Illegal

Edward G. Robinson stars as District Attorney Victor Scott, a legendary legal mind with an unblemished conviction record. His confidence is shaken when a man that he had convicted and sentenced to death turns out to have been innocent, information obtained only after the innocent man was executed. After a lengthy wallow in drunken self-pity, Scott finds renewed purpose as a defense attorney, only to find himself involved with the sorts of shady characters that he used to put behind bars.

I enjoyed this minor yet entertaining crime/courtroom drama. It was great seeing Robinson in a substantial role in this phase of his career when he was "greylisted". Nina Foch shows more warmth than usual as a former colleague, and Ellen Corby gets more to do than usual as Robinson's later secretary. Mansfield isn't bad as the chief crook's kept woman. This gets handed the "noir" label in some sources, but I don't really see it in that light.

A bit of far-fetched legal melodrama is anchored by the performance of that old pro Edward G. Robinson.

Robinson plays a renowned attorney with a flair for the theatrical who turns crooked after he finds out a man he sent to the chair was truly innocent and his faith in the system of justice is shaken. He attracts the attention of a crime kingpin because of his skill in winning cases by any means necessary, but he suffers a crisis of conscience when his sort-of surrogate daughter/sort-of love interest (Nina Foch) ends up on trial for a murder she didn't commit that's tied to the activities of the crime boss.

Robinson is terrific as usual. He excelled at roles like this one -- the rogue anti-hero who doesn't play by anyone's rules but his own. You always root for him, even when he's the bad guy.

"Illegal" is packaged as a film noir, but it's not even close to being one, so you might be disappointed if that's what you're expecting. However, if you can get past that, it's a fun, snappy film that has a refreshingly off-kilter unpredictability to it. Three quarters of the way through the film I was still trying to guess where it was headed.

Grade: B+

"Illegal" is an intelligent and nimble little crackerjack of a crime thriller starring Edward G. Robinson as a D.A who's maybe a little too smart - and smart-assed - for his own good. He's ruthless because his job requires him to be. He wins cases. That's what he's paid for. He's quick of wit and tongue. He's ambitious, canny and - technically, at least - in compliance with the law. He's, at heart, a good man, and he's in the public eye, but he's not universally well-liked. One day, he sends the wrong man to the chair. And he comes undone.

This sets in motion a plot that winds and twists without becoming outlandish. The picture, which doesn't strike me as a "noir", moves at a nice clip, each of the broad spectrum of characters is painted with a defining brush stroke, and the dialogue is efficient and snappy. It's the kind of movie that hooks you and hooks you good. It did me.

"Illegal" is, above all, an Edward G. Robinson picture. It doesn't seem like a star vehicle. Robinson shares the screen with everyone, yet he is such a forceful presence and creates such a complex and complicated character, sympathetic yet warped, you search him out in every scene. You want to watch him. He's magnetic. I'm becoming a real Edward G. Robinson fan on the strength of his 40's and 50's films alone, some of them comic reminders of his earlier gangster persona. He's as good in this movie as he is in "Scarlet Street", which I saw recently for the first time and which, well... kinda sorta blew my mind. I've lived a little and can recognize the truths that some of these lively, well-written B-movies shine a light on.

Illegal puts Edward G. Robinson through more perils than Pauline ever suffered. A tenacious District Attorney on his way to the governor's mansion, he resigns when a man he had sent to the electric chair proves innocent. But the civil practice he hopes to undertake goes bust, and he takes to the bottle (a plot development which goes nowhere).

Down and out, he defends a fellow inmate he encounters in a holding cell, and decides to apply his legal acumen to becoming a sharp, high-priced criminal attorney. To get off a guilty client, he grandstands in court by downing a bottle of poison placed in evidence, only to rush off to have his stomach pumped. (This particular ploy was originated by George Brent in 1940's The Man Who Talked Too Much.) He's such a brilliant mouthpiece he comes to the attention of civic crime boss Albert Dekker, whose blandishments he tries to resist.

Meanwhile, back at the D.A.'s office, he's left behind his protégé Nina Foch (looking matronly), whom he had taken under his wing when her father, an old mentor of his, passed away. Though he harbors romantic feelings for her, he gives his blessing when she announces her marriage to a young, ambitious lawyer, Hugh Marlowe. But a series of leaks from the office concerning Dekker's activities brings suspicion on all three. Ultimately, Robinson finds himself defending Foch for murder, during which Jayne Mansfield, Dekker's mistress, sashays to the witness stand in a wasp-waisted black outfit, replete with picture hat.....

The fast and too complicated plot takes a few pointless and baffling turns. Though on the talky side, there's a high quotient of gunplay. Still, it's absorbing. Robinson, still in his early-50s string of B-pictures owing to his guilt-by-association in the wake of the anti-Communist crusade, holds everything together with his bag of old tricks. And credit must go also to director Lewis Allen, who somehow brought a distinctiveness to several of his films which otherwise might have passed unnoticed: Desert Fury, Chicago Deadline, Suddenly. It's hard to point out just how, but he brought some of it to Illegal, too.

Illegal marks the third time Warner Brothers told this tale of a lawyer's downfall and redemption. It was previously filmed as The Mouthpiece and The Man Who Talked Too Much with Warren William and George Brent playing the role that Edward G. Robinson does here. I've not seen the other two films as yet, but it's hard to imagine either of the other players doing it better. In fact both the other guys would certainly play it differently than Robinson.

Illegal finds Edward G. Robinson cast as a zealous prosecutor who convicts DeForest Kelley wrongly of murder. There's no last minute pardon from the governor however, no verdict set aside, because the evidence that could clear him comes as the switch is being thrown on the electric chair.

Robinson's an ambitious fellow who would like to have been governor or more, but this does set him back on his heels and he takes to drink. But soon enough he realizes he still has the skills so now he can put them to work for the other side.

That by the way is the standard way criminal defense attorneys are born, the best training they can receive can be as Assistant District Attorneys. After a nifty bit of legal legerdemain Robinson winds up working for mobster Albert Dekker. In the meantime his former assistant in the DA's office Nina Foch winds up killing her husband Hugh Marlowe when she discovers he's been a mole there for Dekker.

The legal legerdemain is by far the best bit in the film. Robinson gets James McCallion out of an embezzlement charge and fixes it so that McCallion's boss Howard St. John is left without a leg to stand on.

Jayne Mansfield lends her gravity defying presence to Illegal in one of her earliest films. She plays Dekker's moll and sings Too Marvelous For Words very badly. But as a singer it's not her voice that perks Dekker's interest.

In many ways the lead in this story is a dream role for a player. Every actor worth his salt wants a courtroom drama because of the histrionics involved. Robinson has several courtroom scenes on both sides of the fence and convicts and frees clients by some interesting methods.

In his memoirs Robinson called from 1949 with All My Sons until 1956 in The Ten Commandments as his B picture period. But I'm here to say that while the films weren't big marquee box office, they were pretty much well done dramas that Robinson brought his sense of professionalism to each role. Illegal is one of the best of them.