The Wrong Way Out

WE MAY HAVE seen some other entries into this CRIME DOES NOT PAY series of shorts from Metro Goldwyn Mayer, but damn if the memory has been able to access any such "file" deep in the recesses of our gray matter filing system. If this is episode of the series, they certainly made a fan in our house.

HAVING BEEN EMPLOYED as a Chicago Cop for 34+ years, it stands to reason that expectation of some degree of realism would be among the list of priorities in viewing any Police Procedural, Detective Story or Crime Drama. That would definitely be the case here. Our very skeptical nature is quick to analyze and put under a microscope just how much the story on the screen compares to the real world.

THAT IS NOT to say that all that we see has to be an extension of and an actual mirroring of that which we deal with daily in our lives. There is another side to this "Cops & Robbers" coin of ours.

THAT WOULD BE the escapist fantasy that is exemplified by such well known films such as RADIO PATROL (Universal,1937) a serial in 12 chapters; which was adapted from the King Features Syndicate comic strip. Any of the screen adaptations of Chester Gould's DICK TRACY would certainly fit into this category.

BUT IN GETTING back to our subject in the spotlight, we find that this little film was rendered in the most sincere way. It transcends the cops n' robbers sub-genre and reveals a powerful, truthful bit of morality play. Without being heavy handed, preachy or sanctimonious, a screening of this short may well impart the beginnings of a better and more moral life style on many of its viewers, be they young or old.

INASMUCH AS THIS is just one of many 20 minute mini-features, it struck us of how much it bears a resemblance to series television. The series that we see as its having a strong relation to is RACKET SQUAD (1951-53). It was an anthology series featuring Reed Hadley as Captain John Braddock, commanding officer of the bunco squad of a large, unnamed and fictional city's police department. Mr. Hadley's role was host, narrator and the detective who would show up at stories end to tie it all up.

AS WE'VE PREVIOUSLY said, this episode piqued our interest and we'll certainly be watching the listings for TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES to see more episodes, all of them we hope.

Wrong Way Out, The (1938)

*** (out of 4)

The twentieth episode in MGM's Crime Does Not Pay series is one of the weakest I've seen but there's still enough that works here for fans. In the film, young adults Wendy (Kenneth Howell) and Ann (Linda Perry) want to get married but their parents refuse so they decide to elope. Once out on their own they realize it's not easy to make a living and soon they are forced into a life of crime. A lot of reviewers call this series over dramatic but I've never agreed with that except for right here. The entire "warning" this film offers is against eloping and having too much of an ego to return home to your parents. The film takes that and turns out two teens into a Bonnie and Clyde type, which is a tad bit over the top as the film never gives them any real motivation in doing what eventually happens here. I also find it rather funny that both sets of parents are shown as good people yet they too are actually rather mean spirited when the kids first come to them for advice. The parents turn their backs and then they wonder why, later in the film, the kids don't come back to them for help. The over the top antics of the film would make me recommend newcomers to the series to start somewhere else but I think fans will still want to check it out. The performances are all rather mixed with Howell coming off rather lame as the good turned bad guy. The scene with the drunk singing "Happy Days Are Here Again" gets a mild laugh as does the ending that goes way too far.

Having grown older -- if perhaps, no wiser -- I know that running away from home can be a darned stupid thing to do when you have halfway decent parents. As we learn in this episode of MGM's short subject series, it can lead to crime, and -- repeat after me -- Crime Does Not Pay!

Unhappily, not all parents are at least halfway decent, and certainly when you're all grown up at 15 and they won't let you get married, and there's no money, running away becomes attractive. What Kenneth Howell and Linda Perry don't realize in this short is that their parents do care, and stand ready to help. They just can't find them!

Gustav Machatý, the director of this short, was a big director in Hungary. When he came to the United States with his star discovery, Hedy Lamar, he found out that they wanted Hedy, but his talents were more technical as far as the producers were concerned. He spent about ten years in Hollywood before returning to Europe.

It's another episode of A Crime Does Not Pay Subject series. A young couple is struggling. With their $18, they run away to the big city to get married. With no training, they can't get a good job. The young couple is alone cleaning up when a drunken rich patron stumbles in. He passes out and the couple robs him of $200.

This would work better if the young couple is more desperate. This is more crimes of opportunity. Quite frankly, Windy would probably steal whether they run away or not. He's a criminal at heart. It has little to do with their lack of money.

In another episode of their "Crime Does Not Pay" series, MGM focuses on the "impatience" of the "under 21" crowd. Specifically, we meet handsome young Ken Howell (as "Windy" Brown) and pretty girlfriend Linda Perry (as Ann Stevens) on a boating date. They discuss marriage with their respective parents, but both sets think it's a bad idea. Denying their consent, the parents think Mr. Howell and Ms. Perry are too young, inexperienced and poor to marry. Howell says their folks "can go jump in a lake." Perry thinks they're stuck in the mud. Howell and Perry marry anyway, but life is hard...

This is less an episode warning about crime life and more a call for teenage couples to cool off their romantic feelings. Perry doesn't finish school and Howell has no way to support a wife, so getting serious is not recommended. When tempted to take advantage of a drunk with money, the couple robs the man. This is more of a slippery slope than you think, and the newlyweds seem to become "Bonnie and Clyde" overnight. It's amusing. Teen idol Howell did this while appearing in his own feature film series (as Jack Jones) and Perry was nearing the end of a hesitating career as an ingénue.

***** The Wrong Way Out (12/24/38) Gustav Machaty ~ Kenneth Howell, Linda Perry, Ray Mayer, George Meeker