enough time to arrive, resulting in Virgil's capture and a ten-year sentence.

• virgil
• bank robbery
• handwriting
• gub
• gun
• arrest

After being paroled, Virgil attempted to rob a local pet shop as his next criminal venture. However, when he entered the store, he encountered a gorilla. Rather than intimidating the animal or proceeding with the robbery, Virgil was frightened away by the gorilla, demonstrating his complete lack of courage or criminal competence. This incident further establishes his pattern of failed criminal endeavors.

• virgil
• pet shop
• gorilla
• robbery
• scared

While imprisoned, Virgil crafted a makeshift gun from a bar of soap, planning to use it to threaten a guard and escape. However, when he put the plan into action, it began to rain. The soap gun quickly dissolved in the rain, leaving Virgil with nothing but a wet bar of soap. This absurd failure exemplifies his continual misfortune and comedic incompetence.

• virgel
• soap gun
• escape
• prison
• rain

In the mockumentary style of the film, Virgil's parents appear in archival interview footage wearing Groucho Marx-style disguise glasses to conceal their identities. Overwhelmed by shame over their son's criminal career, they opt to hide their faces while discussing Virgil, adding to the film's parody of true crime documentaries.

• virgil parents
• groucho glasses
• shame
• interview

After marrying Louise and securing a mailroom job by lying about his criminal past, Virgil was blackmailed by a coworker named Miss Blair. She discovered his true background and coerced him into an unwanted romantic relationship. This blackmail plotline demonstrates how Virgil's dishonesty continued to haunt him and led to further comedic complications.

• miss blair
• blackmail
• mailroom
• virgil
• louise

After being blackmailed by Miss Blair, Virgil plotted to kill her by disguising sticks of dynamite as festive candles. However, his plan hilariously backfired when he accidentally stabbed her with a turkey leg during a romantic dinner. The misused candles then exploded, causing chaos but failing to eliminate Miss Blair, showcasing the perpetual failure of Virgil's schemes.

• virgil
• miss blair
• dynamite
• candles
• turkey leg
• murder plot

While serving a ten-year sentence on a chain gang, Virgil attempted to break his chain by asking a fellow inmate to smash it with a sledgehammer. However, his aim was off, and instead of breaking the chain, the hammer struck Virgil's foot, injuring him. This slapstick mishap echoes the prison escape themes from 'I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang' while adding to Virgil's long list of self-inflicted misfortunes.

• virgil
• chain gang
• foot
• sledgehammer
• injury

Virgil and five other prisoners attempted to escape while chained together, in a nod to 'The Defiant Ones.' To avoid detection, they took an elderly woman hostage and coached her to claim they were her cousins. They tried synchronizing their movements to hide the chains, but the situation quickly descended into chaos. After a scuffle with a guard, they managed to flee and sought refuge with Louise, though they were eventually recaptured.

• virgil
• chained escape
• elderly woman
• hostage
• cousins

Virgil was recaptured after attempting to rob a former friend who had become a policeman. Facing 52 robbery charges, he received an astounding sentence of 800 years in prison. Despite this overwhelming punishment, Virgil maintained his optimistic outlook, calculating that with good behavior, he could get the sentence reduced to 400 years, demonstrating his characteristic denial and humor in the face of reality.

• virgil
• 800 years
• sentence
• recaptured
• charges

As a child, Virgil excelled on an IQ test but made the poor decision to steal a fountain pen from his teacher. To teach him honesty, the teacher had the class close their eyes so Virgil could return the pen. Instead of simply returning it, Virgil used the opportunity to 'feel' all the girls in his class, demonstrating his awkward and misguided nature from an early age.

• virgil
• fountain pen
• school
• childhood
• girls

When Virgil attempted to rob an armored truck in adulthood, he brought a cigarette lighter instead of a gun due to his typical clumsiness and lack of preparation. During the standoff, when he tried to threaten the guards with what he thought was a weapon, it became clear he had brought the wrong item. This mistake led directly to his arrest, marking the beginning of his tumultuous criminal career.

• virgil
• cigarette lighter
• armored truck
• robbery
• arrest