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Marv Murchins was a crook who regularly partnered with Harry Lyme, forming the "Wet Bandits", a name derived from their "calling card" of leaving their victims' water running and later, the "Sticky Bandits" after stealing money with a tape-covered glove.

Biography

Chicago

One evening while driving, Marv's partner, Harry, gloated about how the residents of the neighborhood informed him when they were going to leave for the holiday and that the McCallister house would be their prime target.[1]

Marv and Harry attempted to break in during the day, but unknown to both of them, Kevin McCallister was still home. Kevin, after observing their shadows, turned on the lights, confusing the burglars and prompting them to flee.[1]

While raiding the Murphy home, the phone rang and the answering machine came on with a message being left by Peter McCallister, giving the Murphys' the phone number to his brother's Paris apartment, confirming to the bandits that the McCallisters were gone and they planned to rob the house later that night.[1]

On their way out, Marv left a 'calling card' by clogging the drains in the house and leaving the water running, much to Harry's disappointment. This led to an argument as they drive, but accidentally nearly ran over Kevin. Kevin recognized Harry, by his gold tooth flashing and fled. The two bandits became suspicious and followed Kevin, but lost track of him at a nearby church. Opting not to enter then church to search further, they fled, and Kevin (who was hiding in the nativity scene as a hooded shepherd) returned home.[1]

Mrmarv

The two bandits later attempted to break in a second time, but as they went by, Kevin had the house lights on and the place appeared to be occupied due to mannequins that he was operating. Thus, the two assumed that the house was occupied, and decided to come back the next day.[1]

When Marv came back the next day, he tried to break in through the dog door with his right foot, but ended up losing his shoe instead, which he quickly grabbed. Kevin, alarmed, turned on the Angels with Filthy Souls tape and set off a bunch of firecrackers, confusing Marv and causing him to wonder if there had been a murder at the place by other burglars. While Marv wanted to flee, the two opted to stick around and investigate further.[1]

Later, the two saw Kevin trimming a tree from the yard and realized that he was home alone and decide to come back at 9:00 at night, which Kevin intentionally overheard to find out their plans.[1]

That night, they began their planned plunder of the McCallister home. When Marv claimed he was Santa Claus, and "his elf", Kevin poked the BB gun out the doggy door, and shot Harry in the groin, causing him to squeal like a pig. When trying to enter through the kitchen, Marv stuck his head in through the doggy door, but was shot in the face by Kevin with a BB gun. As he went down to the basement, he slipped down a flight of frozen concrete stairs. He soon managed to enter and attempted to turn on a light, but only ended up with an iron falling on his face.[1]

Then, he lost his shoes and socks while climbing tar-covered stairs in the basement and shoved Kevin's nail into his left foot after he stepped on it, causing him to fall backwards and scream in immense pain.[1]

Ornament-Booby Traps

Marv screaming after stepping on Christmas ornaments

Marv left the basement and resorted to entering through a window, only to step on glass Christmas ornaments on the other side (making him scream with even more pain), enraging him to the point of screaming out that he would kill Kevin. He finally reunited with Harry who had his share of traps and looked to Marv like a chicken, and they joined forces to capture Kevin. They chased the boy to a flight of stairs, but slipped on some toy cars Kevin had laid out. Then they attempted to go upstairs, but a swinging paint can hit Marv in the face, knocking him down. Harry was hit by one as well and landed on Marv. Marv remarked that Harry was "missing some teeth."[1]

Trollololol

Marv screaming at the tarantula

They got up and chased Kevin upstairs. Harry tripped over a wire and fell on his back, but Marv managed to avoid the trap and leapt at Kevin, managing to grab his foot. However, Kevin then placed a tarantula on Marv's face, causing him to let go of Kevin, scream, and fling it onto Harry's chest. Kevin ran upstairs while Marv grabbed a crowbar and attempted to smash the tarantula, only managing to hit Harry with it. Once Harry recovered, he angrily took the crowbar and hit Marv with it.[1]

