It's hard not to feel like this 1923 film is extra depressing to watch in 2023 for all the ways in which nothing has changed in 100 years - nothing, perhaps, save for that the power of the wealthy, and the destitution of those who work, have only grown in that time. The title plays with ideas that are painfully familiar to anyone with the capability of fundamental comprehension and critical thinking: capitalist greed and hypocrisy, wage theft, insufficient compensation, and employers reaping all the benefits of their business while giving nothing to their employees; the abject cruelty, inhumanity, and untrustworthy, underhanded tactics of the so-called "criminal justice system," its subservience to those of wealth and power, the way it poisons all that it touches even fleetingly, and the societal structure that means a one bad break, an arbitrary decision by a third party, or such a decision informed by corruption, can bring a person to ruin. Such are the foundations of the plot of 'Within the law,' and one can only trust that the coming vengeance of protagonist Mary Turner will be all the sweeter for how justice has been denied to countless many others.
Well, that last bit is sort of true. But only sort of.
As one quite expects of the silent era in particular, the production design and art direction are lovely and easy on the eyes, and this goes for the costume design, too. Even the intertitles are given to some nice illustrations and flourishes. The cast give strong performances, most notably star Norma Talmadge, bringing their parts and the story to life quite ably. Yes, it's true to some extent that the acting is marked by a trait common to the timeframe, the exaggerated expressions and body language that are ported from the stage and employed to compensate for lack of sound and verbal dialogue. Even at that, however, I think the portrayals are pretty swell more than not, and only occasionally is the artifice more plainly apparent. A bit more concerning is the writing. At large prolific screenwriter Frances Marion's adaptation of Bayard Veiller's play is rather splendid. Some sharp wit rears its head every now and again, and the scene writing is fairly solid in shaping the whole. The narrative is engaging and compelling more than not.
On the other hand, the plot development seems to lag at a few points; I don't think this feature necessarily makes the most judicious use of all its time. It's worth mentioning, too, that supporting character Aggie is given a line that's repeated several times, and with less cleverness than I think was supposed by the creatives. The ending is also curt to the point of being off-putting. Above all, despite the noted core ideas that underlie the tale, it feels to me as though Veiller's play - and subsequently its cinematic adaptation - are undercut by (I assume) contemporary social standards. Those contemporary social standards insist that The Law as an entity is shown to be of worth even when it very specifically is not, and moreover that, even though Mary Turner (and to an extent even her compatriots) are in the right, her schemes cannot be allowed to produce flawless success and happiness as they twist the same laws that the wealthy and powerful abuse without any accountability. All this is obvious and present in the story as it is written, and the entirety is weakened for seeming to serve third party interests instead of the narrative that otherwise practically assembles itself. Why, emphasizing the point, the play (stage and screen) concretely swerves away from the very plainspoken notions that were accentuated in the first place as major plot points, and I can only surmise that Veiller was unwilling to speak truth to power.
With all this said, I don't think 'Within the law' is bad.' I did enjoy watching it, and I think the tale that we get is worthwhile. It's not as worthwhile as the one we could have gotten though, which could have been readily formed from the exact same building blocks of which this is made, and for which the playwright himself sketched the blueprints. Or maybe I'm just extra jaded and cynical. Either way, it is what it is, and what this movie is is modestly enjoyable and duly well made. Some of the greatest films ever made hail from the silent era; this isn't one of them. It's still an alright watch if you happen to come across it, though just keep your expectations in check.
