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.

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.

1930's "Outside the Law" was the first of director Tod Browning's three Universal pictures, to be followed by the immortal "Dracula" and "Iron Man" (both 1931). Leaving MGM after his first talkie, 1929's "The Thirteenth Chair," Browning debuted at Universal with this remake of his own 1921 silent crime drama, also titled "Outside the Law," one of his first collaborations with the late Lon Chaney. Second billed Edward G. Robinson easily dominates as gang leader Cobra Collins, who demands a piece of the cut when the local bank is robbed by a small time crook (Owen Moore) and his moll (Mary Nolan). What truly sinks it are the endless scenes depicting the two crooks alone in their apartment, coddling a nauseating little boy who just happens to have a police captain for a father. It's rather dispiriting to think that a director like Tod Browning, with a real feel for the macabre, would display such a heavy hand with such maudlin sentimentality, yet the glacial pace is a reminder of how he botched "Dracula." The unsympathetic bickering of the two insufferable leads clearly has the opposite effect of what was intended (their unspectacular careers quickly petered out, with Moore dead by 1939, and Nolan by 1948). Browning's next feature would leave this old fashioned claptrap in the dust: the 1931 "Dracula" (his triumphant return to MGM produced the shocking "Freaks" in 1932). Already typecast as underworld kingpins, Edward G. Robinson would follow this forgettable fluff with "The Widow from Chicago," leading to the vastly superior and uncompromising gangster classic "Little Caesar," released early in 1931, and then a pair of intriguing titles opposite Boris Karloff, "Smart Money" (co-starring James Cagney) and "Five Star Final."

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.