Customer Reviews

Alibi [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Alibi is one of the few early talkies that truly make the grade. There's a good plot that moves along nicely, good choreography and cinematography (for its time) and the convincing acting held my attention every step of the way. This film is an excellent early talkie gangster movie.

The action begins when Chick Williams (Chester Morris) gets released from prison--only to get back again with the members of his mob who rob and run a swanky speakeasy. Soon Chick is dating Joan Manning, (Eleanore Griffith), the daughter of a tough as nails police detective who hates the idea of Chick dating his daughter. When detective Pete Manning (Purnell Pratt) discovers that Chick and Joan have been married Pete tries to separate them to no avail. Joan truly believes that Chick has turned over a new leaf.

One night Joan and Chick go to the theater--and Chick excuses himself during the ten minute intermission while Joan waits back in the theater. Almost at that same time a botched robbery leaves a cop dead--and there are questions to be answered. Who killed that cop? Was Chick involved or was he merely smoking outside the theater during intermission? How can Chick prove he is innocent?

Look for excellent performances from Chester Morris as Chick Williams; he impressed me greatly with his fine acting, especially near the end of the picture. Regis Toomey turns in an equally stunning performance as Danny McGann, a detective who pretends to be a drunk at the speakeasy in order to spy on the mobsters. Mae Busch is also quite good as Daisy Thomas, the girlfriend of the man who runs the speakeasy nightclub.

Unfortunately, other reviewers are right when they state that there's an incredible amount of noise that goes along with the soundtrack. This makes it hard to hear some of the lines--especially in one scene early on when a policeman tries to woo Joan away from Chick. I do applaud the great way they mounted the stationary camera onto the top of a car so that we could see what the cops could see when the cops are going through their paces to see if Chick could have been involved in the botched robbery or even the murder of the cop.

Alibi is an excellent early talkie that is well worth watching. I highly recommend this for fans of early gangster films and people who like classic movies will be impressed with Chester Morris who was nominated for an Oscar for his performance.

The number of early sound films that can hold interest beyond historical curiosity are few; Roland West is able to do more in the first reel of "Alibi" than even Hitchcock could accomplish in "Blackmail." Menzies' sets give an incredible sense of solitude and menace, and the gradual twists in the plot would not be duplicated until the 1940's. (As a footnote, one of the songs performed in the gangster's speakeasy, "I've Never Seen a Smile Like Yours," served as the inspirational background for experimental animator Oskar Fischinger's film study #5 the following year.) It's truly a shame that West made only one more film, "Corsair" in 1931.

Roland West's "Alibi" is a good example of what gangster films were like before Warner Brothers delivered its 1-2 punch of "Little Caesar" and "The Public Enemy." Yes, it's a bit theatrical, the action is patchy and the characters are less than role models of "gritty realism." But that doesn't mean that "Alibi" is a failure. On the contray, it's of interest precisely because it IS so different from what came a few years later and established a template for other gangster films.
The plot and dialogue give initmations of what the "hard-boiled" style would become without quite being there yet.
"Alibi" is worth a look for casual viewers and is a must-have for serious students of the genre. Now, if Paramount would only get around to releasing "City Streets" and "Underworld"....

In director Roland West's early talkie ALIBI, a recently paroled mobster named Chick Williams (Morris) is suspected of murdering a cop despite the excuse that he was at a club with the daughter of the investigating sergeant when the crime occurred. The police plant a spy (Toomey) in the Williams gang who tries to get evidence against him, but this man is also killed. His extended death scene is full of histrionics and odd dialogue.

A camera mounted on the front bumper of a car privides some interesting footage, and a rooftop pursuit is also quite memorable. Considered innovative in its day, "Alibi" received three Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Art Direction and Actor (Morris).

Footnotes:
Roland West is reputed to have given Chester Morris a deathbed confession that he murdered actress/club owner Thelma Todd.
This was character actor Regis Toomey's first film.
Mae Busch was Ollie's wife in Laurel & Hardy's talkie debut, UNACCUSTOMED AS WE ARE (1929).
Based on the 1927 Broadway drama, "Nightstick," a show that had four authors.


ALSO RECOMMENDED:
In THE BIG HOUSE (1930), Chester Morris again plays a notorious thug, along with co-star Wallace Beery.


Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 imdb viewer poll rating.

Alibi (1929) - Chester Morris/Harry Stubbs/Mae Busch/Eleanore Griffith/Regis Toomey/Purnell Pratt/Irma Harrison/Diana Beaumont

In director Roland West's early talkie ALIBI, a recently paroled mobster named Chick Williams (Morris) is suspected of murdering a cop despite the excuse that he was at a club with the daughter of the investigating sergeant when the crime occurred. The police plant a spy (Toomey) in the Williams gang who tries to get evidence against him, but this man is also killed. His extended death scene is full of histrionics and odd dialogue.

A camera mounted on the front bumper of a car privides some interesting footage, and a rooftop pursuit is also quite memorable. Considered innovative in its day, "Alibi" received three Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Art Direction and Actor (Morris).