They continued the chase and followed Kevin, only to see he was already in a treehouse on the other side of the backyard. Marv reluctantly climbed the rope leading it, followed by Harry but Kevin brandished hedge trimmers and cut the rope, causing the bandits to smash into the house and fall to the ground. The two then manage to ambush Kevin at the Murphy home. As they threaten the boy, Kevin's neighbor Marley incapacitated them with a snow shovel.[1]

While being arrested, Marv gloats about their crimes, thus confessing to a number of their burglaries. Harry kicks him in frustration, telling him to shut up as they are placed in the back of police car.[1]

New York

A year later, Marv and Harry escaped from prison and caught a ride on a fish truck to New York City. Putting double-sided tape on one glove, he stole money from a donation bucket and suggested to Harry that they adopt the name the "Sticky Bandits." which didn't impress Harry.[2]

Later, Marv bumped into a fashion model and his hand accidentally stuck to her purse. After managing to pull his hand away, Marv said he was sorry in French, but the model did not accept his apology and slapped Marv across the face before leaving.[2]

At an ice rink, Harry called Marv forth and acknowledged to him that they had to change their game, as they were not getting anywhere with stealing goods, deciding to steal cash instead. Marv suggested robbing hotels, but Harry knew that tourists were not guaranteed to have much cash. Harry pointed out that stores that specialized in moderately-priced goods would have the most cash in stock. When Marv suggested that the candy stores would have the most money on hand at Christmas time, Harry sneered that 'Nine year old's rob candy stores!' then suggested robbing a toy store, since they truly made the most money around Christmas time. Making it to Duncan's Toy Chest, they planned on staying there overnight, stealing the money, and then leaving the next morning.[2]

Marv and Harry later saw that Kevin is also in New York and tried to catch him, but he used beads from a necklace in order to trip them up.[2]

Marv and Harry later caught Kevin when he fled the Plaza Hotel after being exposed for having a stolen credit card by the staff. After ripping Kevin's plane ticket, so that he could not get back home to Chicago or Miami with his family, Marv revealed their entire robbery plan to Kevin and their plan to kill him, much to Harry's annoyance, with Kevin recording the whole discussion with his Talkboy. Kevin managed to flee their grasps once again when he caused Marv and Harry to be punched by the same woman that Marv had previously been slapped for hitting on earlier and escaped in the back of a horse-drawn carriage. Harry was initially discomforted knowing that Kevin is around, but Marv eased his worries, as Kevin had no home to booby trap them with, and on top of that, was now alone in Central Park, which nobody could survive at night.[2]

On Christmas Eve, while Harry and Marv robbed Duncan's Toy Chest, Kevin knocked on the window, took a photo, and threw a brick through the window, setting off an alarm. Marv and Harry both unknowingly jumped onto a plank and trash can set up as a makeshift see-saw which sent Harry flying through the air and landing on top of a car.[2]

Home Alone Marv-1

Marv after being hit by bricks

They pursued Kevin to his uncle Rob's house. While attempting to bargain with the boy, Marv was hit four times by bricks that Kevin throws down, leaving him briefly disoriented. When Kevin left the roof, Marv went up the stairs and tried to open the front door, but was tricked by the knob which was attached to a staple gun via a rope on the other side. When Marv finally pulled on the rope, the staple gun fired into his buttocks. When he turned, the gun fired into his groin. He then fell and the gun fired again into his nose.[2]

Home Alone 2 Marv Electrocuted

Marv turning into a skeleton after being electrocuted

He then kicked the door open and, not noticing a gaping hole in the floor, fell down a three-story drop to the basement. He then got up and slipped in a puddle of soap, fell on his back, and crashed into an entire shelf holding tins of open paint, which fell on him. Now covered in different colors of paint, Marv went to the sink to try to clean himself up, he received an electric shock, briefly showing his skull.[2]

