Think It Over

One reviewer marveled that Jacques Tourneur would direct a short film like this. While he WAS a prominent director of such films as "Out of the Past" and "Cat People", back in the 1930s he directed shorts and directed his first American feature a few months AFTER "Think It Over". From 1936 until late 1939, he did nothing but shorts and so this would explain his directing this film.

"Think It Over" is a short about an arson for hire gang. Their way of operating is to burn down businesses for he owners and then extort as much of the insurance money as they can off the guy. While the outfit seems pretty sure of itself, naturally the police catch on and stop them. It's all very straight forward and ordinary for the series, however, the twist near the very end IS very gritty and cool. Worth seeing but nothing special.

This is, after all, an episode of Crime Does Not Pay, so I wonder why MGM thought they needed a director of Tourneur's stature for such a pedestrian piece. It is just a straight story of an arson-for-profit gang who burn stores facing bankruptcy for a cut of the insurance money. True to the theme of the series, the inevitable happens to prove its point.

Of course, the main point of interest is in spotting cast members with familiar faces, and this one does not disappoint. On hand are Don "Red" Barry, Dwight Frye and Frank Orth in a prominent role, who is instantly recognizable as, say, the bartender in numerous films.

"Think It Over" is good, representative entry. The story takes a melodramatic turn towards the end to a predictable outcome. It is just long enough at twenty minutes and avoids making a pest of itself.