Outside the Law Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Outside the Law Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 2, 2022

Tod Browning's "Outside the Law" (1920) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy Eureka Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include exclusive new program with critic Kim Newman and alternate ending. Presented with English intertitles and music score by Anton Sanko. Region-B "locked".

Bad men

The strangest thing about Outside the Law, the second collaboration between Tod Browning and Lon Chaney, quite possibly the most creative duo from the early days of cinema, is that it is a very ordinary film. It almost feels like a test -- an elaborate one, but still a test. Chaney plays two different characters and they are both overshadowed by two other characters played by Priscilla Dean and Wheeler Oakman. He does leave a lasting impression, but Browning’s camera remains focused on Dean and Oakman and effectively denies him the chance to shape up the identity of Outside the Law. It is not because Dean and Oakman’s characters undergo spectacular transformations either. After sampling Chaney’s ability to supercharge the drama with his electrifying presence, Browning decides to play it safe and simply moves away from him. Could it be that Outside the Law was in fact a much-needed test that gave Browning the confidence to trust Chaney to be a big leading man? It certainly feels like it. It sure looks like it, too.

San Francisco, sometime during the 1920s. A prominent underworld boss named Silent Madden (Ralph Lewis) is slowly coming to the realization that it is time to reform his way of life. He is encouraged by a man he trusts, the Chinese sage Chang Lo (E. Alyn Warren), and to a lesser extent his daughter, Molly a.k.a. Silky Moll (Dean), who is concerned that her father’s transformation will be misinterpreted by his partners in crime as an act of betrayal. It is precisely what happens. Then another underworld boss, Morgan Spencer (Melbourne MacDowell), with whom Madden has never had a healthy relationship, instructs his right-hand man, Black Mike Sylva (Chaney), to get him framed for the murder of a local detective. When Madden is arrested and sent to prison, Sylva lures Molly into a jewel heist with the intent to get rid of her as well, but much to his surprise and annoyance his partner, Dapper Bill Ballard (Oakman), falls madly in love with the gal and together they disappear with the loot. While Sylva tracks down them down across the city, the lovers slowly begin to question whether the loot has any value if they can never enjoy life as normal couples do.

There is never any doubt that morality will be the main theme in Outside the Law. In the first half, for instance, a lot is done to create very particular contrasts that prepare the entirely predictable evolutions of the main characters and the proper messaging to go along with them. In the second half a sweet little boy (Stanley Goethals) then fine-tunes these evolutions and the messaging is initiated. In other words, it is always easy to see the path that Outside the Law will follow as well as its final destination.

Interestingly, Outside the Law produces plenty of opportunities that could have irreversibly altered its path and destination, and it would have been easy to do as well because the film is based on an original story by Browning. Instead, not only are these opportunities not taken advantage of, but it is where Browning leaves some rather odd gaps that ultimately create the impression that there are bits of missing crucial information.

Of course, any honest critic would admit that deconstructing Outside the Law while referencing the quality of Browning and Chaney’s later work is a predictably problematic practice as well. Why? Because if, as speculated above, Outside the Law was conceived to test the combined creative potential of Browning and Chaney, then it is absolutely a successful film. It produces the crucial course-changing opportunities that will be properly utilized in their future films, it reveals Chaney’s potential to be a formidable character capable of leaving a lasting impression and taking over an entire film, and provides Browning with ample material to conclude that he could manage Chaney’s explosive personality.

Outside the Law Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Outside the Law arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.

The release is sourced from a recent 4K restoration that was completed by Universal Pictures. In case you are wondering, Kino Lorber's U.S. release introduced the exact same restoration.

After the makeover the film certainly has a fine organic appearance, but it is extremely easy to tell that time was not kind to it. Indeed, while usually delineation, clarity, and depth are quite pleasing, there are certain areas with serious traces of deterioration as well. In the second half, in particular, some visuals reveal traces of very heavy wear, decomposition, and even complete shrinkage that was only partially reversed. You can see examples in screencaptures #23 and 24. The grayscale is very good. However, due to the nature of the surviving materials, minor fluctuations in highlights and darker nuances can be observed. Image stability is good, but this is another area where trained eyes will easily spot minor inconsistencies that were impossible to address due to aging and severe deterioration. All in all, this is fine organic presentation of Outside the Law, but you should expect to see plenty of inherited age-related imperfections. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Outside the Law Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Music LPCM 2.0. The film has original English intertitles.

The film can be seen with an original score by Anton Sanko, which I liked a lot. I think that the music syncs up with the visuals extremely well and even enhances the film's atmosphere in a very effective way. The quality of the recording is excellent, so the lossless track basically reproduces its native characteristics.

Outside the Law Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Alternate Ending - the footage that is presented here comes from a 16mm "show-at-home" print of Outside the Law (and is believed to have been adapted from the 1926 reissue cut of the film. It is comprised completely of alternate takes, with significantly less nitrate decomposition. This print eliminates the climactic fight scene and replaces it with a different conclusion. With music. (10 min).

• Kim Newman on Outside the Law - in this exclusive new program, critic Kim Newman discusses the Tod Browning and Lon Chaney's legacy, and addresses the visual style, structure, and themes of Outside the Law. In English, not subtitled. (21 min).

• Booklet - an illustrated booklet featuring an essay by critic Richard Combs as well as technical credits.

Outside the Law Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As odd as it may sound, the main weakness of Outside the Law is its permanent connection to all the other bigger and better films Tod Browning and Lon Chaney made together. It was their second collaboration and in many ways it feels and looks like a test that had to happen so that both feel comfortable with their creativity. Chaney is predictably good as the ruthless gangster Black Mike Sylva, but the film's identity is shaped by other actors that push it down a very familiar path as well. Naturally, I expect that this release will appeal primarily to Browning and Chaney completists.