This Side of the Law

"This Side of the Law" is a noirish film with mostly unknown or second-tier actors...but it is quite enjoyable and worth your time. It's just that the plot is REALLY tough to believe...and you must suspend disbelief to get through it.

Kent Smith plays a drifter who is up on vagrancy charges. However, a lawyer plays his fine and offers him a proposition...pretend to be someone else for a few days and earn $5000! The difficult to believe things are that the drifter could look like the long-lost Malcolm AND that he'd ever agree to such a preposterous plan. Plus, it seems pretty clear who the villain is in all this. But, it IS interesting and is well acted. Smith, in particular, was a very good actor and despite being a minor leading man, he's very good here.

Overall, it's a neat film with noir elements (such as the narration, some of the camera work and the bleak nature of the story) and one that is very good but mostly unknown. Well worth seeing...and I found a copy of this on HBO Max.

By the way, Warner Brothers evidently had little confidence in the film, as after they completed it, it sat on a shelf for about 18 months...a sure sign they thought they'd wasted their money on this one.

This Side Of the Law is a rather fun thriller from the early fifties and concerns a man hired to impersonate someone else, a greedy family and other unwholesome things. The cast is decidedly of the second-string variety; however that doesn't make it bad. Kent Smith and Viveca Lindfors were both talented performers and play their starring roles well. It's particularly nice to see Smith in a leading role for a change, as he was a decent actor who never quite made the cut in Hollywood. Character actor John Alvin does nicely in a showy supporting part. I wouldn't quite call the movie film noir, though it's close. It plays somewhat like an episode of the Perry Mason TV series, as it's full of similar plot twists and surprises. If one likes dark mysteries this is a good one to look for.

This noir begins with a man trapped in a cistern berating himself. We learn that he is David Cummins (Kent Smith), a self proclaimed drifter, who was picked up by the police and subsequently bailed out of jail by a lawyer who he didn't know. The lawyer explains that he wants to hire him to impersonate his wealthy client for an inheritance case. It would be for just a short period of time and he would make $5,000, but he can't ask any questions.

David must fool the man's brother, sister-in-law, and wife...oh! And his dog, Angel. Angel is a beautiful dog too, who is only kept at bay by the smell of her owner's clothing and the non-threatening nature of David.

It's clear from the minute he sets foot on the property that things aren't as they seem...this is both a missing person and a murder mystery, but the biggest question is can David get out alive?

I enjoyed this mysterious noir. I appreciated that they answered all the questions in the end. This is a recommendation to noir fans. It may not be in the top tier but it was a great house and a good watch.

Get out of that of you can. Kent Taylor (David) is at the bottom of a covered well at the film's beginning. We go to flashback to tell the story of how this has come to pass. The story develops gradually so that you are not given all the information as to what is really going on. We learn what is happening as our lead man Taylor discovers things. Lawyer Robert Douglas (Cagle) holds the strings as to what is really happening and reveals things when necessary. It is his plan to have Taylor turn up at an Estate and pretend to be the long-lost owner so that the Estate's money does not get passed on to any undesirable characters who currently live on the premises.

It's an entertaining film with a good cast and scenery that gives you a spooky vibe. It's well filmed and keeps you guessing at the mysterious relationships and who is colluding with who. It's a small cast with a special mention to Janis Paige (Nadine) as my favourite character who plays the not-so-dumb relative of Taylor.

One reviewer has focused on the cliff aspects of the film and makes a good contribution. A good cliffy location for this film to play out. An enjoyable film with a good technique for getting out of a well should you ever fall into one.

Waves crashing violently over jagged rocks, against a moonlit sky, presided over by an isolated, almost spectral clifftop house, while a desperate man, trapped at the bottom of a disused cesspool rapidly loses any hope of escape. It all sets the tone for a movie as preposterous as it is atmospheric.

Dishevelled, down at heel vagrant, Kent Smith, comes under the gaze of suave, sophisticated, savvy but scheming lawyer Robert Douglas. With his educated English accent and pencil thin moustache, he is the template for the Tom Helmore character in 'Vertigo'. Smith scrubs up sufficiently well to pass for dapper, prosperous Malcolm Taylor, seven years missing and about to be pronounced officially dead, which will spark serious financial repercussions for his estate.

That a grubby, random, homeless man could be so remarkably transformed, have the confidence, poise audacity and chutzpah to pull off such a stunt, even for BIG money, certainly stretches credibility. To then arrive on the doorstep, after seven years without trace or explanation and greet 'wife' Viveca Lindfors with a slightly sheepish, "Hello Evelyn" is almost as laughable as The Disaster Artist's 'Oh! Hi Mark' moment. Smith also has to deal with hostility from brother, John Alvin, who loathes him and the advances of sister in law, Janis Paige, who loves him. All minor fare compared with the relentlessly barking, snarling, howling dog, Angel, who would gladly eat him...... before moving on to the main course!

Smith may look, sound, act and even smell like Missing Malcolm, but as always the Devil is in the detail. Small revelations start to arouse suspicion concerning his veracity. As the double crosses double, every ten minutes, the absurdities of the plot ultimately give way to something altogether more intriguing and absorbing. Whilst the stark, forbidding settings evoke the aura of the best goth noir. The largely second tier cast turn in convincing performances, with Janis Paige's femme fatale especially memorable in a movie which emerges with greater integrity than initially anticipated. Undiscovered by myself, until recently, 'This Side of the Law', is an interesting addition to my ever expanding noir catalogue.