Blind Alibi

Primarily a vehicle to showcase Ace the Wonder Dog and gowns by Renié. Premise of why the hero needs to pretend he is blind in order to gain access to museum is not sufficiently believable, especially when thieves figure out that all they need to do is get hired on as janitors in order to accomplish the same end. I find Richard Dix wooden in his delivery and cannot understand why Whitney Bourne would find him appealing. Eduardo Ciannelli is excellent as the thief. Richard Dix making an "iron" pancake in Paris could have been funnier as could have the thieves arguing over fifteen and twenty cents when blackmail is at stake. Not a great movie, but the premise could have been more interesting. Moves way too slow to really hold your interest.

One night in Paris, artist Paul Dover (Richard Dix) is visited by sis Julia Fraser who is being blackmailed with her letters. Her husband cannot withstand the scandal. Paul tracks the letters to a shipment of art going to LA. He infiltrates the museum as a blind man with his guide dog Ace (Ace the Wonder Dog).

This is the debut of Ace the Wonder Dog in a Richard Dix flick. According to many, he was RKO's answer to Rin Tin Tin. They push through a lot of plot quickly to get to the dog. He is more a companion dog. The story is a bit questionable. I have too many questions. There is a lot of action in the end. I really don't like that one gunshot. I wouldn't mind Paul getting shot instead.

Richard Dix is an artist with a nice little Parisian garret. His sister asks him to retrieve some letters that are being used to blackmail her. He almost succeeds in stealing the letters but the packet slips away, concealed in a shipment of artworks on its way to a California museum. Dix moves west and hatches a plan to get into the museum: He pretends he is blind and hangs out in the museum studying and making copies of its sculptures.

Once in the museum, Dix digs around when he can, hoping to stumble on the packet. Whitney Bourne plays the beautiful museum director who takes an interest in Dix, little knowing his real purpose there. Eduardo Ciannelli and Paul Guilfoyle are a couple of crooks working for the blackmailers--they are also after the letters and Guilfoyle even picks up a job as a museum guard.

Dix and Bourne do their best but the far-fetched plot is never remotely believable. Weak dialog, predictable characters....I hate to say it but there just isn't a lot to recommend about this one.

Ace the Wonder Dog has a featured role as Dix's seeing eye dog. Unfortunately, even Ace's scenes aren't particularly convincing.

Ace the Wonder Dog, RKO's answer to Rin Tin Tin -- not that anyone had asked the question -- is introduced in this Richard Dix programmer.

Dix was a leading star at RKO from 1929 through 1940, but for RKO this meant handsomely mounted B movies that his loyal fans would go to see, and which could be used to introduce interesting new talent, like Ace. Here Richard Dix pretends to be blind in order to recover incriminating letters that might result in his sister being blackmailed -- don't ask me why his being blind would help.

Richard Dix ambles through the movie with his usual muscular performance. It is unsurprising he had his fans. Even the fact that this movie ends with a closeup of Ace the Wonder Dog doesn't fool anyone. A talented performer, yes, but we was no Richard Dix.

Ostensibly, a programmer, but I thought a semi-interesting one. How can I say that? Probably, because I am a sucker for Ace, the Wonder Dog. He wasn't just another poochie with a languid kisser, but a trained thespian who could take down a bad guy or gal with consummate aplomb. In all his scenes he made Richard Dix look almost human or at least as spry as a petrified stick.

The story was more than a bit convoluted, but then it was written by three different writers and that barely gave each of them twenty minutes to tell their inclusion. Also, working in an art museum filled with rare antiques is not the kind of thing that can be readily spared a fanciful story. Say what you may, blindness is not easily explained at any story pitch,even if you have a wonder dog to introduce to the world.

Not a common story arc and filled with dread at every corner; these are just a few of the excitements of a mostly forgotten B-movie. Pull your chair closer to the screen lest you become blinder than the stooge Mr. Dix played.