It Is the Law is a 1924 American silent mystery film directed by J. Gordon Edwards and starring Arthur Hohl, Herbert Heyes, and Mona Palma.
The film depicts the story of Ruth Allen (Palma), who marries Justin Victor (Heyes) over competing suitor Albert Woodruff (Hohl).
Seeking revenge for this slight, Woodruff fakes his own death by killing a drifter who resembles him, and frames Victor for the murder.
At trial, he declares that the prohibition against double jeopardy prevents his prosecution for the murder; he is set free to live happily with his wife.
[2] The cast also includes Dorothy Kingdon, Helena D'Algy, Patricia O'Connor, and Nancy Newman as casino regulars.
[8] In 1922, theatrical agent Walter Jordan encouraged successful playwright Elmer Rice to dramatize It Is the Law, an unpublished novel written by Hayden Talbot.
[4] When Twentieth Century-Fox Film renewed the copyright in 1951, they again referred to the longer run time; the title was also restyled with an exclamation point, as It Is the Law!
He retired from Fox after the film's completion,[22] and although he expressed an interest to returning to the role, he died of pneumonia the following year.
George T. Pardy, writing for Exhibitors Trade Review, noted that the audience was aware of the nature of the mystery while the characters were not, a welcome departure from the conventions of most melodramas.
[7] Edwards' direction was praised,[1][25] including his pacing of the story,[7] although the reviewer for Variety felt the film was unnecessarily long.