So You Think You're Not Guilty

This is one of the funniest, and most clever, short films from the "classic" days I have seen thus far. I can see why it was nominated for an Oscar. It sure gets the message across effectively. That message is: Even if it irks you, pay the fine, and be done with it.

In this short, "Joe MacDokes" (George O'Hanlon) gets confused by a quick traffic light and drives erratically through an intersection. He is quickly pulled over by a policeman and given a ticket. Joe is furious. "Why that flat-footed, lame-brained, pin-headed....."

His wife "Alice," attempts to clam him down and tells him to just pay the fine. Alice, by the way, is a very attractive Phyllis Coates who played "Lois Lane" in the first televised season of "The Adventures Of Superman." Coates has longer hair here and looks tremendous.

Anyway, back to Joe. He goes before the judge and instead of paying the two-dollar fine, he screams, "I am not guilty!" He makes such a scene the judge fines him $100 for contempt! Now he wants a lawyer and he winds up in jail. During the trial, the lawyer is so inept that Joe gets 10 years in jail!! If he would just keep his mouth shut, none of this would have happened.

Fortunately, there is a happy ending and Joe did learn his lesson.

This was very entertaining, start-to-finish, and a good lesson for all of us.