I Am the Law (1938) is a good title for an Edward G. Robinson picture, albeit one that seems to promise more of the hard-hitting action of a gangster movie than the lighthearted comedy that prevails here. That being said, this amiable film does mix in some forceful drama and suspense, if a bit unevenly.

Robinson plays a New York law professor named John Lindsay -- no relation to the later real-life mayor of NYC, but actually based on New York's then-D.A. Thomas Dewey, who crusaded against the rackets. In the film, Lindsay is about to leave town on a sabbatical when he is asked to take on the job of cleaning up the city's rampant corruption, as organized crime has achieved a stranglehold. Robinson takes the job thinking he can rectify things quickly, only to discover that the corruption has infected even his own staff. Someone is leaking his plans to the rackets, frustrating his every step. When his lack of progress gets him fired from his post, he carries on as a private citizen, working out of his home with an army of trusty, former law students, and it is here that the film really picks up speed and entertainment value.

More to the point, the story finally allows for Robinson to start blazing on all cylinders, at least verbally, as in the scene where he fires his corrupt staff in an impassioned speech, or in the one where he implores his former students to work with him. I Am the Law is a solid little picture, but it's really Edward G. Robinson's show.

He does get a little physical action in, during a very funny sequence in which he lectures two thugs on hoodlum psychology. In front of a roomful of people, he declares how cowardly they are when they're unarmed and alone, and then proceeds to beat them up, all while a newspaper editor is there dictating the story over the phone, as if calling a boxing match!

The supporting cast of this Columbia picture is solid as a rock, with Otto Kruger and his typical smiling, evil visage; Wendy Barrie enticing Robinson to dance the Big Apple on a nightclub dancefloor just as Robinson's wife enters the room; and Marc Lawrence, the eternally pockmarked, scowling henchman, demonstrating good comic timing in a scene in which he breaks into a house only to be flummoxed by a cute little terrier -- and then by Robinson accidentally shooting the gun right out of Lawrence's hand. The scene's satisfying blend of action and comedy epitomizes the film.

Director Alexander Hall paces these scenes very well and is to be commended for drawing out the Big Apple dance sequence, for the sight of Robinson clearly having a ball while he dances (purposefully) badly is one for the books.

The main weakness of the movie is too much talkiness as well as a lack of true emotional interest in the characters -- not enough to make us care much about the subplot of Kruger's law-student son (John Beal) building a truer father-son relationship with Robinson than with his evil dad. Possibly this is the result of the shifting tone of the piece keeping us at a distance. Still, Robinson delivers and I Am the Law will satisfy his fans. It's a better film than its "standard programmer" reputation suggests.

Sony Choice Collection's made-on-demand DVD-R of I Am the Law looks and sounds acceptable enough. There are no extras.

By Jeremy Arnold