SHADOW OF THE LAW/ QUARRY

US, 1930, 70 minutes, Black-and-white.
William Powell, Marion Shilling, Natalie Moorhead, Regis Toomey, Paul Hurst, Frederick Burt.
Directed by Louis Gasnier.


The poster blurb sums it up: Wanted for a crime, he did not commit.

This is a very early sound film, highlighting the star status of William Powell who had emerged during the silent era but was to have a very strong career for the next quarter of a century, usually portraying a very dapper character like Philo Vance or The Thin Man. It is something of a surprise to find him spending a lot of the running time of this film in jail.

The film opens with a familiar sequence, a man about town expecting his blonde date to be more welcoming than she is, surprisingly meeting her husband in the hotel room, their fight, her fleeing to him for help, his struggle with the husband who then falls from the window to the sidewalk. A witness saw him looking from the window and testifies in court and he is jailed for life. The woman has disappeared.

Prison films seem to be very popular at the time and there is the usual arrival, checking in, fingerprints, prison clothes… Our hero, James Montgomery, shares a cell with a friendly type, Pete, Paul Hurst in quite a sympathetic role. The years pass, Montgomery is asked by the warden to spy on Pete to find out about his co-criminals. Montgomery refuses, Pete organises an escape which is successful. Suddenly, transition where Montgomery, now with a new name, is head of a mill, almost engaged to the daughter of the mill.

When Pete is released, he goes to see Montgomery, his commission to search for the woman and persuade her to testify. She is certainly a femme fatale of, played by Natalie Moorhead who did a number of similar roles at the time. She turns in Pete to the authorities, detectives tracking down the money that Montgomery had given him to persuade her, follow the money – and end up following her because she has gone to confront Montgomery for more money, threatening to expose him.

There are some tense moments in the confrontation, Montgomery being a man of integrity, the owner of the mill and his daughter supporting him – and all ends well.

With William Powell (although it is difficult to accept him as a convict), this is one of the more watchable films from the period.