Law and Order

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Law and Order

1932

1h 10m

Western

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89%

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9 Reviews

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Fewer than 50 Ratings

Frame Johnson (Walter Huston) is an itinerant gambler traveling among frontier towns with three companions. Arriving in Tombstone, they discover a corrupt outpost dominated by Poe Northrup (Ralph Ince) and his vicious brothers. Frame is recognized as the renowned former lawman "Saint" Johnson, but does not wish to get involved. After the Northrups push him too far, though, he accepts the job of town marshal. Conflict comes to a head with a climactic gunfight at the OK Corral.

Andre Sennwald

New York Times

Walter Huston, as the gun-toting Saint, gives his usual expert performance, and he is admirably assisted by Raymond Hatton, Harry Carey, Ralph Ince and a generally capable cast. Law and Order is a superior specimen of Western heroics.

Apr 16, 2024

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Wolfe Kaufman

Variety

With all the cards stacked against him In this picture Walter Huston manages to crash though for another fine character portrayal, but it's still only a fair to middling horse opera.

Apr 16, 2024

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Irene Thirer

New York Daily News

Men and the younger male generation go big for this sort of stuff -- the old, old-fashioned Western cinema with all the trimmings... But ladies aren't going to get much out of Law and Order.

Rated: 2/4

Apr 16, 2024

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P.S. Harrison

Harrison's Reports

The action is fast and thrilling all the way through, but it is chiefly a man’s picture, for it is full of shooting.

Apr 16, 2024

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Lloyd S. Thompson

San Francisco Examiner

The most exciting western I've seen since Cimarron.

Apr 16, 2024

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Harold V. Cohen

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Law and Order, of course, belongs to the old Western school of ten, twent' and thirt' melodramas, but there is still something altogether fascinating about its robust heartiness, the manner in which it goes about its business of blood and thunder.

Apr 16, 2024

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Steve D

Earp Rip off with only Huston to recommend it.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

12/29/23

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Audience Member

The other half of a Edward L. Cahn double feature I saw at the Cleveland Cinematheque. This low budget Universal western of 1932 was remade with Ronald Reagan in the 50s. This is actually one of many adaptations of the tale of Wyatt Earp with Doc Holliday and their showdown in Tombstone. The Wyatt character becomes Frame Johnson played by Walter Huston. The Doc character becomes Ed Brandt played by Harry Carey. Frame has one brother with him and they fight the Northrup gang. It will all be quite familiar if you know the legend of Tombstone. I enjoyed seeing performances from Walter Huston and Harry Carey in their prime. With Law and Order being brought to the wild west the morality is in simple terms of black and white, good vs. evil. Again it falls right in the mediocre middle with earlier silent westerns establishing genre clichés and later westerns taking more risk with style and therefore becoming more memorable.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

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Edward L. Cahn

Director

Walter Huston

Frame "Saint" Johnson

Harry Carey

Ed Brandt

Ralph Ince

Poe Northrup

Russell Hopton

Luther Johnson

Raymond Hatton

Deadwood

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Synopsis

Frame Johnson (Walter Huston) is an itinerant gambler traveling among frontier towns with three companions. Arriving in Tombstone, they discover a corrupt outpost dominated by Poe Northrup (Ralph Ince) and his vicious brothers. Frame is recognized as the renowned former lawman "Saint" Johnson, but does not wish to get involved. After the Northrups push him too far, though, he accepts the job of town marshal. Conflict comes to a head with a climactic gunfight at the OK Corral.

Director: Edward L. Cahn
Producer: Carl Laemmle Jr.
Screenwriter: Tom Reed
Production Co: Universal Pictures
Genre: Western
Original Language: English
Runtime: 1h 10m