Within the Law

It's hard not to feel like this 1923 film is extra depressing to watch in 2023 for all the ways in which nothing has changed in 100 years - nothing, perhaps, save for that the power of the wealthy, and the destitution of those who work, have only grown in that time. The title plays with ideas that are painfully familiar to anyone with the capability of fundamental comprehension and critical thinking: capitalist greed and hypocrisy, wage theft, insufficient compensation, and employers reaping all the benefits of their business while giving nothing to their employees; the abject cruelty, inhumanity, and untrustworthy, underhanded tactics of the so-called "criminal justice system," its subservience to those of wealth and power, the way it poisons all that it touches even fleetingly, and the societal structure that means a one bad break, an arbitrary decision by a third party, or such a decision informed by corruption, can bring a person to ruin. Such are the foundations of the plot of 'Within the law,' and one can only trust that the coming vengeance of protagonist Mary Turner will be all the sweeter for how justice has been denied to countless many others.

Well, that last bit is sort of true. But only sort of.

As one quite expects of the silent era in particular, the production design and art direction are lovely and easy on the eyes, and this goes for the costume design, too. Even the intertitles are given to some nice illustrations and flourishes. The cast give strong performances, most notably star Norma Talmadge, bringing their parts and the story to life quite ably. Yes, it's true to some extent that the acting is marked by a trait common to the timeframe, the exaggerated expressions and body language that are ported from the stage and employed to compensate for lack of sound and verbal dialogue. Even at that, however, I think the portrayals are pretty swell more than not, and only occasionally is the artifice more plainly apparent. A bit more concerning is the writing. At large prolific screenwriter Frances Marion's adaptation of Bayard Veiller's play is rather splendid. Some sharp wit rears its head every now and again, and the scene writing is fairly solid in shaping the whole. The narrative is engaging and compelling more than not.

On the other hand, the plot development seems to lag at a few points; I don't think this feature necessarily makes the most judicious use of all its time. It's worth mentioning, too, that supporting character Aggie is given a line that's repeated several times, and with less cleverness than I think was supposed by the creatives. The ending is also curt to the point of being off-putting. Above all, despite the noted core ideas that underlie the tale, it feels to me as though Veiller's play - and subsequently its cinematic adaptation - are undercut by (I assume) contemporary social standards. Those contemporary social standards insist that The Law as an entity is shown to be of worth even when it very specifically is not, and moreover that, even though Mary Turner (and to an extent even her compatriots) are in the right, her schemes cannot be allowed to produce flawless success and happiness as they twist the same laws that the wealthy and powerful abuse without any accountability. All this is obvious and present in the story as it is written, and the entirety is weakened for seeming to serve third party interests instead of the narrative that otherwise practically assembles itself. Why, emphasizing the point, the play (stage and screen) concretely swerves away from the very plainspoken notions that were accentuated in the first place as major plot points, and I can only surmise that Veiller was unwilling to speak truth to power.

With all this said, I don't think 'Within the law' is bad.' I did enjoy watching it, and I think the tale that we get is worthwhile. It's not as worthwhile as the one we could have gotten though, which could have been readily formed from the exact same building blocks of which this is made, and for which the playwright himself sketched the blueprints. Or maybe I'm just extra jaded and cynical. Either way, it is what it is, and what this movie is is modestly enjoyable and duly well made. Some of the greatest films ever made hail from the silent era; this isn't one of them. It's still an alright watch if you happen to come across it, though just keep your expectations in check.

Norma plays a little shop girl wrongly convicted of stealing from the store where she works. She vows revenge on the heartless owner. After getting out of prison she embarks on a career as a woman who sues a series of old men for breach of promise, which is "within the law." But when she falls for the old store owner's son (Jack Mulhall), things go wrong, especially when her colleagues (Lew Cody, Eileen Percy) get sucked into a burglary scheme the cops have set up.

Not the greatest drama (although this was remade as PAID in 1930 for Joan Crawford and again in 1939 for Ruth Hussey under the original title), but Talmadge is terrific and looks great in the stylish clothing (she also produced the film thru Norma Talmadge Pictures for First National). The film is smartly directed by Frank Lloyd.

Print is excellent except for a very few moments of deterioration on the edges.

After spending three years in prison for a crime she didn't commit, shop-girl Norma Talmadge (as Mary Turner) finds employment prospects grim. She attempts suicide, but Ms. Talmadge is saved by shady Lew Cody (as Joe Garson). Then, she joins forces with gum-chewing Eileen Percy (as Aggie Lynch). The two women become successful pseudo-socialites through frivolous lawsuits. They are underhanded, but Talmadge likes to operate "Within the Law". Seeking revenge against the former boss who falsely accused her, Talmadge begins to woo his son, Jack Mulhall (as Richard Gilder), but love gets in the way...

