Outside the Law (1920)

Outside the Law (1920)

starring Priscilla Dean, Wheeler Oakman, Lon Chaney

directed by Todd Browning

76 minutes

Silent

Gangster Silent Madden and Molly Madden (Priscilla Dean), his daughter, are trying to reform when Silent is framed by rival gangster Black Mike Sylva (Lon Chaney) for shooting a police officer. Black Mike turns his focus next to Molly. He talks her into pulling a heist for him. Her partner in the heist is Bill Ballard (Wheeler Oakman), one of Black Mike's men.

The heist doesn't go exactly as Black Mike intended. Molly and Bill get away and hide out in an apartment. The plan is to lay low until things cool down. Bill tempts fate and goes out for stroll one day. He is spotted by one of Black Mike's men and trailed back to the apartment. 

Thoughts

I heard Eddie Muller mention this movie. He described it as the earliest noir film he had seen. I was expecting something that hewed a little closer to my definition of noir than this did. It is a heist film of sorts but I wouldn't describe it as noir but then not all heist films belong in the noir category.

I didn't quite understand Bill Ballard's motivations. He never seemed quite as evil Black Mike but I don't think his conversion from working with Mike to working against him was fully convincing. It probably doesn't help that his motivations are pretty muddled and unclear.

There are two Asian American characters both of whom are played by white actors in yellow face. One of them is played by Lon Chaney. This was probably pretty normal 104 years ago but that doesn't make it any more acceptable.

I watched this movie on Tubi. For the most part the image quality is good but there are some bits toward the end of the movie where the picture is heavily degraded.

Anna May Wong appears briefly in a scene or two. The only other film I have seen her in is Shanghai Express (1932).

This movie didn't really do it for me. There's a great fight scene in the last act of the movie but other than that I wasn't very impressed by this movie. The story drags in the middle and wasn't quite as nuanced as I hoped it would be. I'm not sure who I would recommend this movie to, other than someone interested in film history.