''Midnight Alibi'' is a 1934 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was an era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry that occurred between the widespread adoption of sound in film in the late 1920s and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship gui ...

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

comedy drama film Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

directed by

Alan Crosland Frederick Alan Crosland (August 10, 1894 – July 16, 1936) was an American stage actor and film director. He is noted for having directed the first feature film using spoken dialogue, ''The Jazz Singer'' (1927) and the first feature movie with s ...

, produced by

First National Pictures First National Pictures was an American motion picture production and distribution company. It was founded in 1917 as First National Exhibitors' Circuit, Inc., an association of independent theatre owners in the United States, and became the count ...

, distributed by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

and starring Richard Barthelmess. The film is an adaptation of

Damon Runyon Alfred Damon Runyon (October 4, 1880 – December 10, 1946) was an American journalist and short-story writer. He was best known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway theatre, Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Proh ...

's 1933 short story ''The Old Doll's House''. This was Barthelmess' last film for First National after 15 years at the studio. A print of the film is preserved at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

. The film is also available on DVD on demand from the Warner Archive.dvd-on-demand; Warner Archive
/ref>

Plot

A gangster returns to New York after some time in Europe and falls in love with Joan, unaware that she's the younger sister of his bitter rival, Angie the Ox. After an attempted hit on him, he seeks refuge in the home of an old lady, who tells him of her own romance many years ago with a man who looked just like him. Their friendship will prove useful later when he is accused of murder.

Cast

* Richard Barthelmess as Lance McGowan * Ann Dvorak as Joan * Helen Chandler as Abigail * Helen Lowell as The Old Doll *

Henry O'Neill Henry O'Neill (August 10, 1891 – May 18, 1961) was an American actor known for playing gray-haired fathers, lawyers, and similarly dignified roles on film during the 1930s and 1940s. Early life Henry O'Neill was born in Orange, New J ...

as Ardsley *

Robert Barrat Robert Harriot Barrat (July 10, 1891 – January 7, 1970) was an American stage, motion picture, and television character actor. Early years Barratt was born on July 10, 1891 in New York City, and educated in the public schools there. He left ...

as Angie the Ox *

Robert McWade Robert McWade (January 25, 1872 – January 19, 1938), was an American stage and film actor. Biography McWade was born in Buffalo, New York. He was the third actor named Robert McWade, after his father and grandfather. In 1902, McWade debut ...

as Senator *

Purnell Pratt Purnell Pratt (October 20, 1885 – July 25, 1941) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 110 films between 1914 and 1941. He was born in Bethel, Illinois and died in Hollywood, California. Pratt spent more than a year in Fra ...

as Wilson *Harry Tyler as Hughie * Paul Hurst as Babe the Butcher *

Arthur Aylesworth Arthur Preston Aylesworth (August 12, 1883 – June 26, 1946) was an American stage and film actor. Early years Aylesworth was born in Apponaug, Rhode Island, to a military family; his father and his grandfather graduated from the United ...

as Louie the Blind Man * Vincent Sherman as Black Mike

References

External links

* * 1934 films Films directed by Alan Crosland Warner Bros. films Films scored by Heinz Roemheld American black-and-white films 1934 crime drama films American crime drama films American romantic drama films 1934 romantic drama films 1930s American films Films based on works by Damon Runyon {{1930s-crime-film-stub