Recovering, he found a rope placed conveniently for an exit out of the basement. However, the rope was attached to a bag of concrete, which fell on him. Eventually climbing out, he saw Harry on the ground with a cut-up ladder and they reunited. Going up the stairs, Kevin purposely tossed two paint cans down which missed. Laughing, thinking that they had dodged a trap, they both went up the stairs only to be hit in the face with a metal pipe, which then fell on them after Kevin cut its ropes.[2]

Later, they heard Kevin tormenting them and they pulled on a doorknob which came off and sent a toolbox down the stairs, opening the door and crashing into them. They made it on the roof and see Kevin an inch down from the roof. When Kevin taunts them of a neck injury, Marv picks up one of the bricks from which Kevin threw at him. Marv yells "suck brick, kid!" and throws the brick down at him, but he missed. When they climbed down a kerosene-soaked rope to catch Kevin, Kevin set it on fire and the burglars attempted to escape, only to fall several stories and get doused with varnish.[2]

They soon caught Kevin after he slipped on a sidewalk and dragged him to Central Park to kill him. Upon seeing the trees full of pigeons, Marv became visibly uncomfortable, and wanted to flee, but Harry was too determined to finish off Kevin to care. The Pigeon Lady then appeared and threw a bucket full of birdseed on them, causing them to be swarmed by dozens of pigeons, deterring the bandits long enough for the police to arrive and re-arrest them.[2]

The police found Kevin's photographs and recorded audio of Marv and Harry planning the toy store robbery. Gloating, Marv then revealed to the police that not only did they break into the toy store, but also escaped from prison. This infuriated Harry, who struck him multiple times to shut him up, but to no avail. As they were led away, Marv yelled out to remember that they were not the Wet Bandits anymore, but the Sticky Bandits instead, to which Harry yelled at Marv to shut up once more.[2]

Kidnapping plot

The following information comes from Home Alone 4, which has continuity problems with the first two films in the series.

Once Marv was released from prison, he cut ties with Harry as he realized that being with him had only resulted in jail, and later married a woman named Vera, with the pair of them starting to work under Marv's mother Molly.[3]

His mother worked at the residence of a rich woman named Natalie, who was due a visit from the Royal Family for the Christmas period. Molly masterminded a plot to kidnap the Prince and hold him for ransom, an idea Marv agreed with as he felt his days of burglary were over. One night, Marv and Vera watched Natalie's mansion, where Marv disclosed the plan to Vera. The pair of them ducked when a taxi pulled up, with Marv being unaware that it was Kevin himself arriving, as Kevin's father Peter McCallister was conveniently in a relationship with Natalie.[3]

The next morning, when Natalie and Peter went out for the day and Molly left, leaving Kevin with the mansion's butler Prescott, Marv and Vera decided to gain access to the mansion in order to have a look around. When they approached the mansion, Kevin spotted the pair and recognized Marv and he attempted to warn Prescott through a buzzer, although to no avail (as Prescott slept in his quarters). Marv used a remote which was able to command the mansion and requested it turn off the security and let them in. Gaining access, the pair explore, but were scuppered when Kevin started flooding the place, causing Marv and Vera to be swept away and down the stairs.[3]

Marv and Vera soaked

Kevin, at the bottom, made another attempt to try and alert Prescott, again to no avail, and Marv recognized him also. Marv grew frustrated that the pair of them had yet again crossed paths, and he and Vera made their exit before anyone showed up. Shortly after the incident, Peter and Natalie returned and Prescott resurfaced. They refusd to believe Kevin over what happened, and Prescott accused Kevin of treating the house like a toy.[3]

