I Am the Law (1938)

Very well executed

Simply Perfect

Instant Favorite.

The acting in this movie is really good.

***SPOILERS*** The movie is based on the true life exploits of New York City's Special Prosecutor, and later the State Governor, Thomes E. Dewy not the future NYC two time, 1966-1973, Mayor John V. Lindsey. Law professor John Lindsey, Edward G. Robinson, is out to crack the rackets that are turning NYC into war zone. Taking advantage of his sabbatical Lindsey instead of taking an Atlantc sea cruise with his wife Jerry, Barbara O'Neil,takes the job from the NY State Governor's Civic Committee to clean up the town and put the criminals who's actions are making it a place not to bring up a family in behind bars.Trying to do the job as best he can Lindsey doesn't realize that the person who suggested him to take the assignment the well respected businessman and socially conscious Paul Ferguson, Jon Beal, is in fact the undercover mob boss who runs the city's rackets. It's Ferguson's plan to be able to monitor Lindsey's every movement and thus tip off his hoods when the next police raid on them is to take place. There's also Ferguson's son Eugene, Otto Kruger, who's a top law student in Lindsey's class in law school as well as a close and personal friend of his! This makes Lindsey's task of ridding the city of crime even more difficult!Eddie Robinson as Special Prosecutor John Lindsey uses both his knowledge of the law as well as his fists to take on the mob who find out that he's no nutty and harmless professor, he's always setting his suit on fire by putting a lighted pipe in it, but a hard hitting and two fisted dynamo when it comes to deal with them. Still Lindsey needs the cooperation of the mobs victims to be able to pt them behind bars and out of operation.***SPOILERS*** It's one of Ferguson's shake down victims J.W Butler, Louis Jean Heydt, who finally stepped up to the plate in fingering Ferguson's boys in blackmailing him that broke the dam that ended up flooding Ferguson and his entire gangster empire. But it also cost the brave and gusty, who left behind a wife and two young children, Butler his life! As for Ferguson he had a change of heart at the end of the movie in that instead of having Lindsey blown to pieces he did it to himself. That in Ferguson having in a bomb installed in his car, for Linsey to turn the ignition on, by his boys but he himself ended up taking the gas pipe. That's by him insisting to be the one to start up, in that he didn't have cab fare that he needed to get home, the car knowing full well what the outcome would be!

In every town or city nationwide, there are men who decide to take advantage from those who have little or nothing at all. The word gangster, mobster or racketeer are often used to describe these criminals. It's isn't often modern audiences can see Tough-guy Edward G. Robinson play a good guy, but that is exactly what we get in this old Black and White film entitled " I Am The Law. " Robinson plays John Lindsay a noted college professor and upstanding citizen who not only stands up to be counted, but is appointed a special prosecutor with a single task. His job is to ferret out and destroy the muscle behind the mobsters. It's a big job to be sure. but made doubly difficult because those who hired him are part of the problem. The story itself is taken from the novel by Fred Allhoff and directed by Alexander Hall. Despite it being in B/W it's still garners enough interest because of the good acting and of course the cast which includes Barbara O'Neil, John Beal, Paul Ferguson, Wendy Barrie, Otto Kruger and the main star E.G. Robinson who makes the movie flow with little effort to create a classic. ****

I just caught this movie during TCM's Edward G Robinson marathon. It may not be a "classic", but I found this film to be entertaining and well written/directed. It's the sort of gangster movie that is light and simple enough that you don't have to pay much attention to it -- you can be doing other things while you're watching the movie and still be able to follow the plot. Just suspend belief for a while -- some of his tactics wouldn't be exactly tolerated in real life -- he would be disbarred and arrested! Also, I had a hard time buying EGR as a pipe-smoking, ivy-league, absent-minded professor; still, I found his performance engaging and enjoyable. This movie has lots of pretty people, wearing expensive clothes, in opulent settings, so that aspect of it is pleasant to watch. Unlike most "formula" gangster flicks, the ending is especially satisfying and may in fact be the best part of this movie.

i had never heard of this film until i ran across it on turner classic movies one day. It wasn't one of his best or worst films, come to think of it edward g. robinson never really made a bad film. As for the film itself, unless your a big edward g. robinson fan like me you probably shouldn't watch it.