This Side of the Law

Search DVDBeaver

S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Deadlock" )

directed by Richard L. Bare
USA 1950

The Taylor family has long awaited this moment. The final bequest of Malcolm Taylor, a millionaire missing nearly seven years and about to be declared dead, will go into effect and his heirs will own his Sans Souci estate. But – just like that – dreams of wealth and power slip from everyone’s grasp. There, standing inside Sans Souci and very alive, is Malcolm. Kent Smith (Cat People) portrays a hard-luck vagrant and Malcolm look-alike manipulated by a shady attorney (Robert Douglas) into posing as the millionaire. Will anyone see through the ruse – the wife (Viveca Lindfors) who detested Malcolm, the brother (John Alvin), the secret lover (Janis Paige)? Mystery and murder darken the film noir doorstep in This Side of the Law.

Posters

Theatrical Release: 17 June 1950 (USA)

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

DVD Review: Warner Home Video (Warner Archive Collection) - Region 0 - NTSC

Big thanks to Gregory Meshman for the Review!

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Warner Home Video Region 0 - NTSC
Runtime	1:14:15
Video	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.96 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono (English)
Subtitles	None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Warner Home Video Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen - 1.33:1 Edition Details: • None DVD Release Date: September 7, 2010 Keep Case Chapters 8

Comments

There are no reviews on-line yet for this little thriller from Warner Brothers Studio released in 1950. At just 74 minutes, This Side of the Law tells the story of a guy named David Cummins, down on his luck. He is hired by a shady lawyer to pose as a missing millionaire Malcolm Taylor. The film is helped by the atmospheric cinematography Carl Guthrie (Caged), a tight direction from Richard Bare (mostly known for Joe McDoakes Shorts) and good performances by always reliable Kent Smith (Cat People) and very beautiful Viveca Lindfors (Backfire; These Are the Damned.) The disc from Warner Archive Collection features a very good progressive transfer with very little damage on the print. Even in the darkest scenes you can see what is happening on screen. There are cue marks (see the last capture), but the quality doesn't drop at the end of the reels.

The English mono soundtrack doesn't have any issues and, per usual for on-demand discs, there are no subtitles provided. Unfortunately, a trailer is not available for this title. The film has 8 chapters every 10 minutes. This little known film is a recommended release for any film noir fan.

- Gregory Meshman

DVD Menus