re: Let's Overanalyze "Home Alone" and "Home Alone 2"

Harry Lime was raised in the south side of Chicago. He was the son of a textile factory foreman. In fact, his grandfather worked in the same factory for years prior to his father but lost his finger in one of the machines as they were industrializing the factory. His grandfather, Harry, the first of the name was forced into and early retirement and then into an asylum when they determined he had dementia. It was expected that Harry would continue working in the factory like the rest of his family but he had greater dreams. He had wanted to play professional baseball and upon retirement open a chain of deep dish pizza restaurants. Harry had a lot of skills as a pitcher at his high school but never really had the support of his family. He couldn't afford to attend college after graduation and was a relative unknown in the baseball community because he played for a perennial loser. Despite that he was able to tally all 6 of his teams wins his senior year while only allowing 3 total runs in 10 starts. Harry elected to attend open try outs for the white sox. He made the cut but began to have knee problems with his plant leg. He was forced to quit baseball. But he still had dreams of building a chain of pizza parlors.

For the first 2-3 years he was quite successful and was rated best deep dish in all of Chicago and even appeared in a write up in the Chicago Sun about self-made business owners.

Unfortunately a series of poor investments and one of his employees embezzling money led to the collapse of Harry's promising pizza business.

Harry had a wife and a child with special needs. Do to layoffs made by the textile factory he was unable to find a job in that sector. He began to work evenings as a security guard at a local night club. He soon found that he had easy access to the vaults and was able to launder money a little at a time until he was finally caught. He serve 1 year in county jail before he was released due to the prison needing room for more violent offenders.

While in prison his wife left him for a successful taxi company owner who was able to provide for her and the child with special needs.

It was at this time that Harry was reunited with his high school buddy and baseball team catcher Marv Merchants. Marv had been working closely with another acquaintance Bob Sacamano (yes that Bob Sacamano) running a pawn shop with things that conveniently fall of the truck. But Marv felt like Bob was taking advantage of him and wanted to get away from him and start his own thing.

They began with small jobs in the trailer parks but quickly moved on to the nicer suburbs.