Jack Pot

It's another episode of MGM's Crime Does Not Pay series. The mayor is tackling illegal gambling. Mob boss Rocky Fallon has a mole in the mayor's office. He built his empire from gambling and has so much more.

Some of this is interesting. Some of it is weak. There is nothing weaker than a bad shooting victim. The girl getting acid thrown in the face is a pretty big move. It's almost modern. It's fine as one of these episodes, but it's probably trying to do too much. These shorts work best with a simplistic, straight-forward story. This feels like a story that needs to be expanded into full length.

This episode of MGM's long-running crime series takes on the slot machine, informing us they're crooked, support racketeers and lead to no good, because CRIME DOES NOT PAY.

It's the third and last episode to feature Edwin Maxwell. He's a hefty, older actor, that seemed to be cast on those roles for which the producers couldn't afford Edward Arnold. Usually cast as a businessman, often a crooked one, or an authority figure, he appeared in one film in 1915, then back onto the stage until 1929. From then, he showed up in about 150 features and shorts. Although he occasionally received no credit after 1940, he worked steadily until his death in 1948.

Jack Pot (1940)

*** (out of 4)

Part of MGM's "Crime Does Not Pay" series with this one looking at illegal gambling in the form of slot machines. This is yet another pretty good entry in the series, although this one here isn't among the best out there. There isn't as much drama this time out but the way the story is told keeps it interesting throughout.

Turner Classic Movies is the best place to catch these Crime Does Not Pay series as they usually show at least one a month. Some have been released to various Warner box sets as well.

This 20-minute film is one of an MGM short series called Crime Does Not Pay. "Jack Pot" is docu-drama about how social tolerance for small, seemingly harmless, illegal practices, can lead to major organized crime. The portrayals in this film indeed show how insidious the spread of crime can be. The culprit in this case is the illegal but seemingly harmless slot machine. The neighborhood drugstore has one, so does the laundry, etc.

The players are good in this film as the plot leads to local corruption and violent crime. An unidentified police chief introduces the film with a warning, "The greatest single menace to honest law enforcement is not sensational gangsterism or any other open lawlessness. It's public apathy." By accepting of petty illegal functions, the public provides a wedge for organized crime to move into in a town or city.

The case is well made in this public service type of short.

This was a very good extra on my 'I Love You Again' DVD, that was disc 4 of my 5-film 'TCM Spotlight: Myrna Loy and William Powell Collection', and part of the 'Crime Does Not Pay' series that I have quite enjoyed. In it, the police try to show that these seemingly-harmless slot machines that the mobs try to get legitimate business owners to own and install in their establishments are rigged and are the first step for these thugs, in cities, to bring crimes waves in. Rowland was one of the finer directors of these shorts, and eventually was able to make larger, better pictures (a personal favourite of mine is the first cinematic adaptation of Dr. Seuss' work, 'The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.'.

Very much worth a look if you enjoy crime films of the period!