Al margen de la ley

This Columbia 1951 programmer has no connection to the RKO film of 1937. But then again it does have a connection to the vast multitude of legal films that trot out the shady-but-ultimately-noble defense lawyer character. This time that character is played by Pat O'Brien. At least O'Brien modulates his performance, keeping away from his usual brassy, fast-talking, finger-jut-to-the-lapel style. In fact, he's rather subdued, chiefly because he goes on a binge-drinking tailspin every time he feels guilty about the consequences of his shady tactics. Oddly, nobody else amongst his staff seems to mind his shenanigans one bit, including Jane Wyatt's seemingly upright citizen character who is curiously written as unquestioning and ever-faithful. It's just a b-movie of modest ambitions, but there's little action, little humor, and little threat to the main characters. The worst thing O'Brien faces is a guilty conscience and the loss of a judgeship. The best thing in the movie is Mike Mazurki. Not that he was ever a great actor, but his usually small appearances as nothing more than a thuggish prop in so many films makes his work in this film notable. He actually gets to play a thinking, normal, even smiling, human being. Sure, he's playing an ex-wrestler bodyguard named Moose, but he also shows a caring side by keeping watch over O'Brien, and is even wearing an apron and cooking in one scene! I believe he also gets more lines to speak in this film than any other he ever appeared in. And there's also a small part of a witness played by the ubiquitous Charles Lane. Of Lane, there's probably no other more famous "face" in Hollywood who appeared in so many movies without being credited.

This is an excellent film in every respect. The famous criminal lawyer around whom the story revolves is played by Pat O'Brien. He is all the more convincing for not being a glamorous actor, thus making it more real. His secretary is played by Jane Wyatt, who lived to be 95 having made 94 films; she was such a pro there was never going to be any trouble with her handling with aplomb some situations and dialogue which in lesser hands might have seemed a bit too saccharine. But one of my favourite actors also has a major role in this film, namely Mike Mazurki (1907-1990). He achieved permanent fame for playing the unforgettable Moose Malloy in the Raymond Chandler film MURDER, MY SWEET (1944), the tall thug, just released from prison, who was pathetic in his insistent search for his girlfriend Velma and hired Philip Marlowe (played by Dick Powell) to find her. In this film Mazurki is also called Moose, doubtless in homage to his most famous role of seven years before. He towers over all the other actors, as he was six foot five inches tall. The script by Harold Greene (who also wrote KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL, released the following year), is simply brilliant. Constructing this labyrinthine story was quite a task! The twists and turns of this story defy summary, but involve lawyers, judges, gangsters, a bereaved widow, a shoe shine boy, and plenty of others. There's something here for everybody, but especially for criminal lawyers.

Pat O'Brien stars in this B film programmer as a most successful criminal attorney well aware that he's called shyster behind his back and occasionally to his face. As we see in the film this man has a lot of tricks up his sleeve to get clients off. But he'd really like to become a judge and leave it all behind.

His skills are way to valuable and the best scenes in the film are those with the extralegal methods he uses to gain acquittals. He's got a nice team of associates including secretary Jane Wyatt, office boy Marvin Kaplan, and general factotum Mike Mazurki. He also has an ambitious and treacherous associate in Robert Shayne who wants to take over.

O'Brien's unsavory reputation has also kept him from the bench as the Bar Assocation and the white shoe lawyers that run it like Carl Benton Reid keep O'Brien from the judgeship. Then when Reid has need of O'Brien he has a miraculous conversion in his thinking.

Mazurki stands out in this film one of his best performances and he too needs O'Brien in the end. His best scene is with Wyatt when he tells her why he's just become O'Brien's factotum. In the supporting cast the unbilled Mary Alan Hokanson has one great scene with O'Brien as the widow of a man who was killed in a motor vehicle incident that O'Brien gets the driver off.

By the way, the way O'Brien does it is one for the books.

Criminal Lawyer, almost criminal not to watch it.