Crime Does Not Pay short centering on con men who rip-off people with bets on "sure things." It's not easy to feel sorry for these people who put themselves in this spot by gambling in the first place. But the short does a good enough job selling the hard luck stories of one or two so you don't root for the bad guys. Hugh Beaumont, who would go on to play Ward Cleaver on Leave It to Beaver, is one of the people ripped off. So Hugh goes to get his money back and winds up getting the snot beat out of him. What happens to him from there I won't spoil. Let's just say this is one story Ward didn't share with the Beaver. The Crime Does Not Pay series was usually entertaining and this is no exception. Good cast includes George Cleveland, John Archer, Noel Madison, and the aforementioned Hugh Beaumont.
8 Reviews
The Tip Sheet
boblipton16 November 2019
Racketeers get a mailing list of people who owe money and are desperate to make dough fast. They call them up with tips on horse races -- each horse gets touted to different bettors. Some will win and be hooked, but discover that Crime Does Not Pay.
After a start covering rackets like protection, this long-running MGM short subject series settled into various swindles, usually examples of long and short confidence games that ended in violence -- something that the high-toned con artist tried to avoid. This one was called The Tip Sheet and relied on the fact that in a race with seven horses, one was going to win, so with a large list of suckers, you can convince one seventh of them that you could predict a winner; it's mass-marketing racetrack touts.
Usually swindlers like this tried to avoid violence, but violence is highly cinematic, and everyone knew this series was violent, so give 'em what they want and what they expect.
After a start covering rackets like protection, this long-running MGM short subject series settled into various swindles, usually examples of long and short confidence games that ended in violence -- something that the high-toned con artist tried to avoid. This one was called The Tip Sheet and relied on the fact that in a race with seven horses, one was going to win, so with a large list of suckers, you can convince one seventh of them that you could predict a winner; it's mass-marketing racetrack touts.
Usually swindlers like this tried to avoid violence, but violence is highly cinematic, and everyone knew this series was violent, so give 'em what they want and what they expect.
not quite right
SnoopyStyle26 November 2022
This is the MGM Crime Does Not Pay series. Crooks are trying to scam horse race betters. They circulate flyers offering sure bets. They target desperate gamblers. Bill Allen needs money and falls for the scam.
I know this scam and it's not done quite this way. It's a scam of big numbers. They send out predictions of every possible outcome. The predictions will come true for only a few, but those few will think that this is the real deal. They would be easy pickings for a subscription fee scam. This episode is not quite right. I can't buy horse racing as some sort of paragon of virtue. The commentary made me laugh.
I know this scam and it's not done quite this way. It's a scam of big numbers. They send out predictions of every possible outcome. The predictions will come true for only a few, but those few will think that this is the real deal. They would be easy pickings for a subscription fee scam. This episode is not quite right. I can't buy horse racing as some sort of paragon of virtue. The commentary made me laugh.
Great Caesar's ghost! They've corrupted Ward Cleaver! ...
AlsExGal5 December 2021
... as in Hugh Beaumont of TV's Leave it to Beaver.
But seriously, there has to be an easier way to steal than the con shown here. So much depends on human nature playing out as you predict it. The featured band of criminals have a list of people trying to get loans from a bank, back before there were ubiquitous credit cards for that. They figure those people have a reason to gamble. Then they act like they called a wrong number and accidentally give a tip on the races. NEXT, they have to hope that the debtor will make a bet - he will win a small amount of money. THEN they have to hope he'll come back for more, make a big bet, and THEN they make their money when they get the debtor to bet on a sure loser and pocket the money which was never actually bet in the first place. Whew! This is hard work! Wouldn't it be easier just to get a job? Or do an old fashioned bank robbery?
The short shows two people who fall for this elaborate scam. One is a man whose wife is having a difficult pregnancy. The second is a mechanic, played by future TV dad Hugh Beaumont. He is single, so he is the one to make a stink about the scam when it is reported in the newspaper.
With John Hamilton, also of future TV fame as Perry White , as the narrator.
But seriously, there has to be an easier way to steal than the con shown here. So much depends on human nature playing out as you predict it. The featured band of criminals have a list of people trying to get loans from a bank, back before there were ubiquitous credit cards for that. They figure those people have a reason to gamble. Then they act like they called a wrong number and accidentally give a tip on the races. NEXT, they have to hope that the debtor will make a bet - he will win a small amount of money. THEN they have to hope he'll come back for more, make a big bet, and THEN they make their money when they get the debtor to bet on a sure loser and pocket the money which was never actually bet in the first place. Whew! This is hard work! Wouldn't it be easier just to get a job? Or do an old fashioned bank robbery?
