Outside the Law (1920)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
After her gangster father is framed and sent to jail, a young woman (Priscilla Dean) decides to take revenge and start stealing herself. This goes against the wise advice of Ah Woo, an Oriental wiseman and Black Mike Sylva (Lon Chaney) a gangster who framed her father. This Tod Browning directed gangster/moral tale has a brilliant start and finish but the big problem is the center section when the girl is hiding out with a man who she eventually falls in love with. During this middle section Ah Woo isn't in the picture nor is Chaney's Black Mike or Ah Wing, a second character he plays in the film. The moral section of the middle half lasts way too long and just isn't very interesting. The shootout at the start and end of the film are highly entertaining and look terrific. Chaney is good as Black Mike, although he's a tad bit better in The Penalty made a few years later.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
After her gangster father is framed and sent to jail, a young woman (Priscilla Dean) decides to take revenge and start stealing herself. This goes against the wise advice of Ah Woo, an Oriental wiseman and Black Mike Sylva (Lon Chaney) a gangster who framed her father. This Tod Browning directed gangster/moral tale has a brilliant start and finish but the big problem is the center section when the girl is hiding out with a man who she eventually falls in love with. During this middle section Ah Woo isn't in the picture nor is Chaney's Black Mike or Ah Wing, a second character he plays in the film. The moral section of the middle half lasts way too long and just isn't very interesting. The shootout at the start and end of the film are highly entertaining and look terrific. Chaney is good as Black Mike, although he's a tad bit better in The Penalty made a few years later.