On I List of Movie Reviews
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Illegal (1955)
Rate:
8
Viewed:
2/24
2/24: Illegal is the story about the greatest lawyer in the world.
Edward G. Robinson dominates the show. W.R. Burnett and James R. Webb's script is the more the merrier. These two are what makes
the time go fast. Yeah, there's no story for a while. When it appears, the tie-ins become apparent.
Hugh Marlowe gives a good performance as Ray Borden while the rest of the cast is decent. The paintings by Paul Gauguin,
Edgar Degas, Carolus-Duran, and Gladys Lloyd (Robinson's wife) as shown in the film are real as they were loaned by Edward
G. Robinson who's a well-known art collector.
When people were clapping or shaking hands with Edward G. Robinson afterwards in the courtroom, I won't be surprised if they
were complementing him for putting on a great performance. The title is apropos when a jughead walked past Victor Scott and he
punched him in the head just to prove a point. Victor drinking poison in another case is crazy, but I'm sure he researched the
length of time it would begin to take effect and therefore took a calculated risk.
In the meantime, feast your eyes on Jayne Mansfield who makes her debut in a Hollywood picture. At the age of 21, she started
appearing on screen in 1955 and would rival Marilyn Monroe as the best-looking blonde bombshell. Unlike Marilyn, she was
actually intelligent with the ability to speak five languages: English, French, Spanish, German, and Italian. Her film career didn't
last long, having died in an automobile accident in 1967. By the way, that's not Jayne Mansfield singing in Illegal as
she was dubbed by somebody else. If you pay attention to her while she's speaking, you'll notice how crooked her jaw is.
All in all, Edward G. Robinson is the reason to see Illegal while Jayne Mansfield provides eye candy.