Unscrupulous car dealers foist faulty and dangerous cars on an unsuspecting public.Unscrupulous car dealers foist faulty and dangerous cars on an unsuspecting public.Unscrupulous car dealers foist faulty and dangerous cars on an unsuspecting public.
Photos
Tommy Baker
- Tommy Phillips
- (as Tom Baker)
Raymond Bailey
- Ray - Lab Tech
- (uncredited)
William Bailey
- Courtroom Lawyer
- (uncredited)
Walter Baldwin
- Mr. Martin - Car Buyer
- (uncredited)
Barbara Bedford
- First Nurse - Hospital Desk
- (uncredited)
Margaret Bert
- Mother in Waiting Room
- (uncredited)
Wade Boteler
- Tommy's Father
- (uncredited)
John Butler
- Man Selling Wrecked Car
- (uncredited)
Naomi Childers
- Second Nurse - Hospital Room
- (uncredited)
John Gallaudet
- Williams - Used Car Salesman
- (uncredited)
Roy Gordon
- Commissioner Blake
- (uncredited)
Edward Hearn
- Father in Waiting Room
- (uncredited)
Louis Jean Heydt
- Detective
- (uncredited)
William Lally
- Cop
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe $149.50 that Tommy paid for his jalopy would equate to nearly $3000 in 2023.
- GoofsAfter the wreck, there is a shot from inside the ambulance looking out the windshield. 'Ambulance' is printed on the bottom of the windshield in big letters. The next shot is of the ambulance at the accident scene, but the the writing is no longer there.
- ConnectionsEdited into Mr. Blabbermouth! (1942)
Featured review
Did people actually trust used car salesmen in 1941?
Maybe. It was a less cynical time. Plus the idea of a used car was relatively new. Ordinary people could only afford a car once the Model T's started coming off the line in 1908, and cars were built to last in those times.
So this episode in MGM's "Crime Does Not Pay" series is about racketeering used car salesmen. By racketeering I think that they just meant completely dishonest, because there seems to be no mob involvement. It opens with the dishonest salesman closing the deal on a car to an older fellow who needs the car to make deliveries and hold his job. The car breaks down shortly thereafter, and when the dealership tells him to get lost he goes to the police. Odd how the police department would have time to go over a bad used car with a consumer, but apparently here they do. The police mechanics tell the owner that the car was a former taxi and probably has over 200K miles on it. Examinations of the sales contract and the bill of sale don't hold any guarantees, so the police can do nothing in this case.
But then there are a couple of kids right out of an MGM family film screenplay that buy one of the lemon cars, and you just know this is going to end badly in a way that will get the criminals on the hook. You'd be right or else this would not be a "Crime Does Not Pay" entry.
A couple of things I took away from this. The introduction does not say that this scenario is exactly true. It is probably just representative of a number of actual cases. Also, why is everybody being raised by their grandparents in this short? The salesman who has a little daughter and buys the first lemon car looks like he is at least 50. The man who is the father of the teen who buys the second lemon car looks at least 60. Maybe the decade long depression the country had just come out of aged people badly, but it is very noticeable.
Still, a worthy entry in the MGM series if you are a fan.
So this episode in MGM's "Crime Does Not Pay" series is about racketeering used car salesmen. By racketeering I think that they just meant completely dishonest, because there seems to be no mob involvement. It opens with the dishonest salesman closing the deal on a car to an older fellow who needs the car to make deliveries and hold his job. The car breaks down shortly thereafter, and when the dealership tells him to get lost he goes to the police. Odd how the police department would have time to go over a bad used car with a consumer, but apparently here they do. The police mechanics tell the owner that the car was a former taxi and probably has over 200K miles on it. Examinations of the sales contract and the bill of sale don't hold any guarantees, so the police can do nothing in this case.
But then there are a couple of kids right out of an MGM family film screenplay that buy one of the lemon cars, and you just know this is going to end badly in a way that will get the criminals on the hook. You'd be right or else this would not be a "Crime Does Not Pay" entry.
A couple of things I took away from this. The introduction does not say that this scenario is exactly true. It is probably just representative of a number of actual cases. Also, why is everybody being raised by their grandparents in this short? The salesman who has a little daughter and buys the first lemon car looks like he is at least 50. The man who is the father of the teen who buys the second lemon car looks at least 60. Maybe the decade long depression the country had just come out of aged people badly, but it is very noticeable.
Still, a worthy entry in the MGM series if you are a fan.
helpful•30
- AlsExGal
- Jul 14, 2019
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Crime Does Not Pay No. 35: Coffins on Wheels
- Filming locations
- Westwood, Los Angeles, California, USA(accident scene - Fox Village Theatre seen in background with its iconic tower, Bruin Service repair shop visible next door)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime17 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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