A Gun in His Hand

Considering the background checks that are done now for rookies to enter the police academy like my nephew had done on him a couple of years ago I think the plot of A Gun In His Hand would be unrealistic today. At a minimum someone with computer hacking skills would have to be in on the scheme.

Tom Trout goes to the police academy to learn police methods, the better to pull off robberies. For a while he has a good thing going, but he has to murder one of his fellow officers who recognizes him at the scene of a warehouse robbery.

I won't say more but to nail him good and proper Inspector Richard Gaines really sets him up with one elaborate con.

A Gun In His Hand won an Oscar nomination for Best Short Subject and you'll recognize such character players as Anthony Caruso, Ray Teal, and Arthur Space in the cast. A worthy entry in the MGM Crime Does Not Pay series.

In this police procedural with a twist, a group of police graduates are told the story of Dennis Nordell, a fellow graduate who went through all the training simply to use his new knowledge to become a better criminal, learning what not to do, as he put it. He and his gang then proceed to successfully knock off many liquor warehouses. But how will they eventually be caught?

I've always liked these Crime Does Not Pay shorts, having seen most on TCM. (even the copy I saw on YouTube is from a TCM airing) This one is directed by Joseph Losey, which is why I went into it, but I would've enjoyed it regardless. These shorts are always simple but interesting, designed to show the public to not even bother; you will be caught. Even in the days before computers and other hi-tech equipment, the departments could still be highly sophisticated in their own way.

As usual with these shorts, there were a few familiar faces, the most notable being Richard Gaines as Inspector Dana and Anthony Caruso as Frankie, but apparently Hugh Beaumont and good ol' Ray Teal are hanging around out back too. ;)

This is a better than average crime melodrama from the producers of the "Crime Does Not Pay" series of shorts made during the '40s.

Today's movie-goers and TV watchers will find it reasonably interesting but primitive in police methods and forensics, especially if they watch the latest CSI shows using modern methods of detection. Still, watching the police on the trail of a crooked officer who's killed a fellow policeman is compelling material for this short subject.

Naturally, the rogue cop has to pay for his criminal behavior. It's all quickly paced and competently performed by a cast of relatively unknown actors that includes ANTHONY CARUSO (who always reminds me so much of RALPH BYRD, another B-actor who played similar tough guy roles).

Some may find it lacks something in the way the detectives go about their work, but I found it held my interest.

"Nordell" (Tom Trout) is your ideal policeman. Top of his class, studious and meticulous and destined to go far in the force. We know, however, that he has other plans and that he using his skills and his knowledge of internal procedures to lead a gang on some daring warehouse robberies. His colleagues are baffled until one of their number cottons on to their diversionary the strategy and is gunned down. With police efforts redoubled, can "Nordell" keep pulling the wool over their eyes? It's part of the "Crime Does Not Pay" series so jeopardy there isn't, but this is still quite a decent short drama on the ingenuity of both the criminal and the forensic expertise of the scientists. Trout is actually quite effective as the cocksure officer and though the denouement is both rushed and a bit disappointing, it at least sets up a more substantial story to illustrate it's point.

This is the story of a young man who knew what he wanted to be once he graduated from the police academy: a thief. Once Dennis Nordell becomes an officer of the law, his grand scheming falls perfectly into place. Officer Nordell walks his beat through the day and plans robberies of liquor warehouses at night. Because Officer Nordell knows the whereabouts of his fellow officers up to the minute, he can plan without fail many robberies over several weeks.

Once Nordell murders a fellow police officer during a robbery, clues start to fall into place and Nordell starts to head unknowingly into a trap. Police headquarters suspect Nordell, but leave it to Nordell to hang himself while taking charge of the investigation. Nordell complies by tampering with evidence. Nordell goes a step too far by trying to put the finger on a street thug who literally doesn't have the fingers required to leave any fingerprints.

This story plays out like a decaffeinated CSI TV show. You won't have to sit through an hour to see how the robberies get figured out, nor will you have to wade through minutes and minutes of beer and car commercials. Best of all, you won't have to watch guys with perpetual two-day beards in khaki pants solve anything.

It's very dated, but who isn't these days….7/10.

Clark Richards