Cinematic Time Capsule1920 Marathon - Film #8”I knew you’d fall for that cop stuff, you dirty rat”When a despicable gangster frames Molly's father for murder, she returns to a life of crime with a jewelry heist, in which this same gangster attempts to double-cross her. However, Molly gets tipped of by her hood lover and foils Black Mike's plans. Considered one of the first psychologically driven gangster films and one of the few Tod Browning movies that wasn’t a horror film. It was his second of ten collaborations with Lon Chaney, who promptly proceeds to chew on every bit of available scenery, as the head gangster, Blackie.The opening action and final shoot-out are action-packed and really well staged, but the film’s brought down a bit by a long middle section in which Molly and Dapper Bill are hiding out in an Ozzie & Harriet styled sub-plot.BONUS POINTS to Priscilla Dean who portrays a refreshingly strong female character, who’s stronger and smarter than everyone around her. ”If we expect to get out of this, we’ve got to stick together”Cinematic Time Capsule - 1920 Ranked
9th Tod Browning (after Freaks, The Unknown, Dracula, London after Midnight, Mark of the Vampire, The Devil-Doll, The Show and Fast Workers)Even if the psychologising feels deeply dated in 2023 and Priscilla Dean never convinces as a gangster's daughter (she's far too much an America's Sweetheart for that), but Outside the Law does have flashes of real genius in the way it captures Molly and Ballard's moral anguish as they find themselves holed up in a tiny apartment after their heist. The ways in which Browning visually represents that stir-crazy feeling through face and gesture are exceptional for a medium some 24 years old, even if it's used to demonstrate the most tepid expression of goodness with a precocious moppet who speaks with something close to a lisp. The whole angle of redemption through Chinese teachings is equally awkward and more than a little racist thanks to the prodigious amount of Yellow-face, including from Chaney who otherwise gives a scenery-chewing performance. But Browning's eye for telling a story in a melodramatic register and with perfect pacing is on full display, showing signs of his later mastery.And yes, this is the earliest time I've seen the word "Simp" appear in any media. Previously, I thought it was Mix-a-Lot's "Baby Got Back", but it appears I was seventy years out. Browning in Order:1. Freaks2. The Unknown3. Mark of the Vampire4. The Devil-Doll5. Fast Workers6. London After Midnight7. Dracula8. Outside the Law9. The Show
"Criminals sent to jail will only come out more upset than when they went in, thereby continuing the cycle of crime and violence that ravages 1920's Chinatown. Best to let them hide-out until the heat blows over, fall in love with the playful moppet next door, realize that they are missing out on the best things in life, and choose to end their criminal ways, themselves." Brought to you by the man who brought you:"Mess with the freaks, get freaked."How's about that poster, though, huh?
