Action Against the Law

Duration: 33

Genre: Crime | Drama | Educational | Film noir

Creator: Paramount Pictures

Format: 16mm

Color: B&W

Sound: sound

Description: As an excerpt from The Lawless, this film uses the story of rivalry between two unintegrated cultural groups, Americans and migrant Mexican workers, in the small town of Santa Marta to portray the role of law and the press in relation to social problems involving intergroup conflict prejudice, juvenile delinquency, and lawless action. Shows how a clash between youths of the two cultural groups and subsequent events lead ultimately to lawless action on the part of American townspeople and then to renewed order when the true facts become known., A Teaching Film Custodians classroom film of excerpts from the 1950 Paramount Pictures feature film, "The Lawless". This film uses the story of two unintegrated cultural groups, Americans and migrant Mexican workers, in the small town of Santa Marta to portray the role of law and the press in relation to social problems involving prejudice, juvenile delinquency, and lawless action. After a young migrant farmworker is goaded into a fight by the town boys, exaggerated events stirs up anger in a group of townspeople, who forget their American heritage of tolerance and decency, and become the lawless. The newspaper editor finds himself the only white citizen of the town willing to stand up for the boy's rights. He joins with the staffer of a small weekly newspaper for the Mexican workers in trying to see justice done and possibly to save a life.

Complete Record: As an excerpt from The Lawless, this film uses the story of rivalry between two unintegrated cultural groups, Americans and migrant Mexican workers, in the small town of Santa Marta to portray the role of law and the press in relation to social problems involving intergroup conflict prejudice, juvenile delinquency, and lawless action. Shows how a clash between youths of the two cultural groups and subsequent events lead ultimately to lawless action on the part of American townspeople and then to renewed order when the true facts become known., NOTE: Two (or more) records have been merged together to create this data.