The following evening, when Natalie hosted a dinner party at the mansion as she awaited the Royals arrival, Marv and Vera returned to the residence posing as waiters. Despite Kevin's continued pleas that they were the burglars, an irritated Prescott whisked him away. Marv and Vera accessed a child's bedroom, believing it was where the Prince would be staying, and started to prepare for his arrival and how they would abduct him. Marv decided to demonstrate exactly what they would do, and uses Vera as part of it. He got her to get inside a brown bag, and tied a rope around it and put it out the window, showcasing this was what he planned to do to the Prince. Kevin messed up their plan though when he released the rope, it latched onto Marv and pulled him through the window with Vera. Kevin called out the window that he knew they were planning to kidnap the Prince, and Marv told Vera that he planned to kill Kevin. The pair entered through the kitchen, but Kevin hit Marv with a pan and caused pots of food to fall on them. During the calamity, Marv landed on the cooker and is burned, causing him and Vera to flee the premises. Once again, Peter, Natalie and the others refused to believe Kevin. The whole incident proved pointless as the Royal Family's flight was cancelled, and they would not be arriving until the next day - Christmas Day.[3]

The following morning, Kevin was left alone when Natalie and Peter went to pick up the Royal Family. Once the pair disappeared, Molly contacted Marv to tell him he could make his move and enter the house with Vera. At that moment, Kevin locked Prescott in the wine cellar (as he believed him to be working with Marv) and tried to warn Molly that the kidnappers were coming, but she revealed she was the accomplice. Marv and Vera entered the house at that precise moment, and Marv referred to Molly as his mother, revealing to Kevin that they were mother and son. Molly then took Kevin and locked him in the wine cellar with Prescott, and then joined Marv and Vera to await the Royal family's arrival. Molly also made it clear that she was the boss, something that Marv claimed to Vera he was.[3]

Kevin managed to escape the cellar and set up a couple of booby traps. He managed to trap Molly inside an elevator. When Marv went to try and get Kevin in his bedroom, he fell into another trap and was caught under a cupboard. Kevin had the door closed, and when Vera arrived, Kevin used a spliced pre-recording of Marv to give the idea that he was insulting her and referring to her as a "moron" and "bag." Vera fell for it and slapped a confused Marv, and told him she was now her own boss and left him. Marv followed her, but a trapped Molly ordered him to leave Vera and get the kid. Marv was about to do as he was told, but Kevin flew his remote control plane into Marv's crotch, causing him to tumble down the stairs and into Vera. Kevin ran past them and escaped through a revolving door. Marv and Vera entered the revolving door also, but ended up being spun around by Kevin and thrown in the air and onto a chandelier. Marv was the first to fall, and was followed by Vera, who fell on top and knocked him out. As they laid there, Molly snuck up on Kevin and tried to hit him over the head, but Prescott arrived and knocked her out. They then decided to call the police.[3]

Kevin's family (along with Peter) arrived at the mansion. Knowing the game was up, Marv and Vera tried to make a run for it, but were tripped up by Kevin's siblings Buzz and Megan, who then sat on top of them until the police arrived. Marv, Vera and Molly were then taken into custody.[3]

Home Alone 4 information ends here.

Later life

Whilst robbing the Baxter house, Sinclair told Hughes and Jessica that they weren't "a bunch of two-bit bandits".[4]

The following information comes from outside the main Home Alone franchise and therefore may not be reliable and/or officially acknowledged.

Sometime in the mid-2010s, videos of Kevin McCallister taking brutal and bloody revenge against home invaders circulated around the internet, prompting a much older Marv to send a message of distress to Harry Lyme, as Marv was absolutely terrified of Kevin. At the end of Marv's video, the screen cut black and Marv let out a blood-curdling scream, indicating Kevin had found Marv.[5]

Potentially unofficial information ends here.

Personality

Despite both being very bumbling, Marv is more of the lackey of the Wet Bandits. He's extremely dim-witted and while he has his moments of determination, deep down he is cowardly at heart. When something frightens him, he has a tendency to scream hysterically. He often under estimated Kevin, seeing him as just a stupid helpless kid who couldn't do anything, but he was twice proven wrong after falling victim to his many traps. In the first film, while he was initially repulsed at breaking into the McCallister home while Kevin was still inside, he became less sympathetic to the kid as he ended up bruised and battered from Kevin's traps. On two occasions when the traps get too agonizing, he declares that he will kill Kevin. He is also a complete doormat to Harry and should he say anything stupid or haphazardly give the cops information, Harry will respond by hitting him.

