Crime Control (Short 1941)

Crime Control: Directed by Leslie M. Roush. With Robert Benchley, Ruth Lee. Police officer Benchley shows us the antisocial potential of inanimate objects such as shoelaces and handkerchiefs.

“Crime Control (1941) u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e** (out of 4) u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnnoyinly simple Robert Benchley short has him playing a police officer who tells the audience that one of his hardest job is tracking down inanimate objects that cause more damage that real criminals. Some of the examples are newspapers, window shades, ties, shoe strings and things of this nature. The type of comedy youu0026#39;re going to get here can be seen by one example and thatu0026#39;s when Benchley tries to get two window shades to stay at the same level. He fails and then goes into a violent outrage where the shades end up on the ground and him kicking them. Thatu0026#39;s pretty much what happens to each object as Benchley will try to work them, something will go wrong and then he goes over-the-top to try and get a laugh. Iu0026#39;ll admit that I did laugh a couple times here and there but in the end this short just really got on my nerves because of how silly it was. At times the thing goes way too over-the-top while at the next second itu0026#39;s comedy is too dry to work. The two certainly donu0026#39;t mix very well together and in the end this is what causes the short to fall on its face more often than it makes one laugh. Benchley is pretty good in the role of the everyday guy who just keeps finding himself haunted by his own dumbness.”