Please don't spend money on this.

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

***SPOILERS*** Ridicules movie about a gentleman gangster Gene Fillmore, played by the square jawed Chester Morris, with a heart of gold who gets these not very bright and barley out of their teens youngsters Annie Porter,Anne Shirley, and Tommy Brown, Richard Bond, to help him pull off a jewel robbery that ends up with the two facing both life in prison as well as the electric chair for their effort. After being mugged in New York's Central Park of their wedding money-A cool $136.00- by big time gangster Rocky, Eduardo Ciannelli, and his hoodlum pal the two decide to single handily knock off Rocky's gang headquarters only to end up on the short end of the stick. That's by them being overpowered by the gangsters, who outnumbered them some 10 to 1, and about to be whacked by them. In steps the new gang boss Gentelman Gene Fillmore who plans after saving their behinds to use the two simpletons as parts in his next job a midtown jewel robbery.Mindlessly going along with Fillmore's plan the robbery soon backfires when the hot headed and trigger happy Rocky ended up killing the store owner and critically wounding his employee. This against Fillmore's strict orders not to use deadly force in robbing the store at all cost. Now faced with the death penalty after being caught and identified as the man who pulled off the robbery, even though he was nowhere near the scene when the killing took place, Tommy can get fried or electrocuted for the crime that he didn't commit. As for Anne she can end up behind bars for the rest of her life for being an accomplice in the robbery murder.***SPOILERS*** Fillmore realizing that Rocky screwed up the entire job confronts him at his hideout and the two end up shooting it up with Rocky getting the worst of it. Being tried by his peers, fellow gangsters, Fillmore looks like he about to be cooked or shot for killing Rocky until the witness to the killing Dorothy Palmer, Lee Patrick, the late Rocky's gun moll was found out to have framed him! And in return was shot and killed by one of Fillmore loyal followers, who didn't for a moment believes a word that she said, Batsy(Paul Guylfoyle)right under the noses of the police who were there to protect her!Well we still have the fact that Tommy is to face the electric chair for the murder of the jewelry store owner but now Fillmore getting religious in him having an innocent man sent to the electric chair because of his actions admits he was behind the jewel robbery and, even though he didn't pull the trigger, and killing of the shop owner. We don't know if Fillmore got chair or not he could have well have gotten life without parole since the movie came to a sudden end after Fillmore's confession. But that doesn't excuse both Tommy & Anne who brainlessly went along with Fillmore's crazy & insane plan that set this whole mess of a failed jewel robbery into motion.

The absolute worst part about this movie, besides the awful dialog, is the performance by Eduardo Cianelli. What a crap actor he was. He really sucked. He has a stupid accent. He acts like a bad ass but is really a pussy. His acting isn't good. I just keep writing because I need ten lines on order to get published. Eduardo Cianelli was a horrible actor. I don't see how he got an acting job. He was a really bad actor. I have to keep writing to get 10 lines of text. The premise behind the movie was OK but the writing and dialog was really bad. there were some other crap actors in the movie too, like the old dried up blonde who played rocky's girlfriend. She was nasty looking and not a good actress. did people really talk the way they do in these old movies?

Again and again during the course of this film you might think that the movie might in fact turn out to be a reasonably good little film. However, due to really awful writing that occasionally creeps onto the screen, the overall effort is very, very poor, so don't get your hopes up with this little film.The movie starts by showing a young couple being robbed in Central Park. It isn't surprising this happens--after all, they did a lousy job of concealing their wad of cash meant for their honeymoon. And, oddly, when a cop comes upon the robbery, the couple say nothing and don't ask for help--allowing the two crooks to continue robbing them and get away!! Even dumber is later, when the two burst into a room full of hoodlums and demand their money back at gunpoint!!! Believe it or not, this very, very naive couple only behave more stupidly throughout the course of the film.While these two dummies seem too idiotic to believe, the rest of the actors in leading roles are pretty good---at least at first. Eduardo Cianelli is excellent as a hot-headed hood and Chester Morris is generally good as the leader of a gang. However, as the film concludes, Morris is so stupid that you wonder if hanging around this couple perhaps wore off on him--such as a stupid virus!! While parts of the film work, the bad parts are what I was left remembering. Even though I am a huge fan of classic Hollywood films, this is one I can't recommend and can never see myself seeing again. Avoid it--you'll be doing yourself a favor.By the way, if you look carefully, you'll see that a member of the gang is a very young Jack Carson before he was a star.

LAW OF THE UNDERWORLD is a grade-B gangster film that is little more than a promising premise. Chester Morris stars as Gene Fillmore, an "honorable gangster" whose strategy is to keep a low criminal profile, directing his gang to carry out well-planned robberies that avoid the need to use violence. He keeps his men on a tight leash to make sure they stay out of trouble—and jail.So far, Gene's system has been successful. None of his high-society friends (including the newly-appointed district attorney, played by Walter Abel) has any idea that he is anything other than a fun-loving playboy. In fact, the D.A. tries to elicit Gene's help in a crusade to wipe out crime. He declines the invitation. It might have made a more interesting story if he'd done otherwise!One of Gene's underlings, Rockey (played by the appropriately creepy Eduardo Ciannelli), chafes at Gene's "play-it-safe" approach to crime. In a play to become top dog, he has sown the seeds of dissent with some of the other members of the gang, convincing them that Gene is too weak to be their leader. The ruthless Rockey is also having an affair with Gene's girl, a nightclub singer named Dorothy (played by a miscast Lee Patrick). Gene's "honorable thief" character is put to the test when an innocent young couple (Anne Shirley and Richard Bond) are drawn into his nest of criminals. The youngsters have stolen back the money that Rockey had stolen from them, at gunpoint, a short time earlier. They are told that they themselves are now guilty of theft and will go to jail unless they agree to participate as decoys in a jewel robbery. During the heist, Rockey shoots a couple of people, and the D.A. is out for blood.Back at the gang's nightclub hangout, Rockey and Gene square off, with Gene killing Rockey in self defense. Chanteuse Dorothy is enraged to see her man dead. In revenge, she lies to the gang in order to get them to turn on Gene. She then tips off the police, who raid the nightclub and arrest the young couple, though they fail to find Gene. Will honorable-gangster Gene let the young innocents take the rap for him? The outcome is pretty obvious, especially if you know the kind of character Chester Morris usually plays.The plot of LAW OF THE UNDERWORLD is full of holes and gaps in credibility, which undermines the conflict and suspense that might have made this a neat little crime story. Among the major head-scratching moments is the scene where Rockey holds up the young couple in Central Park. A police officer walks right up to them in the middle of the robbery and the kids say nothing, even though the girl had just said something about wishing a policeman would come along. It's also pretty hard to accept that nightclub singer Dorothy would prefer churlish, snarling Rockey to loving, generous (and much better-looking) Gene. Those are just two of many logistical gaffes to be found in the film. Additional liabilities are flaccid direction by Lew Landers and a patchy script by Bert Granet and Edmund L. Hartman.Among the few positive elements to be found in LAW OF THE UNDERWORLD are the performances of the always-watchable Chester Morris (I wish he'd been given better material to work with) and especially Eduardo Ciannelli, who shows himself to be the master of the sadistic sneer.Don't waste your time with this one unless you're a devoted fan of the genre.