Sucker List (1941)

Director:

Roy Rowland

Writers:

Samuel H. Chain (story) and
Alan Friedman (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

26 July 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Short | Drama

Plot:

Mr. Brown and his racketeer buddies, calling their company "Best Selections", come up with a scheme...

Plot Keywords:

Crime Does Not Pay Series | Debt | Manslaughter | Beating | Racketeer

Cast

Lynne Carver	...	Mary Allen
Noel Madison	...	Mr. Brown, Chief Racketeer
John Archer	...	William 'Bill' Allen
George Cleveland	...	Old Man Not Beaten Up
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ernie Alexander	...	Mechanic Under Car (uncredited)
Raymond Bailey	...	Phony Bookmaker (uncredited)
Hugh Beaumont	...	Charles Adams (uncredited)
Barbara Bedford	...	Mr. Allen's Secretary (uncredited)
John Burton	...	Gus, Racketeer Broadcasting Winners (uncredited)
John Butler	...	Gus, Mr. Brown's Associate (uncredited)
Charles Cane	...	(uncredited)
Joe Devlin	...	Racketeer Typing Winners (uncredited)
Robert Elliott	...	Policeman (uncredited)
John Hamilton	...	Mr. James Sawyer, Horseracing Commissioner (uncredited)
Richard Kipling	...	Mr. Dodd, Newspaper Owner (uncredited)
Mike Lally	...	Telephone Tipster (uncredited)
Mitchell Lewis	...	Jake, Racketeer with Earphones (uncredited)
Ivan Miller	...	Policeman (uncredited)
George Ovey	...	Man Bringing 10,000 Names (uncredited)
Frank M. Thomas	...	Policeman at Commissioner's Office (uncredited)
Norman Willis	...	Assistant Chief Racketeer (uncredited)
Joe Yule	...	Man Wanting Match (uncredited)

Directed by
Roy Rowland

Writing credits
Samuel H. Chain		(story) and
Alan Friedman		(story)
Douglas Foster		(screenplay)

Cinematography by
Harold Lipstein

Film Editing by
Albert Akst

Art Direction by
Richard Duce

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1941) (USA) (theatrical)

Also Known As:

"Crime Does Not Pay No. 36: Sucker List" - USA (series title)

Runtime:

19 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Crime Does Not Pay

Sucker List (1941)

*** (out of 4)

This isn't the greatest entry in MGM's Crime Does Not Pay series but it's still an entertaining one for fans of the series. Once again we're told that the MGM Crime Reporter is trying to bring down a racket that is causing millions of people money and a few their lives. It deals with people who pass out fake tips who hope people in debt will contact them for future tips. Of course, this is all meant to put money into the bad guys pockets as they trap people and this short shows what happens when a husband (John Archer) with a sick wife (Lynne Carver) takes the bad tip and threatens to go to the police. This has always been my favorite shorts series and this is due to how simple the stories usually were and how the studio (in their own way) tried telling people what bad things to try and avoid. Some people call these shorts over-dramatic and perhaps they are but it was just their way of hammering home stuff that many people fell victim to. This short here is a pretty good one even if the screenplay has a few weak spots including the fact that many of these victims probably shouldn't have been doing what they were. If they simply weren't trying to double and triple their money then they wouldn't have been scammed but that's just a minor thing. For the most part the film is well acted and the director by Roy Rowland hits all the right notes. Archer is pretty good in his role as is Noel Madison as the main bad guy. Look quick for Mickey Rooney's rather in a quick bit as well. While this certainly isn't the best film in the series, there's enough going on to make it worth viewing.