This silent melodrama, imaginatively re-titled "Paid" (1930) for Joan Crawford, finds Talmadge and everyone taking it over the top for director Frank Lloyd. Acting most like it's a screen test, Talmadge nevertheless shines during the scene where her past is revealed to Gilder and Gilder. Then being promoted as an ingénue, future agent Helen Ferguson has a good role as Talmadge's emotional co-worker. A socially relevant point is made, early on, when another woman is caught shoplifting at Gilder's Emporium; because she's a banker's wife, instructions are made to apologize to the wealthy kleptomaniac for the imposition.

***** Within the Law (4/29/23) Frank Lloyd ~ Norma Talmadge, Jack Mulhall, Eileen Percy, Lew Cody

I have been a fan of silent movies since 1962 but not until the release of this DVD have I had a chance to see Norma Talmadge in action. I've known about her for years and have seen numerous pictures of her without ever having seen her pictures. I knew her sister Constance from her role in INTOLERANCE and the Douglas Fairbanks comedy THE MATRIMANIAC and saw other sister Natalie in Buster Keaton's OUR HOSPITALITY but no Norma.

I find it absolutely mindboggling how a star of her magnitude (she was more popular than Mary Pickford in the 1920s) could have so completely disappeared from Hollywood's and the public's collective memory but with only 2 early talkies which are never shown and no effort on her part to preserve her silent legacy, that is precisely what happened. Now Kino has brought her back in two highly regarded films from the mid-1920s that clearly show us why she was once such a big star.

The KIKI storyline I was already familiar with from the 1931 Mary Pickford remake which I thoroughly enjoyed but this version is clearly better. Norma, who was known as a dramatic actress, shines in her comedic role as a French chorus girl out to snag her producer played by a young and dapper Ronald Colman. The most remarkable thing here and in the dramatic second film, WITHIN THE LAW where she plays a falsely imprisoned woman out for revenge, is the sumptuousness of the sets and the quality of the cinematography.

The fact that she had Clarence Brown (FLESH AND THE DEVIL) and Frank Lloyd (MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY) as her directors shows the kind of clout she must have had. WITHIN THE LAW also gives us a rare opportunity to see Lew Cody who would later become Mabel Normand's husband. These Library of Congress preservations look quite good and the musical accompaniment compliments the action nicely. Hopefully more of Norma's films will come to light and we can see more of this shamefully forgotten actress...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

Shopgirl Mary Turner (Norma Talmadge) is sent to prison for three years for a crime she didn't commit- stealing from her workplace. She vows to get back at her boss for everything he owes her for doing her wrong, and her time in prison isn't exactly deserved.

She makes a friend in prison named Aggie (), and when they get out, Mary vows to go straight instead of being wrapped up in a life of crime like Aggie plans to do, but when she can't get any jobs due to having done time in prison, she decides to commit suicide by jumping into a lake. She is saved, however, by a conman named Joe Garson (), and relents to a life of crime. She gets back at her boss, little by little, raking in the money...within the law. Another scheme of hers is to take up with the boss's son (), but when he proposes, love gets in the way of revenge. A big heist turns to an attempted frame-up, a man is killed, and Mary is accused of murder.

I would have given this film a higher rating, seeing as I liked the story and the acting was good (particularly by Talmadge), but the story just kept plodding on and on. Too much of the story was devoted to the courtship of Mary and the boss's son, too much time was devoted to the attempted heist, but contrary to the remake Paid (1930), the scenes in the police station don't seem to go on long enough. The editing is pretty bad, odd fadeouts after the intertitles but rather sloppy editing from scene to scene where the film appears to have been spliced right on top of each other.

As I mentioned above, Norma Talmadge gave a very good performance as Mary Turner, bar the fact that her face seemed to have been stuck in the same wronged expression for most of the film. That's a nitpicky detail, and if there had been Oscars in 1923, Talmadge would have won. As with a lot of her contemporaries, her filmography isn't very vast, because a lot of her silents have been lost, but the ones that have survived aren't as good as this one.

The actor who played the son of Mary's boss was pretty boring and I don't see why Mary would have fallen for him in the first place, but love is blind, I guess. Provided some good comic relief as Aggie ("Oh, I'm so fwightened!" is a phrase she likes to repeat).

Overall, recommended, but be aware that it really does overstay its welcome. A cut of twenty minutes wouldn't have impaired the story any.