Outside the Law/Shadows

Rating:
Summary: Priscilla Dean stars in, but Lon Chaney steals, this film
Review: Despite the prominent presence of Lon Chaney, "Outside the Law" is actually a Priscilla Dean 8-reeler. In 1921 Chaney was still a featured character actor and two years away from becoming a full-fledged star in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," while Dean was at the height of her career. Dean stars as Molly "Silky Moll" Madden, an experienced society thief who has convinced her crooked father, "Silent" Madden (Ralph Lewis) to go straight. But her father is framed and sent to prison by "Black Mike" Sylva (Chaney), who then plots to frame "Silky Moll" as well in another jewel robbery. "Black Mike" involves his henchman "Dapper Bill" Ballard (Wheeler Oakman, who was Dean's husband in real life) in the plot, but he falls for the girl and the couple flees from the mobster. Of course, he pursues them and the climatic shootout takes place in Chinatown, as does the rest of the film actually, where Chaney ends up, somewhat surprisingly, facing himself because the actor also plays Ah Wing, a Chinese servant. This makes for one of the more interesting instances of a man shooting himself in cinema history. Certainly Chaney steals most of the scenes that he is in as the villain, but Deans performance is quite good. She has expressive eyes and manages to avoid exaggerated gestures, unlike many heroines in silent screen melodramas. Tod Browning had directed both Dean and Chaney in a couple of 1919 melodramas, "The Wicked Darling" and "Paid in Advance." However, to the best of my knowledge, "Outside the Law" is the only one of Priscilla Dean's films available.

Rating:
Summary: Priscilla Dean stars in, but Lon Chaney steals, this film
Review: Despite the prominent presence of Lon Chaney, "Outside the Law" is actually a Priscilla Dean 8-reeler. In 1921 Chaney was still a featured character actor and two years away from becoming a full-fledged star in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," while Dean was at the height of her career. Dean stars as Molly "Silky Moll" Madden, an experienced society thief who has convinced her crooked father, "Silent" Madden (Ralph Lewis) to go straight. But her father is framed and sent to prison by "Black Mike" Sylva (Chaney), who then plots to frame "Silky Moll" as well in another jewel robbery. "Black Mike" involves his henchman "Dapper Bill" Ballard (Wheeler Oakman, who was Dean's husband in real life) in the plot, but he falls for the girl and the couple flees from the mobster. Of course, he pursues them and the climatic shootout takes place in Chinatown, as does the rest of the film actually, where Chaney ends up, somewhat surprisingly, facing himself because the actor also plays Ah Wing, a Chinese servant. This makes for one of the more interesting instances of a man shooting himself in cinema history. Certainly Chaney steals most of the scenes that he is in as the villain, but Deans performance is quite good. She has expressive eyes and manages to avoid exaggerated gestures, unlike many heroines in silent screen melodramas. Tod Browning had directed both Dean and Chaney in a couple of 1919 melodramas, "The Wicked Darling" and "Paid in Advance." However, to the best of my knowledge, "Outside the Law" is the only one of Priscilla Dean's films to have survived and be available on videotape.

Rating:
Summary: A good value Lon Chaney double feature
Review: I have now seen 10 of Lon Chaney's films and I would say that they are nearly all enjoyable. The Phantom of the Opera and The Hunchback of Notre Dame are masterpieces, the rest vary in quality, but Chaney's varied performances always make them interesting. The two films on this DVD are relatively minor works. Strangely, the one by the more famous director Tod Browning, Outside the Law, is the lesser of the two. This is, in part, because it is not really a Chaney feature at all. He plays two roles, one a sympathetic Asian character, the other an evil criminal out to destroy the leading characters. This is the problem, for Chaney's supporting characters disappear for long stretches of the film. The main story is thus a rather dull affair about two somewhat colourless lovers trying to go straight and return the jewels they have stolen. The film only really comes alive with Chaney. The biggest difficulty with this film however, is the print quality. It is a black and white print which, for the most part is fine, but towards the end there is some serious damage, so much so that at times the picture all but disappears. There are furthermore some frames missing so that sometimes the story jumps rather abruptly. The second film on this DVD, Shadows, is much better. The story is interesting and keeps the viewer guessing, so it is best not to read any synopses before hand. Chaney has a major role as a Chinese laundry man and shows how he could contort his body and face into a role. Some people might have a problem with the titles attempting to imitate his speech patterns. But it must be remembered that it was typical of silent films to try to portray visually the differences in the way people speak. The same happens, in other films, with French or Cockney characters and was not considered to be derogatory. The print of this film is fine. It is a sepia tinted and for the most part free from damage. Again there are a few frames missing, but these do not affect the story continuity. I would recommend this DVD for Shadows alone, the fact that it includes Outside the Law as well makes it good value indeed.