The Wrong Way Out

Didn't realize what I was getting into when this started. It soon became apparent this was meant to be a cautionary tale about running away! Like Reefer Madness, it takes the extreme arguments (against) to a ridiculous extent, probably reducing its effectiveness.

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.

Once again the law enforcement guy was a fake underage couple--they are actually in mid-20s though they did look younger "The Wrong Way Out" is another installment of MGM's long series of shorts "Crime Does Not Pay". Like the title implies, this is the story of criminals who end up being caught and ruining or losing their lives. It begins with an introduction by a police captain* and the story follows.

The film is about an underage couple who are deeply in love and deeply stupid. Since their parents won't give permission, they run off and marry on the sly. However, their new lives suck because they have few job skills and they can barely afford to live. Eventually these geniuses gravitate to a life of crime--and naturally it ends in tragedy.

This episode is a bit preachy but the ending is what I usually like in these films--it's violent and satisfying. And, I was happy that for once teenage characters actually looked their age--even though the actor and actress were actually in their mid-20s.

*In most of the films in the series, some district attorney or cop does the introduction. Well, these real-life professionals were all actors--NOT the folks they claimed to be. MGM deliberately made it look like they were professionals, I assume, to give their shorts clout. Still, this one was entertaining and worth seeing in spite of this.

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

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.