Red-Haired Alibi

This movie is often mentioned as the debut of Shirley Temple. Note that it's a very very minor part.

This film about a young woman from a small town (yet that curiously is getting a 20 story commercial building) that meets a man that brings her to a big city with the promise of a job. This takes place during the depression so jobs are not easy to get.

The main character, Lynn Monith (played by Merna Kennedy, soon to be wife of Director & choreographer Busby Berkeley) is very interesting as we follow her as she becomes more aware & suspicious.

This is considered a pre-code film although it actually would have been approved by the code. Made in 1932 it plays well in 2025.

Just an enjoyable little drama.

Merna Kennedy is offered a well-paying job by Theodore von Eltz. She's to appear with him in public and keep her mouth shut. Eventually it turns out he is a gangster and she is his red-headed alibi.

It's directed by Christy Cabanne, surely not a name to conjure with. However, he was a skilled craftsman and, given a decent budget and a good script, he could certainly turn out a good movie, and he has done so here, even for Poverty Row producer Sigmund Neufeld. In a period when the camera was static, he filled his movies with moving shots, and there are many of them here: pans, tracking shots and pull-outs are executed with beauty by cinematographer Harry Forbes. The script is also good, and although Miss Kennedy is a little weak in her longer speeches, the characters are nicely drawn. Purnell Pratt has aa nice role as a sympathetic policeman. There's also Shirley Temple in her first appearance in a feature.

Merna Kennedy had become a minor star after appearing with Chaplin in THE CIRCUS. It did not last long, and although she continued appearing in minor roles through 1934, she retired that year to marry Busby Berkley. She died of a heart ailment in 1944, only 36 years old.

A few months after her roles in the 'Baby Burlesks' series ended, small film studio Tower Productions, signed Shirley Temple for her feature film debut, September 1932's "The Red-Haired Alibi," marking the first time her name was listed in the credits. Shirley just turned four when she appears as the daughter of Bob Shelton (Grant Withers), a wealthy single-parent who meets Lynn Montih (Merna Kennedy). Bob hires Lynn to be a governess for his daughter, Shirley, who receives an abundant of screen time showcasing her adorable face. Bob and Lynn fall in love and marry. Little does Bob know Lynn had been working for a gangster, Trent Travers (Theodore von Eltz), as a 'companion.' Things get sticky when Trent makes his appearanc, asking Lynn for big bucks, or he'll squawk like a canary.

When the Marx Brothers were filming "Horse Feathers," Shirley and her mother were walking nearby where the four were taking a break. Harpo immediately saw the cuteness oozing all over Shirley and approached her mom. He offered $50,000 for the chance to adopt the young girl. The mother naturally refused his offer. Maybe she instinctively knew a bright future awaited her young daughter.

"Red-Haired Alibi" is a b-movie from a low-budget studio. Because of this, the adult actors in the film are mostly no-names. However, despite this, the film is pretty good--and better than you'd expect.

When the film begins, Travers meets a young lady, Lynn (Merna Kennedy) in a shop and offers her a job without even knowing her. Soon, she leaves her small town and moves to New York to work for the man-- even though she has no idea what the work will entail. Her job is odd and yet she asks no questions--she is to pretend to be his wife and provide him with an alibi if needed. So, for example, when they go out to eat, they eat in a private dining room and soon Travers sneaks out. She is to keep the door locked and vouch for him being there even though he wasn't. The pay is good and Lynn, foolishly, goes along with it.

Surprise, surprise....it later turns out that Travers is a gangster and Lynn nearly gets herself thrown in jail. She comes clean with the police and is fortunate that they let her go. However, getting another job is difficult considering she now has a reputation. However, when she meets an old acquaintance once again, Bob asks her to come work for him. It seems his wife has left him and their adorable moppet (a very young Shirley Temple) and she will become the child's governess. Not surprisingly, after some time, Bob asks Lynn to marry him and they are quite happy. However, she has not told him about her past and he's refused to even hear about it. Later, however, Travers returns. He's a wanted man and needs to get out of the country and demands that Lynn help him or else he'll tell everyone who she is and about her sordid past. He also says he'll implicate her in a murder she didn't commit. What's next? See the film.

The best thing going for this melodrama is the acting. Although Myrna Kennedy and the rest of the cast are folks you'll very unlikely recognize (apart from young Shirley), they are quite good and manage to make the most of the script. Enjoyable if a bit far- fetched.

This forgettable film appears on the Shirley Temple film collection even though she is only in about 5 minutes in the film. Of course, she is quite a scene stealer as always. The story is about a fallen woman played well by Merna Kennedy. The script is quite flawed. Since this film was done in the early 1930s, you have to account for the time period of film making and the time period of the Great Depression where money was tight even for studios. Still this film should be considered an early film noir collection but not the Shirley Temple film collection. I doubt that I would have seen this film otherwise though. The cast doesn't have memorable names from Hollywood's early film era.