Within the Law (1939)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Gustav Machatý

Writers:

Bayard Veiller (play)
Charles Lederer (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

17 March 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Shopgirl Mary Turner, sentenced to prison for someone else's theft, is released and takes revenge upon...

Plot Keywords:

Prison | Revenge | False Arrest | Ex Convict | Father Son Relationship

Cast

Ruth Hussey	...	Mary Turner
Tom Neal	...	Richard Gilder
Paul Kelly	...	Joe Garson
William Gargan	...	Police Sergeant Cassidy
Paul Cavanagh	...	English Eddie Morton
Rita Johnson	...	Agnes Lynch
Samuel S. Hinds	...	Mr. Gilder
Lynne Carver	...	June
Sidney Blackmer	...	George Demarest
Jo Ann Sayers	...	Helen Morris - the Thief
Ann Morriss	...	Mink Coat Saleswoman
James Burke	...	'Red'
Donald Douglas	...	Police Inspector Burke
Cliff Clark	...	McGuire
Claude King	...	Joe Green - Art Dealer

Runtime:

65 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #5173) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Company:

Loew's

Trivia:

Many cast members in studio records/casting call lists did not appear or were not identifiable in the movie. These were (with their character names, if any): Cleora Robb and Cleora Robb (Twins), Psyche Neibert (Marjorie), Rae Daggett (Miss Stone), Ted Oliver (Detective), Harry Humphrey (Priest), Mitchell Ingraham (Pawnbroker) and Dorothea Wolbert.

Movie Connections:

Version of Paid (1930)

Soundtrack:

I've Got You Under My Skin

maybe revenge isn't sweet

This programmer, starring Ruth Hussey, concerns a woman, Mary, who, unjustly accused of stealing, vows revenge on her employer. While in prison, she studies law books and realizes that one can use the law to commit crimes and stay out of jail. She joins a team of con artists, of whom a prison friend, Agnes, is a member.

Mary's knowledge of legal cons is a boon to her friends, as it would be today if she had worked at Enron. It's the most interesting part of the movie. Life becomes a little more complicated for her when she sets out to use her boss' son as revenge.

This is an ordinary B movie. What's fun is that it was made in the 1938-1939 era when Gone with the Wind was all the rage. When Mary asks the prison librarian for a book, Gone with the Wind is suggested. Her friend Agnes refers to herself as Scarlett O'Hara. Guess everybody had it on the brain.