Outside the Law

This movie has director Tod Browning remake one of the Priscilla Dean underworld thrillers he had directed before he had hooked up with Lon Chaney. In fact, the earlier version had Chaney as one of the principal roles. In this version, bank robber Owen Moore works with gorgeous moll Mary Nolan to cheat underworld boss Edward G. Robinson out of what he considers his rightful cut of any crime committed in San Francisco. Like many a Browning picture, people are insane, particularly Miss Nolan.

The problem with this movie, like many she appeared in, is that star Mary Nolan's acting... well, she has improved from some of her earlier works. As one of Browning's insane characters, I find her senseless mood changes and talking to herself convincing; it's when she interacts with other people that I find her unbelievable.

Everyone gets to be weird, even Rockcliffe Fellowes as the police captain trying to track down the bank robbers, and whose annoying son, played by one of the innumerable Watson clan, breaks into their hide-out, since they all live in the same building.

It's clear that Miss Nolan is the star of this movie - she gets more tics and twitches than anyone else, although Robinson shines in the sort of gangster role he would play at Warner Brothers. It's Miss Nolan's movie to carry, and she does a poor job of it, although Browning's usual insane world filled with mad people certainly kept my interest up.