Midnight Alibi

Lance McGowan (Richard Barthelmess) returns to New York City after a lousy time gambling on a ship. He starts pushing his way around the town's gambling dens and new mob boss Angie Morley has had enough. To make matters worst, he rekindles his shipboard romance with Angie's younger sister Joan Morley. After getting shot at, he escapes into rich recluse Abigail Ardsley's mansion. He looks exactly like Abigail's former beau Robert Anders (Richard Barthelmess). She recounts their story well into the night. Lance tries to make peace with Angie but terrible events unfold. Lance is arrested for Angie's murder.

Richard Barthelmess gives a fine performance as a gangster with some rooting interest. It doesn't mean that this movie is that good or that his character is actually that nice. He's not a great talkie leading man and his star would fade after the silent era. The flashback section is rather dull except for a bit of pre-Code sexuality. The ending is more the end justifies the means rather than poetic justice. I'm not in love with this but it's fine enough.

Returning from Europe to New York City, suave Irish gangster Richard Barthelmess (as Lance McGowan) falls in love with sexy Ann Dvorak (as Joan Morley), then learns she's the kid sister of rival gambling crime lord Robert Barrat (as "Angie the Ox"). When accused of Mr. Barrat's murder, Mr. Barthelmess receives assistance from wealthy old Helen Lowell (as Abigail "The Old Doll" Ardsley). Barthelmess had taken refuge in Ms. Lowell's unlocked mansion during an attempt on his life. Barthelmess, who resembles a lover from Lowell 's past, may receive a "Midnight Alibi" from the old woman…

Based on a Damon Runyon story ("The Old Doll's House"), "Midnight Alibi" helped mark the end of Richard Barthelmess' reign as a top Hollywood star. It was the last film Barthelmess made under his lucrative contract with Warner Bros…

Barthelmess will always be remembered for his performances in three extraordinary films; "Broken Blossoms" (1919), "Way Down East" (1920), and "Tol'able David" (1921). He continued to be a popular player; peaking again during the transition from "silent" to talking films, Barthelmess was in Quigley Publications' "Top Ten" box office stars for 1928 (at #8), 1929 (#7), and 1930 (#8). But, by 1934, the films made by one of the industry's highest-paid stars weren't making any money…

So, for "Midnight Alibi", the budget for a Barthelmess picture was necessarily lowered; nevertheless, director Alan Crosland and cameraman William Rees make it look classily miscast…

There is a charming flashback to the year 1888, with Barthelmess (as Robert Anders) romancing beautiful young Helen Chandler (the younger version of present-day "Old Doll" character). In this vignette, Barthelmess wears a moustache and more attractive hairstyle; for some odd reason, he and the studio preferred a make-up style which made Barthelmess look like he was posing for pasty 1920s publicity photographs. The difference in Barthelmess' appearance (and performance) is startling. If he weren't so miscast and made-up, Barthelmess might have successfully extended his stardom…

***** Midnight Alibi (7/14/34) Alan Crosland ~ Richard Barthelmess, Ann Dvorak, Helen Lowell, Helen Chandler

Gambler Richard Barthelmess meets Ann Dvorak on ship while returning from Europe, and they fall in love. However, her brother, Robert Barratt, is also a tough egg, and he orders Barthelmess off with guns. He takes refuge in Helen Lowell's house, where she tells him the story of the man she loved when she was eighteen, also played by Barthelmess.

It's a charming and sentimental movie based, on, of all things, a Damon Runyon story, and not only is Miss Lowell an absolute sweetheart, but so is Helen Chandler, playing her a half century earlier. But the movie is peculiarly brief.

It was the last movie Barthelmess made under his long-running contract with First National (now Warner Brothers). He had aged out of his youthful star image, his efforts to retain his looks had failed several years earlier due to unsuccessful plastic surgery, and he was aging into a stoop-shouldered man, who could star act up a storm..... but that's not what a star is. So Barthelmess would head out, receive fewer and less successful roles, and give one final great performance in Only Angels Have Wings. He would join the Naval Reserve in 1942, and after the War, retire to Long Island, a rich man. He died in 1965 at the age of 68.

A real First National oddity, in that it's mostly a Damon Runyon comedy, part of a mini-Runyon wave then in Hollywood ("Lady for a Day," "Little Miss Marker"), but it's also a historical romance. There's a lengthy, sentimental flashback to 1880s New York, where the Sky Masterson-ish Barthelmess plays a different character altogether, a glum office boy romancing the boss's daughter. (He looks 30 years too old, and he's not the most natural Runyon hero in the modern sequences, either.) The screenwriter has the right ear for Runyonese, a mixture of modern '30s slang and fanciful preciousness, and it's certainly a handsome production, especially in the flashbacks. But the tone isn't consistent, the resolution is too pat (the title is something of a plot giveaway), and the always-interesting Ann Dvorak looks a little bored in a conventional-leading-lady role.

This movie is a pleasure to watch. It is a romantic gangster comedy. It moves quickly, has several nice plot twists, and allows some involvement with the Richard Bartelmess - Ann Dvorak characters.

Bartelmess looks and acts a lot like Robert Armstrong (king Kong) here. After seeing him in several heroic films, it is a little strange seeing him playing a gangster. He's fine and there is a good chemistry with Ann Dvorak. Helen Chandler appears in a couple of flashback scenes with Bartelmess and nearly steals the movie.

Basically, it is an entertaining hour long film that holds up well after 86 years.