IN MUCH THE same manner as a snowball's rolling down the proverbial hill will grow and continue to do so, this story begin in a seemingly insignificant incident. It does so and before one realizes it grows into a giant, incontrollable nightmare.
So You Think You're Not Guilty (1950) *** (out of 4) One of the better entries in the series has Joe McDoakes (George O'Hanlon) running a traffic light but instead of pleading guilty and paying two dollars, he decides to fight the charges, which just ends up costing him more fines and prison time. There were over sixty of these shorts made and they were certainly hit and miss but this here is one of the better ones.
"So You Think You're Not Guilty" is an American 10-minute live action short film from 1950, so this one is already over 65 years old and it was nominated for an Oscar, which is one reason why it is among the most known "so you" works from back then and yes there were quite a few. For Hollingshead it was just of many nominations (and wins).
This Joe McDoakes short was Oscar nominated. This is a bit of a surprise.
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.
I can't say I found this particularly amusing since the Joe McDoakes character is extremely irritating and foolish to resist paying the $2 and going free by putting up protests until he lands in jail on a ten-year sentence. GEORGE O'HANLON is Joe in this series that was popular during the '50s.
It was turning out to be just one of those days for Joe McDoakes, going from a simple traffic violation to a ten-year prison sentence. Happens to the best of us.
I just watched this on cable. It is part of the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) On Demand series that is free with my digital cable service.
Just watched this Vitaphone Joe McDoakes comedy short starring George O'Hanlon on YouTube. In this one, Joe runs a traffic sign that keeps gong "up and down" as he gets stopped by a traffic cop.
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