I Am the Law

A law professor becomes a crusading prosecutor, with the aid of his old students, to defeat the racketeers in town against all odds.

Good crime drama with Edward G. Robinson as the fiery professor, making the film his own with a standout performance.

I Am the Law (1938)

** (out of 4)

Disappointing crime/drama from Columbia has Edward G. Robinson playing a law professor who is hired by civic leaders to try and bring down gangsters as a special prosecutor. The prosecutor thinks this will be an easy job but soon he realizes that no one wants to testify and if anyone agrees to then they end up dead. I had high hopes going into this film but the end results were pretty disappointing as we've seen this story countless times before and this one doesn't offer up anything new. I'm really not sure why Robinson would leave Warner to do this film as this one has a lot to do in common with the various crime pictures he was doing already. Considering Columbia wasn't known for their crime pictures it goes without saying that this one comes off rather bland and watered down as the screenplay doesn't have any real gut to it. The screenplay goes from one cliché moment to the next and I honestly didn't see one surprise throughout the entire thing. Robinson is pretty good in his role but it's certainly far from one of his best performances. The highlight of the film is a scene where we get Robinson on the dance floor, which has to be seen to be believed. The supporting players are pretty rich with John Beal, Otto Kruger, Wendy Barrie and Barbara O'Neil offering up nice work.

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.

"I am the Law" (1938) Professor John Lindsay (E.G. Robertson) is taking a sabbatical from his law position. He volunteers to go after the gangsters in town. He thinks it will be easy but very quickly he learns those in charge don't want him to succeed & that includes his staff chosen by the city fathers & Eugene Ferguson (Otto Kruger) Paul's father & head of the mob.

So he & his top student Paul Ferguson (John Beal) volunteer to go after gangsters & corruption from his home. Because those in charge want to see failure John & Paul are fired. With his wife Jerry (Barbara O'Neil) he recruits his top graduated law students to form an unpaid army of law enforcers. What will happen next? What & see!

In the mid-1930s familiar movie gangsters like Edward G. Robinson and Jimmy Cagney had image makeovers. Now that the new Production Code was accepted in 1934, gangster films were less frequently made and less violent. As a result, these two actors were now given other roles--broadening their acting range. I am sure that the actors liked this chance to do something other than act tough and kill, but there is still an oddness in seeing 'Little Caesar' playing a crime-busting law professor in this film!

Despite the change, this is still a dandy little film even if it is a bit conventional. Like many of the Post-Code films, this one is about punishing the gangsters and Robinson becomes obsessed with rooting out local mobsters. At first, his crusade falls flat, but when he ultimately realizes the important lesson that to have a free country, you need to ignore the Bill of Rights!! Locking up prisoners with no specific charges or evidence as well as having publicized fist fights with them is how Robinson eventually gains the upper hand! Now that's an interesting way to defend democracy!

Robinson's performance is a bit more three-dimensional than usual and he's ably supported by the ever-professional Otto Kruger. Direction is good and the script, while a bit predictable, is still pretty well written. All these come together to make a film that is more than just a time-passer--it's a lot of fun as well.