Crime Does Not Pay (film and radio series)


Crime Does Not Pay was an anthology radio crime drama series based on MGM's short film series which began in 1935 with Crime Does Not Pay: Buried Loot. The shows were transcribed at MGM's New York station, WMGM.
Written by Ira Marion and directed by Marx B. Loeb, the radio program aired in New York on WMGM for two years, including repeats. It moved to the Mutual Broadcasting System for its final run.
For the most part, actors who appeared in B-films were featured, but occasionally one of MGM's major stars would make an appearance. Actors in the series included Bela Lugosi, Everett Sloane, Ed Begley, John Loder and Lionel Stander. After the play, the actors usually returned to speak with the audience.
The episodes in the film series include:
Composer-conductor John Gart furnished the music.

Home video availability

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has released the entire series of 50 shorts in the DVD-R format, as Crime Does Not Pay - The Complete Shorts Collection. Individual shorts can also be found as extras on DVDs of classic MGM films of the period: