The Law in Her Hands

My summary is NOT meant to offend...believe me. But this is the attitude that is pervasive in "The Law in Her Hands".

When the film begins, a thug slaps around a restaurant owner and tries to sell him protection. Two women witness this and are not dissuaded by threats from the gangsters to not show up for court after their friend and fellow thug is captured. However, the gang doesn't realize that these are two extra-ordinary women. Wentworth & Davis (Margaret Lindsey and Glenda Farrell) are lawyers and they do more than just testify...they help the DA convict the guy!

As for these lady lawyers, they are recent law school graduates and are about to open up their own practice. However, they cannot find any clients...possibly because it's a sexist world back in the 1930s. In fact, the DA is SUPER-sexist as he wants Wentworth to simply close her practice and make babies....even though she worked long and hard to finish law school. In disgust, Wentworth begins working for Legs Gordon (Lyle Talbot)...a crook who offered her work when no one else would. It turns out that the lawyers are great at their work...and get acquittal after acquittal because of their underhanded tactics. In other words, you appreciate that the women want to be self-sufficient and successful...though they do it in a very sleazy manner. Because of this, the message about equality and women's rights is very muddled...which is a shame. And, the message by the end of the film seems to be that a woman's place IS in the home!! It's a shame...the acting is nice and the film could have worked...but didn't due to the times in which it was made and indifferent writing.