Law of the Underworld (1938)

"Tommy" (Richard Bond) and girlfriend "Annabelle" (Anne Shirley) are a loved-up young couple dreaming of marriage who are robbed in the park of their life savings by a couple of opportunist mobsters. He recognises one of the thugs but instead of calling the cops, they try to deal with it themselves. That's their first big mistake and before long they are sweating it out in a police cell accused of complicity in a murder by the new D.A. "Rogers" (Walter Abel) who is bent on cleaning up the city. Meantime, city grandee "Fillmore" (Chester Morris) is playing a game of double-dealing as he also runs the gang that's at the centre of the youngster's problems. With them facing the chair, might he have a change of heart or are they toast? It's not a bad little effort all round, this film, though clearly the budget wasn't much. Eduardo Cianelli works well as the ruthless challenge to the more moderate "Fillmore" and Lee Patrick also delivers as the moll with a vicious streak a mile wide, but there's far too much dialogue and the denouement a bit too conveniently flat after not enough action. That said, Morris was always competent with these kind of roles and the ensemble do enough to pass an hour easily enough.