This is the first of the 50 entry series of MGM shorts Crime Does Not Pay. As with most of the entries, there are no acting credits. So it came as a pleasant surprise to see a very young Robert Taylor in the lead role. He plays a seemingly affable young bank teller who has embezzled $200,000 from his bank. Seemingly remorseful, he confesses to his boss telling him that he gambled the money away. But in fact, he is devious and has buried the stolen money and figures it's worth it to spend a few years in jail. He is sent to prison for five to ten years. After two and a half years the fear that somehow someone will find the buried money grips him and when his cell mate urges him to break out, he agrees to break out of prison with him. Once out, he immediately goes to retrieve the money. He uses a ghastly and shocking method to disguise himself. There is an excellent twist ending to the story. Top notch short well worth watching.

A handful of 'episodes' from this ground-breaking series used to turn up on the U.K. branch of TNT, but they seem to have been dropped from the schedule over here ever since the Cable channel became TCM – which is a pity. As intimated by the complete title of the short, this was the very first entry and it certainly set the template for the rest as it is still considered among the best of them; while it does not involve a subsequently famous director like some the others, its lead Robert Taylor would achieve feature-film stardom that same year (ironically while loaned out to another studio!). The premise of this one is actually quite improbable but the Police authority that introduces the film assures us it is based on fact: Taylor has embezzled funds from the bank where he is employed and, after burying the loot, confesses the crime to his superior and that he has already spent it all. He is given five years in prison fully intending to do the entire term but, while there, his cell-mate instills doubt in him that everything can happen within that space of time and convinces the young man to break out (disguised as a priest and his companion!). After going their separate ways, Taylor goes to quite an extreme to ensure his anonymity and be free to reap the rewards of his robbery – burning his face with acid! The irony is that, as soon as he digs up the booty, he runs into his ex-'pal' and is forced to share a cab with him…which lands our unwise hero at his old work-place, and it is revealed that all who aided in his flight from jail were undercover cops, since his former boss had never believed Taylor's spendthrift tale! As I said, despite being a mere two-reeler, this features a compelling plot line (with the star in atypical bad-guy mode) and also contains most of the essential qualities of the gangster film then still prevalent (not to mention the unexpected dash of horror in the disfigurement episode).

Buried Loot (1935) **** (out of 4) An embezzler steals $200,000 and says he gambled it away. This isn't exactly true because he's buried the money and plans to get it when he's released from prison in five years but a few twists changes things. Here's a terrific MGM short from their "Crime Does Not Pay" film line, which back then was what the TV show Cops is today. Cops would tell true life crimes and then re-enact them. This story is full of wonderful twists and turns and the ending is downright jaw dropping. One of the best of its kind.

This is a very strange MGM short because it stars pretty-boy Robert Taylor in a very untraditional role. Because it was very early in his career, the big-wigs didn't know how to use him and experimented by starring him in this short crime drama--a role quite unlike his soon to be established persona.The film is made in a semi-documentary style and is entitled a "Crime Does Not Pay" film. It begins with a narrator and government official preaching that crime is bad and then the narrator talks about a strange case that proves this assertion. Robert Taylor's character works in a bank and embezzles $200,000 (a HUGE sum of money in 1935) and is naturally sent to jail. However, very oddly, he turns himself in to the boss and doesn't try to run--saying he spent the money gambling and having fun. There's a lot more to it than that but I really don't want to spoil it. Suffice to say, though, that it's pretty exciting and what happens to handsome Taylor's face is pretty cool to see.Overall, while not a great film, it is very unusual as well as a great curio for film history buffs and fans of Hollywood's Golden Age.