Within the Law

Within the Law is adapted from The Play Of Bayard Veiller by Marvin Dana. Marvin Hill Dana (1867-?) was the author of A Puritan Witch (1903), The Master Mind (1913), Within the Law (1913), The Shooting of Dan McGrew (1915), and A Perfect Memory: How to Have and Keep it (1917). Bayard Veiller (1869-1943) was a Brooklyn native who served as a police reporter and as a theatrical press agent before turning dramatist. Although nearly twenty of his plays were produced, he is best remembered for three superior thrillers: Within the Law (1912), The Thirteenth Chair (1916), and The Trial of Mary Dugan (1927). Falsely accused of theft by her employer Edward Gilder and sentenced to three years in prison Mary warns Gilder she will have revenge. When Mary is released from prison she has a group of criminals who operate just inside the law. Against Mary's orders, her gang attempts to rob Gilder's home. The story is full of action, romance, and interesting characters.