boblipton This movie has director Tod Browning remake one of the Priscilla Dean underworld thrillers he had directed before he had hooked up with Lon Chaney. In fact, the earlier version had Chaney as one of the principal roles. In this version, bank robber Owen Moore works with gorgeous moll Mary Nolan to cheat underworld boss Edward G. Robinson out of what he considers his rightful cut of any crime committed in San Francisco. Like many a Browning picture, people are insane, particularly Miss Nolan.The problem with this movie, like many she appeared in, is that star Mary Nolan's acting... well, she has improved from some of her earlier works. As one of Browning's insane characters, I find her senseless mood changes and talking to herself convincing; it's when she interacts with other people that I find her unbelievable.Everyone gets to be weird, even Rockcliffe Fellowes as the police captain trying to track down the bank robbers, and whose annoying son, played by one of the innumerable Watson clan, breaks into their hide-out, since they all live in the same building.It's clear that Miss Nolan is the star of this movie - she gets more tics and twitches than anyone else, although Robinson shines in the sort of gangster role he would play at Warner Brothers. It's Miss Nolan's movie to carry, and she does a poor job of it, although Browning's usual insane world filled with mad people certainly kept my interest up.

bkoganbing Before Edward G. Robinson had his career role in Little Caesar he did a few films including a couple of silent movies and in several of them played a gangster. Watching Outside The Law you think you are watching Robinson in a dress rehearsal for Little Caesar.All the snarling all the mannerisms are there for Robinson in this film. He plays a gangland boss who likes to control all the crime action in his are and get his cut. But Owen Moore and moll Mary Nolan aren't splitting with anybody when they pull a bank job. So it's a question of whether the cops will get them or Robinson.Nolan though she overacts considerably as did just about everyone in those early talkies. She tries to vamp Robinson, but he's as uninterested as he was in Little Caesar.Curiously enough both Moore and Nolan were coming close to the end of their respective careers. Both were known for high living and partying away in the Roaring Twenties. They both died too young.But Robinson was just getting started and you'll swear you are seeing Little Caesar. Had he been the main character as he was in Little Caesar this could have been the breakout role for him. Tod Browning directed this film and it's remake of one he did ten years earlier with Lon Chaney. A real treat for fans of Eddie Robinson.

David_Brown I just saw this film on YouTube, and this mortality tale (about Irish mobsters, crooks (the lovers Connie Madden (Mary Nolan), and Irish Born Owen Moore (Harry 'Fingers' O'Dell)), and of course, Cops is worth watching. Edward G. Robinson, who already has his Rico (from "Little Caesar") persona down pat (cigar and all), and his 'Cobra' Collins is the main reason to watch. What is interesting is he is actually half-Chinese (they show him with his mom), and yet, he is at the "Top of the Irish Rackets." Every scene involving Robinson s excellent, in fact the only non-Robinson scene that is really good, is with Connie, a kid (whose dad is a Police Captain), and puppies, and how this kid can melt her extremely cold heart. Spoilers Ahead: If anyone has seen "Three Godfathers" (with John Wayne), they can anticipate how it ends, with the outlaws willing to accept jail, to do the right thing (in this case saving the kid's father after he got shot by Robinson, instead of fleeing with $500,000 (of course, Robinson gets his at the hands of 'Fingers'), and both Connie & 'Fingers' are redeemed by Christ (there is a scene of a Cross embedded in the floor). In fact, like "3 Godfather's" where Wayne gets sentenced to the minimum 1 year in prison for a bank robbery, they got sentenced from 1-4 years for a bank robbery (the cop put in a good word for them). If people like uplifting films, Robinson & Gangsters it is worth watching. 9/10 stars.

brliqq This flick has Robinson in his vintage character form as a gangster named Cobra, with his cigars and his infamous "Ny'a See". Fingers and Connie play a robbery team thats moving in on Cobra's turf and is forced to hid out from the law, and Cobra. Nothing great about this film that should make one go crazy to see it. The most enjoyable parts in the movie is Robinson doing his ol' mob boss routine where it almost gets humorous.