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Shadow of the Law (1930)

Shadow of the Law (1930) film poster

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THE LITTLE PICTURE HOUSE

1930 · Crime · USA · English · Black & White · 69 minutes

About the film

Wrongly convicted after a fatal encounter in his apartment, a young engineer escapes prison and builds a new life under another name. As love and success offer a fresh start, the unresolved past threatens to destroy everything he has worked to regain.

A new name can open a door, but it cannot settle an old injustice. The drama turns on the uncertainty of a second chance: whether a man can earn trust through his present actions while concealing the history that others would use to judge him.

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Meet the cast

Cast

William Powell — John Nelson / Jim Montgomery
Marion Shilling — Edith Wentworth
Natalie Moorhead — Ethel Barry
Regis Toomey — Tom
Paul Hurst — Pete
George Irving — Colonel Wentworth
James Durkin — Warden
Frederic Burt — Mike Kearney
Richard Tucker — Frank

Production credits

Director: Louis Gasnier
Scenario and dialogue: John Farrow
Photography: Charles Lang
Editing: Robert Bassler
Sound recording: Harold M. McNiff
Production and distribution: Paramount Publix Corp.

Behind the scenes

Released on 6 June 1930, this early sound drama pairs William Powell with Marion Shilling and Natalie Moorhead. The AFI records a 69-minute running time and a Movietone soundtrack.

Source: AFI Catalog — Shadow of the Law (1930).

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