Crooks Can't Win on AllMovie

Cavern-mouthed comedian Joe E. Brown made his motion-picture debut in the FBO "special" Crooks Can't Win. Surprisingly, Brown was seen in the non-comic role of newspaper reporter Jimmy Wells. The main story concerns a young rookie cop (Sam Nelson), the adopted son of a retired policeman. Though hailed as a hero for nabbing a bank robber on his first day on the beat, the novice cop is summarily dismissed when he refuses to divulge the name of the informant who tipped him off about the robbery (the informant was his own brother). Landing a job as a truck driver, our hero begins to suspect that his ex-boss, the police commissioner, is in league with the local criminal element. With the help of roving reporter Jimmy Wells, the former cop gets the goods on the "commish."