The Public Pays

{{short description|1936 film}}

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2020}}

{{Infobox film

| name = The Public Pays

| image =

| caption =

| director = Errol Taggart

| producer = Jack Chertok

| writer = John C. Higgins

| starring = Richard Alexander
Barbara Bedford

| cinematography =

| editing =

| distributor = MGM

| released = {{film date|1936|10|10}}

| runtime = 19 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

}}

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).{{Cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1937 |title=The 9th Academy Awards (1937) Nominees and Winners |accessdate=August 7, 2011|work=oscars.org| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20110706093710/http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/9th-winners.html| archivedate=July 6, 2011 | url-status= live}}{{cite web |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/300646/Public-Pays/details |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520021128/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/300646/Public-Pays/details |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 20, 2011 |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=The New York Times |date=2011 |title=New York Times: The Public Pays |accessdate=May 13, 2008}} The film is a dramatization of actual court records that tell the story of a gang's racketeering activities in the milk industry and its eventual defeat through the heroism of one dealer.{{Cite book |title=Catalog of films for classroom use : handbook of information on films selected and classified by the advisory committee on the use of motion pictures in education |publisher=Teaching Film Custodians, Inc.|place=New York, N.Y. |page=[https://archive.org/details/catalogoffilmsfo00advirich/page/222 222] |year=1941 |url= https://archive.org/details/catalogoffilmsfo00advirich}}