As a burglar he is shown to first be very inelegant, just charging into people's empty homes and very messily stealing peoples belongings without even trying to be subtle, though he still desired to be seen as 'One of the greats' by creating the duo's name and moniker by flooding peoples homes after a job, but this lead to their undoing, as this let the cops know exactly which houses they hit. By the second movie, he had developed more finesse, becoming an expert pickpocket, being able to effortlessly steal personal items from members of the public, even closely fitted clothing items and Christmas gifts without them knowing. Even so, his overall burgling technique has not improved, as during he and Harry's big heist of the toystore, he clumsily grabs armfulls of cash and shoves it into his bag whilst letting several bills fall out as he does so.

The following information comes from Home Alone 4, which has continuity problems with the first two films in the series.

Following his separation from Harry, Marv appears to be more egotistical as he now considers himself "the boss", with his wife Vera acting as his second-in-command. Although in actuality his mother Molly is actually in charge having taken Harry's place, and calls the shots and makes the plans. When Marv states that he will show Kevin who is "boss", Molly berates him causing Marv to quickly back down and show that he is submissive to her.

Despite having been defeated by Kevin in the past, Marv shows a strange small amount of respect for him and even casually introduces Kevin and Vera to each other when they cross paths with the kid, almost as if they were old friends. Although Marv still became unnerved at running into Kevin for a third time, even telling Vera how he feels he is being stalked by him.

Home Alone 4 information ends here.

Gallery

Trivia

Home_Alone_Wet_Bandit_Resurfaces_and_Responds_to_Kevin_MacCalister's_Threatening_Video

Home Alone Wet Bandit Resurfaces and Responds to Kevin MacCalister's Threatening Video

  • Marv is played by Daniel Stern in the first two films. In the loose sequel Home Alone 4 (which shares a shoddy continuity with the original two movies), he is instead portrayed by French Stewart.
  • Daniel Stern criticized Home Alone 4 as being both an "insult" and "complete garbage", he refused to reprise his role for that film because of these reasons.[citation needed]
  • In Home Alone 4, Marv knows Kevin by his full name, in the first two films however, he only knows Kevin by his family surname McAllister, but instead refers to him as "kid" or "little" for short.
  • Marv is of Jewish descent, considering the fact he said "Happy Hanukkah Marv!" to himself while robbing the toy store in Home Alone 2. Daniel Stern is also Jewish in real life, hence his character having the same religion.
  • On December 24, 2015, Daniel Stern posted a short video, Home Alone Wet Bandit Resurfaces and Responds to Kevin McCalister's Threatening Video, on his Facebook and YouTube channel, reprising his role as an older Marv pleading for Harry to help him as Kevin is back and targeting all home invaders in a sadistic manner, recalling their injures when they fell for Kevin's booby traps. Marv then hears someone approaching and the video cuts to black as the sound clip of Marv screaming when Kevin put Axl the tarantula on his face from Home Alone is heard.
    • The video itself is a response to the DRYVRS episode, Just Me In The House By Myself, that featured Macaulay Culkin reprising his role as an older Kevin and torturing a home invader (which, in actuality, was a carjacker.)
  • His height is 6'4", being noticeably only a whole foot taller than his accomplice, Harry Lyme.
  • Marv is seemingly a fan of Nicolas Comics, as he stole a stack of them in Home Alone.
  • Home Alone 4 marks two things for Marv:
    • The only movie where he shares little similarity to the character in the previous films, and instead resembles a taller version of his former partner in crime Harry Lyme.
    • The only movie where he appears in without Harry.

References

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