Soak the Old (1940)

That was an excellent one.

Absolutely the worst movie.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Elder abuse has been around probably since the prehistoric years, but in civilized society, you really don't expect it. But where there's money, there's greed. Seeing a way of investing in this future and being of use to his family, elderly George Cleveland trades in some land he owns for an apparent pension. But a family emergency changes his plans and he is furious to discover that his supposed pension isn't even on record. The plot goes astray to show that crime does not pay, and Cleveland is totally forgotten. This gives this short a sudden decent into a misguided ending, making me wonder how this script was approved. This is a very important issue, but here sadly, MGM lost the ball on this one.

Like the other shorts from the Crime Does Not Pay series, this one begins with a convincing introduction by a US government official. The problem is, like these other films, the official is a fake--just an actor posing as one! "Soak the Old" begins with a well-meaning man (Ralph Morgan) campaigning for pension funds for workers. His appeal is quite convincing and tons of workers sign up for this plan. However, he and the workers don't realize that the pension fund is run by mobsters who have no intention of paying off on claims. In one particular case, an old man puts his money in and just a day later, they claim that he NEVER put his money into the plan--in effect, stealing it. Can these creeps be stopped? Although I am not sure of it, I wonder if this film actually was a poke at unions and their pension funds. While the word 'union' is never used, Louis B. Mayer's hatred of unions and labor organization would seem to lend some credence to this. Again, I am not sure--but it sure looks like it.Overall, reasonably well made and enjoyable but a step or so below average for the series.

This 1940 short is one of a series (Crime Does Not Pay) intended to inform the populous about crime and how to protect themselves from scams. It stars Ralph Morgan, older brother of Frank Morgan of Wizard of Oz fame (they look strikingly similar, but sound quite different). This is the first of this particular series I've seen, and I caught it today on TCM.I was not familiar with the pension scam referred to in this short, and after watching it, I was no better off. Some things were not explained, as I imagine old folks at the time were already familiar with such pension funds. It looked to me like people would donate to these funds, but nobody could get money out. I couldn't see the appeal of such a fund, even if it was legitimate.The big problem I had with this short was that it was quite dreary, and frankly, a little depressing (telling old people they are useless? C'mon!). Nothing really to be learned here anymore either, as whatever this scam was is long gone now. But when it comes to that, who will remember the current "Nigerian millionaire" e-mail scam 60 years from now?

Soak the Old (1940) *** (out of 4) 31st film in MGM's "Crime Does Not Pay" series takes a look at old people being fooled into joining a fake pension fund raiser, which is being ran by racketeers. This film isn't as good as some of the others that I've seen but it still remains highly entertaining with some nice performances (including Ralph Morgan) and a nice story.This isn't available on DVD yet but you can catch this film and others in the series on Turner Classic Movies. Other episodes can be found on various Warner DVDs.