Buried Loot

This is a very strange MGM short because it stars pretty-boy Robert Taylor in a very untraditional role. Because it was very early in his career, the big-wigs didn't know how to use him and experimented by starring him in this short crime drama--a role quite unlike his soon to be established persona.

The film is made in a semi-documentary style and is entitled a "Crime Does Not Pay" film. It begins with a narrator and government official preaching that crime is bad and then the narrator talks about a strange case that proves this assertion. Robert Taylor's character works in a bank and embezzles $200,000 (a HUGE sum of money in 1935) and is naturally sent to jail. However, very oddly, he turns himself in to the boss and doesn't try to run--saying he spent the money gambling and having fun. There's a lot more to it than that but I really don't want to spoil it. Suffice to say, though, that it's pretty exciting and what happens to handsome Taylor's face is pretty cool to see.

Overall, while not a great film, it is very unusual as well as a great curio for film history buffs and fans of Hollywood's Golden Age.

An MGM CRIME DOES NOT PAY Short Subject.

An imprisoned embezzler begins to worry about the $200,000 in BURIED LOOT he's secreted in New Jersey.

This two-reeler was the first in a series featuring true crime stories told in a compelling, hard-hitting fashion. It is well plotted & acted, with no dull moments or unnecessary subplots. No cast credits are given, but movie mavens will enjoy the ripe performance of Robert Taylor, only steps away from discovery & stardom, as the bad guy consumed not by conscience but by fears of ultimate failure to enjoy his ill-gotten gains.

Many of the prison shots were lifted right out of MGM's classic feature THE BIG HOUSE (1930).

Often overlooked or neglected today, the one and two-reel short subjects were useful to the Studios as important training grounds for new or burgeoning talents, both in front & behind the camera. The dynamics for creating a successful short subject was completely different from that of a feature length film, something like writing a topnotch short story rather than a novel. Economical to produce in terms of both budget & schedule and capable of portraying a wide range of material, short subjects were the perfect complement to the Studios' feature films.

"Buried Loot" was an MGM one reel feature written and directed by George Seitz that offers a story that could have been written by O'Henry because of the ironic twist in it. Since the whole cast is not credited, one wonders if the studio intended this short film as a showcase, why not have credits that mentioned the same people featured in it.

The story is a simple one about how a bank employee decides to confess to the president of the institution his crime of stealing $200,000.00. What's more, he has squandered all the money. The fact is that cunning Al Douglas figures he will spend time in jail and then after serving a sentence, he will be released ahead of the term by his good behavior to dig out the treasure he has buried. But unfortunately, Al, doesn't count on his cell mate's plan to escape prison.

The film presents a young Robert Taylor before he became one of the best and most admired actors of the period. Mr. Taylor is heavily made up, as it was the custom of the early films, but one could see how the camera loved him and his virile presence that made him a favorite of the movie fans.

"Buried Loot" is one of the best examples of the one reel format.

One of Robert Taylor's earliest "films"--if you call a short subject, a film.

All about a guy who steals $200,000 from a bank and the aftermath that goes with it. I found it to be very entertaining and thought that it was too bad that they did not do a complete full length film on this one, as it was really well made!!

Try and catch it on a certain cable channel that shows these "one reel wonders", as it is a good one.

The first in MGM's wonderful Crime Does Not Pay short series stars an up-and-coming Robert Taylor as an embezzler who turns himself in, lying and saying he spent all of the money he stole ($200,000 - a lot of bread in 1935). His plan is to serve the few years of prison time so that when he's released he will be able to spend all that money without the cops looking over his shoulder. But once inside the pen he starts worrying something might happen to the money and before long he's thinking of escape. Great beginning to the series with an interesting story with some neat twists and a big star when he was still a nobody. A lot of fun for classic film fans, particularly if you enjoy crime dramas from back in the day.