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Tom Neal JT Evan--labor commissioner is Leon Ames! old man kills himself

I enjoy the Crime Does Not Pay series from MGM so much that I recently purchased the DVD collection. The films are mostly exceptionally well made, enjoyable and often feature contract players who soon went on to stardom. In this case, Tom Neal is featured--long before he starred in such B-pictures as "Detour" and "First Yank in Tokyo".

Like so many of the films in the series, it begins with a government official introducing the picture. The trouble is, these folks were fakes! Here, Leon Ames pretends to be the Labor Commissioner, J.T. Evans! I am sure most folks never noticed these folks were actors--the directors did a good job of making them seem like the real thing. In this case, Joe Daniels (Neal) losing his job this way. And, a bit later, his elderly father Pop Daniels (familiar character actor Clem Bevans) loses his as well. After tragedy strikes, Joe contacts local authorities and a sting operation is attempted in order to catch these thieves.

Overall, this is a rather exciting short. It's not among the very best in the series but is well done and worth your time.