So You Think You're Not Guilty (1950)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Richard L. Bare

Writer:

Richard L. Bare (written by)

Release Date:

15 April 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Short

Plot:

Joe McDoakes (George O'Hanlon) pleads "not guilty" to a traffic violation but is convicted anyway. Handling this setback in his usual manner, the two-dollar fine quickly pyramids to a 10-year jail sentence.

Plot Keywords:

Joe McDoakes | Traffic Light | Court Trial | Sequel | Lawyer

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

George O'Hanlon

...

Joe McDoakes

Runtime:

10 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved

Company:

Richard L. Bare Productions

Trivia:

A rare entry in the Joe McDoakes series because there is no narrator.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[at a traffic light]
Alice McDoakes: Joe, wake up, it says go.
Joe McDoakes: Ah.

Movie Connections:

Follows So You Want to Build a House (1948)

Very Funny

So You Think You're Not Guilty (1950)

*** (out of 4)

One of the better entries in the series has Joe McDoakes (George O'Hanlon) running a traffic light but instead of pleading guilty and paying two dollars, he decides to fight the charges, which just ends up costing him more fines and prison time. There were over sixty of these shorts made and they were certainly hit and miss but this here is one of the better ones. The entire situation is handled very well by director Bare who also wrote the screenplay, which has plenty of nice twists and turns throughout the nine minute running time. There are countless highlight but the best one is a scene where McDoakes is forced to break out of jail, which of course just gets him into more trouble. There's several scenes that perfectly spoof the gangster and courtroom drama films out at the time as well.