Broken Laws

Broken Laws
Directed by	Roy William Neill
Produced by	Dorothy Davenport Thomas H. Ince
Written by	Marion Jackson Bradley King
Based on	the short story, Broken Laws by Adela Rogers St. Johns
Production company	Thomas Ince Corporation
Distributed by	Film Booking Office of America
Release dates	November 9, 1924 (1924-11-09)
Running time	70 min.
Country	United States
Language	English

Broken Laws (1924) is an American silent dramatic film directed by Roy William Neill, remarkable for the appearance of Dorothy Davenport, who is billed as "Mrs. Wallace Reid".

Plot

Joan Allen (Davenport) is a loving mother who can't help indulging her son Bobby, spoiling him to the point where he is an irresponsible "jazz-mad" teenager on trial for vehicular manslaughter. She wakes up with a start at the end of the trial, with new resolve to provide the right amount of parental discipline.

Production background

Davenport's husband was the star Wallace Reid, who died of morphine addiction in January 1923. By June 1923, Davenport had co-produced, starred in and toured the country with Human Wreckage, a moralistic warning about the terrors of drug addiction. The film's sensational tone, and the roadshow engagement with her personal appearances, were a direct precursor to the later 1930s exploitation films of Kroger Babb and others.

Broken Laws on the topic of parental overindulgence is the second of Davenport's "social conscience" releases, followed by The Red Kimona (1925), based on a true-life story of white slavery.^[1]

Cast

Dorothy Davenport as Joan Allen (credited as "Mrs. Wallace Reid")
Percy Marmont as Richard Heath
Ramsey Wallace as Ralph Allen
Jackie Saunders as Muriel Heath (as Jacqueline Saunders)
Arthur Rankin as Bobby Allen at 16
Virginia Lee Corbin as Patsy Heath at age 16
Tommy Hicks as Fat kid
Henry Neill as Himself

Preservation status

According to the SilentEra website, a print exists in the Cinematheque Royale de Belgique.

References

↑ Guide to the silent years of American cinema, by Donald W. McCaffrey, Christopher P. Jacobs, page 101

External links

Films directed by Roy William Neill

The Price Mark (1917)
Yes or No? (1920)
Something Different (1920)
The Woman Gives (1920)
The Idol of the North (1921)
The Conquest of Canaan (1921)
The Iron Trail (1921)
What's Wrong with the Women? (1922)
The Man from M.A.R.S (1922)
Vanity's Price (1924)
Broken Laws (1924)
Marriage in Transit (1925)
The City (1926)
The Viking (1928)
Lady Raffles (1928)
Wall Street (1929)
The Melody Man (1930)
The Menace (1932)
That's My Boy (1932)
The Circus Queen Murder (1933)
Black Moon (1934)
Jealousy (1934)
The Black Room (1935)
Doctor Syn (1937)
Gypsy (1937)
The Viper (1938)
Thank Evans (1938)
Simply Terrific (1938)
Many Tanks Mr. Atkins (1938)
Everything Happens to Me (1938)
A Gentleman's Gentleman (1939)
Murder Will Out (1939)
Hoots Mon! (1940)
The Good Old Days (1940)
Madame Spy (1942)
Eyes of the Underworld (1942)
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1943)
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)
Rhythm of the Islands (1943)
Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943)
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943)
The Spider Woman (1944)
The Scarlet Claw (1944)
The Pearl of Death (1944)
Gypsy Wildcat (1944)
Sherlock Holmes and the House of Fear (1945)
The Woman in Green (1945)
Pursuit to Algiers (1945)
Terror by Night (1946)
Dressed to Kill (1946)
Black Angel (1946)

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