Director: Christy Cabanne
In this mediocre showing from the beginnings of Hollywood, we find bad writing, bad cinematography, and a lot of lawyers. Essentially there is a murdered DA and the new DA and a reporter are trying to get to the bottom of it. There is some love interest that is all muddled up. Its boring as hell.
Old boring law:
1. A bootlegger who is in good with the District Attorney is asked to “fight the DA to the finish.” The loyalties of bootleggers being what they are, he aquiesces. To make the hit he sets the DA up with a promise of evidence in a big case. After his death the DA is made out to be a drinking womanizer.
2. At one point a brief case is called a “lawyers bag.”
3. The new DA is looking to capture the men who murdered the old DA because “people look to the law to protect them.” He claims that he would shoot the criminals himself “if the law allowed,” but instead he will send them away for as long as the law allows. A very noble chap.
4. We find out that the penalty for kidnapping is life in prison.
5. The murder is an attempt to cover up corporate looting. This sort of stock fraud was pertinent as this was made in the wake of the great depression. Thus we get a bit of the criminal end of corporate law.
6. A hit on the new DA fails. He is in denial that he is a target and is told that DA’s “don’t just have accidents.”
7. A bit of legal theory: “Smith and Wesson make all men equal, and equality is the basis of all democracy.”
8. The bad guys are planning to leave the country on a yatch: pre harsh immigration law days.
Posted by PJ Blount 