The short shows two people who fall for this elaborate scam. One is a man whose wife is having a difficult pregnancy. The second is a mechanic, played by future TV dad Hugh Beaumont. He is single, so he is the one to make a stink about the scam when it is reported in the newspaper.
With John Hamilton, also of future TV fame as Perry White , as the narrator.
I got the horse right here
bkoganbing6 December 2020
This most definitely not one of the better of the Crime Does Not Pay Series from MGM. Considering the phone bill they had to run up making random
calls to get one sucjer I can't see how this racket made any money.
Still this concerns the tragic story of John Archer and the jackpot he got into after getting a random phone call with a betting tip on a sure thing.
A couple of familiar TV faces are in this film. John Hamilton plays the stern face and voice of thoroughbred racing who will not stand for monkey business in his sport and George Cleveland as another sucker the police have to browbeat into being a witness.
Still can't see how this racket paid.
Still this concerns the tragic story of John Archer and the jackpot he got into after getting a random phone call with a betting tip on a sure thing.
A couple of familiar TV faces are in this film. John Hamilton plays the stern face and voice of thoroughbred racing who will not stand for monkey business in his sport and George Cleveland as another sucker the police have to browbeat into being a witness.
Still can't see how this racket paid.
Crime Does Not Pay
Michael_Elliott1 May 2011
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.
*** (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.
This offering from the infamous . . .
tadpole-596-91825616 November 2019
Warning: Spoilers
. . . "Crime Pays" series is most notable for concocting a criminal enterprise so convoluted, complicated and complex that not only did it never exist in Real Life, but its cinematic depiction here was used for many years in psychiatric circles to diagnose paranoid schizophrenia. Not unlike a horse and carriage, thoroughbred racing and gaming always have gone together just as hot dogs and mustard do, since you cannot have one without the other. Yet the misdirected film studio behind SUCKER LIST tries to insist that there is something shady and untoward involved with America's love for betting on the ponies. Weaving in all kinds of nefarious subplots involving wrongdoing up to and including murder, SUCKER LIST besmirches the good name of every noble nag from SEABISCUIT to SECRETARIAT. So rather than falling for Hollywood's SUCKER LIST histrionics, why not take a jaunt to your local California race track and get it straight from the horses' mouths about how much they enjoy performing for and entertaining folks who perhaps are financially underwater, but who still are hopeful human beings!
You get to see Hugh Beaumont beaten to death!
planktonrules20 November 2013
Warning: Spoilers
This episode begins like all the Crime Does Not Pay shorts--with what looks like a government official introducing the film. However, like the rest, it's an actor--as MGM was trying to give themselves a false air of authenticity!
This is an odd plot. Some gamblers are deliberately making wrong numbers. When the person picks up, they pretend the call was a mistake--that is AFTER giving them a great tip on an upcoming horse race. This is because they hope to recruit gamblers--and IF they swallow the bait, they get them to spend more on other races but this time the tips are lies--they make folks bet on horses with practically no chance of winning.
To combat this, the racing commission and local track ask a newspaper man to write an editorial about this swindle. One of the victims (Hugh Beaumont) reads about this and tries to get his money back--and gets beaten to death in the process! The message--don't make off-track bets with swindlers--stick with legitimate outlets for gambling. Overall, this is a decent addition to the series--nothing particularly good or bad about it. And so, it's well worth seeing.
This is an odd plot. Some gamblers are deliberately making wrong numbers. When the person picks up, they pretend the call was a mistake--that is AFTER giving them a great tip on an upcoming horse race. This is because they hope to recruit gamblers--and IF they swallow the bait, they get them to spend more on other races but this time the tips are lies--they make folks bet on horses with practically no chance of winning.
To combat this, the racing commission and local track ask a newspaper man to write an editorial about this swindle. One of the victims (Hugh Beaumont) reads about this and tries to get his money back--and gets beaten to death in the process! The message--don't make off-track bets with swindlers--stick with legitimate outlets for gambling. Overall, this is a decent addition to the series--nothing particularly good or bad about it. And so, it's well worth seeing.
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