Paularoc Review of Hit-and-Run Driver

Hit-and-Run Driver (1935)

Remorse but also an attempt to cover up the crime

[6/10 · 24 March 2013]

Crime Does Not Pay Series No. 5. As usual, there were no acting credits for this short. The MGM reporter introduces this entry by telling the audience, among other things, that 37,000 people are killed in automobile accidents in one year alone. We then see a man driving erratically and run into a young couple on a deserted road. The man gets out of the car and the young man he hits begs for his help. Instead of this, the driver gets back into his car and drives off. The police doggedly investigate the hit and run including making an impression of a tire track. In the end, the young driver bitterly regrets what he did especially after learning the man he hit died and the young woman he hit is blind. His remorse seems to be heartfelt but nonetheless he must pay for his callous indifference and panic that caused him to commit this crime. A highlight of the short was to see Jonathan Hale from the Saint films playing Captain James. Very watchable but not among the best in this series.