This Side of the Law

Jun 17, 1950

1h 14m

★ 4.5

Trapped! Tricked! and Treacherous!

Overview

A man - trapped in a cistern - reflects on the dark events that lead to his lonely entrapment. Told in flashback, we witness his chance encounter with a nefarious lawyer who persuades him to impersonate a wealthy man who went missing 7 years ago.

Genres

Crime

Production Companies

Warner Bros. Pictures

This Side of the Law Trailers

Cast

Evelyn Taylor

Viveca Lindfors

David Cummins

Kent Smith

Nadine Taylor

Janis Paige

Philip Cagle

Robert Douglas

Calder Taylor

John Alvin

The Sheriff

Monte Blue

Miss Roberts

Frances Morris

Miss Goff

Nita Talbot

Judge (uncredited)

Edward Van Sloan

One evening, Hammer gives a ride to Christina, an attractive hitchhiker on a lonely country road, who has escaped from the nearby lunatic asylum. Thugs waylay them and force his car to crash. When Hammer returns to semi-consciousness, he hears Christina being tortured until she dies. Hammer, both for vengeance and in hopes that "something big" is behind it all, decides to pursue the case.

6.9

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye

Aug 19, 1950

Ralph Cotter, a ruthless criminal, escapes violently from a farm prison. Then, he seduces a dead inmate’s sister, gets back quickly into the crime business, faces corrupt local cops who run the city’s underworld and meets a powerful tycoon’s whimsical daughter.

6.5

Side Street

Mar 23, 1950

A struggling young father-to-be gives in to temptation and impulsively steals an envelope of money from the office of a corrupt attorney. Instead of a few hundred dollars, it contains $30,000. When he decides to return the money, things go wrong - and that is only the beginning of his troubles.

6.4

Suddenly

Sep 17, 1954

The tranquility of a small town is marred only by sheriff Tod Shaw's unsuccessful courtship of widow Ellen Benson, a pacifist who can't abide guns and those who use them. But violence descends on Ellen's household willy-nilly when the U.S. President passes through town... and slightly psycho hired assassin John Baron finds the Benson home ideal for an ambush.

7.5

Gun Crazy

Jan 20, 1950

Bart Tare is an ex-Army man who has a lifelong fixation with guns, he meets a kindred spirit in sharpshooter Annie Starr and goes to work at a carnival. After upsetting the carnival owner who lusts after Starr, they both get fired. Soon, on Starr's behest, they embark on a crime spree for cash.

7.0

The Desperate Hours

Oct 5, 1955

Escaped convicts terrorize a suburban family they're holding hostage.

7.0

Black Gravel

Apr 12, 1961

Tensions rise when a U.S. military base is built in a small village in post-war Germany.

6.3

Johnny O'Clock

Jan 7, 1947

When an employee at an illegal gambling den dies suspiciously, her sister, Nancy, looks into the situation and falls for Johnny O'Clock, a suave partner in the underground casino. Selfish and non-committal by nature, Johnny slowly begins to return Nancy's affection and decides to run away with her, but conflict within his business threatens their plans. As Johnny tries to distance himself from the casino, his shady past comes back to haunt him.

7.2

Nightmare Alley

Oct 9, 1947

A roustabout joins a traveling carny and schemes to figure out the mind-reading act of Mademoiselle Zeena and her alcoholic husband.

6.7

Mystery Street

Jun 23, 1950

When a young woman's skeletal remains turn up on a Massachusetts beach, Barnstable cop Peter Moralas teams with Boston police and uses forensics, with the help of a Harvard professor, to determine the woman's identity, how she died, and who killed her.

7.2

Sudden Fear

Aug 7, 1952

Actor Lester Blaine has all but landed the lead in Myra Hudson's new play when Myra vetoes him because, to her, he doesn't look like a romantic leading man. On a train from New York to San Francisco, Blaine sets out to prove Myra wrong...by romancing her. Is he sincere, or does he have a dark ulterior motive?

7.5

Night and the City

Jun 15, 1950

Londoner Harry Fabian is a second-rate con man looking for an angle. After years of putting up with Harry's schemes, his girlfriend, Mary, becomes fed up when he taps her for yet another loan.

6.9

D.O.A.

Dec 23, 1949

Frank Bigelow is about to die, and he knows it. The accountant has been poisoned and has only 24 hours before the lethal concoction kills him. Determined to find out who his murderer is, Frank, with the help of his assistant and girlfriend, Paula, begins to trace back over his last steps. As he frantically tries to unravel the mystery behind his own impending demise, his sleuthing leads him to a group of crooked businessmen and another murder.

6.7

Murder by Contract

Dec 18, 1958

Claude is a ruthless and efficient contract killer. His next target, a woman, is the most difficult.

7.1

The Lineup

Jun 11, 1958

In San Francisco, a psychopathic gangster and his mentor retrieve heroin packages carried by unsuspecting travelers.

6.4

The Garment Jungle

May 1, 1957

Alan Mitchell returns to New York to work for his father Walter, the owner of a fashion house that designs and manufactures dresses. To stay non-union, Walter has hired Artie Ravidge, a hood who uses strong-arm tactics to keep the employees in line.

5.1

Over-Exposed

Apr 1, 1956

This titillating bit of pulp sensationalism was the last in a string of "B" films that Cleo Moore starred in at Columbia. Moore plays Lila Crane, an ambitious clip-joint floozie turned photographer with flexible morals and a penchant for fast money.

6.2

Out of the Fog

Jun 14, 1941

A Brooklyn pier racketeer bullies boat-owners into paying protection money but two fed-up fishermen decide to eliminate the gangster themselves rather than complain to the police.