The Public Pays
6.4 /10 1 Votes6.4
Country United States | 6.2/10 Genre Crime, Drama, Short Duration Language English | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Release date October 10, 1936 (1936-10-10) Cast (Drunken Hood Who Knocks Over Milk Wagon), Barbara Bedford (Markovitz's Secretary), (Grocer), Russ Clark (Officer Jerry), (Paige's Secretary)Similar movies The General Died at Dawn (1936), Anthony Adverse (1936), The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936), The Gorgeous Hussy (1936), Romeo and Juliet (1936) |
The Public Pays is a 1936 short crime film directed by Errol Taggart. In 1937, it won an Academy Award at the 9th Academy Awards for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel). The film shows a dramatization of actual court records which tell the story of a gang's racketeering in the milk industry, and its eventual defeat through the heroism of one dealer.
Contents
Plot
We see three tough-looking men renting an office in one of the better buildings of Claybourne City. Soon "The Creamery Betterment Association" appears on their door. They intend to force every dealer in the city to sign as members, dues to be one cent on every quart of milk sold in the city; and the dealers are to get this back by raising the price of milk three cents a quart.
Then comes the technique for getting members; the vicious means resorted to in "stubborn" cases. Only one dealer, John Paige has the courage to hold out. He cooperates with the police, but weakens when his family is threatened. Police persuade him to wait, replace all his drivers with detectives, who arrest the gangsters when they do attack the trucks. Finally, the police surround members of the gang who are waiting in ambush to drill Paige's trucks with a "tommy" gun. This provides sufficient evidence, and the gang is arrested and sent to prison for 50 years.
Cast
References
The Public Pays WikipediaThe Public Pays IMDb The Public Pays themoviedb.org