FOOTNOTES:
Roland West is reputed to have given Chester Morris a deathbed confession that he murdered actress/club owner Thelma Todd.
Mae Busch was Ollie's wife in Laurel & Hardy's talkie debut, UNACCUSTOMED AS WE ARE (1929).
This was character actor Regis Toomey's first film.
Based on the 1927 Broadway drama, "Nightstick," a show that had four authors.


KINO's edition of ALIBI is available on DVD.

ALSO RECOMMENDED:
In THE BIG HOUSE (1930), Chester Morris again plays a notorious thug, along with co-star Wallace Beery. (VHS) -- (DVD)


Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 imdb viewer poll rating.

Alibi (1929) - Chester Morris/Harry Stubbs/Mae Busch/Eleanore Griffith/Regis Toomey/Purnell Pratt/Irma Harrison/Diana Beaumont

Considering the many stagey and stilted early sound features, this one has alot of interesting camera angles, shot for realism, and is perhaps noteworthy as a film in anticipation of "Citizen Kane", which also incorporates sets and art direction in the action.
The sound quality is about right for 1929 - I don't know if much could be done in the patches where you might want to reach for the remote volume control.
Predating "Public Enemy" by two years we still have a film as brutally "real", with a performance by Chester Morris which can compare to James Cagney's. The difference is that Morris changes from wronged "bad boy" to the arch criminal he really is and Cagney "humanizes", if you will, in his opus.
Actually, this movie gives more period detail as to the culture and technology of urban Protective service, than the latter, more famous film.
There's alot of chorus line numbers which are well-photographed and blend in well to the story line. As another reviewer said, they are not musical "relief".
Mae Busch has a fairly meaty part, playing a golddigger of sorts, marrying a hood, but also befriending the confused daughter of the Police
Captain.

Hitchcock's "Blackmail" and Lubitsch's "The Love Parade", are probably the very best of the early sound films made in 1929, but this one is close behind. I'm rating this film 5/5 when ranked with other early sound entries from 1929 -1934. Although the dialogue still has some of that halting quality that is common in early talkies, it doesn't cause the film to plod along. Instead, it moves along at a good pace and keeps you engaged. The actors have a pretty natural quality in their performance, Chester Morris in particular. He's the one actor you're likely to recognize, since he had a pretty good career in the 30's and 40's playing romantic leads first and then in a crime drama series later on.

The film starts out with Chick Williams (Chester Morris) being released from prison, supposedly after being framed by the police. He's dating the daughter of a hard-boiled detective, and from the way the detective and his subordinates handle things - not to mention his rough treatment of his daughter - at first you might believe Chick is a wronged guy. Shortly after Chick's release there is a robbery that goes bad in which a police officer is killed. Chick is suspect number one, except he has an alibi - the hard-boiled detective's daughter, and roughly a hundred other people who saw him at the theatre at the time of the robbery.

There are lots of little interesting tricks and turns in this movie, not to mention the interesting use of sound and the mounting of the camera on the front of the car so that as the police and the criminals speed around in the dark, you see what they see. Look at any other typically claustrophobic 1929 film, and you'll appreciate this even more. I also enjoyed how this film used musical numbers - not to intrude on the plot in a silly way as so many 1929 films did - but to add to the atmosphere of the club that Chick and his gang hang out at.

Finally there is Chester Morris' acting. He was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his performance, and he certainly deserved it. He transitioned from playing the smooth and possibly wronged man, to vicious criminal, to trembling coward quite believably. Not for another two years, when Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney came along, do we get quite such a powerful performance from an actor playing a gangster.

The one bad thing I'll say about this print is the sound has quite a bit of static in it. I expected more from Kino on this front. It's not terrible, but there are times when you need to really turn up the volume to understand what's being said.

This is an early talkie so you know what to expect.The sound quality is not great and the acting is awkward and stilted but there are some suspenceful and well edited sequences.I especially liked the scene where the detectives retrace the route the crooks took to the warehouse in order to time the movements of the murderer.But what really makes this dvd worth buying is the amazing performance of Regis Toomey? His performance as billy morgan the boy broker has to be seen to be believed.For this alone i give this movie a high rating.

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Loosely based on the popular 1920s Broadway play NIGHTSTICK, the 1929 ALIBI was highly acclaimed in its day, with critics rushing to describe it as "fresh," "progressive," and--somewhat surprisingly--"expressionistic." All of this is quite true, one thing excepted: the plot, which was pretty ho-hum even in 1929.

Chick Williams (Chester Morris) has been recently released from prison. His loud protestations of false imprisonment draw the loving attention of Joan Manning (Elenore Griffith), who believes in him, undertakes his rehabilitation, and ultimately marries him--all to the absolutely dismay of her father Police Sergeant Pete Manning. When a robbery goes wrong and murder results, Chick is high on the list of suspects, but Joan swears he was the theatre with her. But was he really? The police department sets out to know.

The big thing about ALIBI is the first five minutes and the occasional shot thereafter that does indeed seem inspired by the German expressionist movement. Director Roland West, who is probably best known for THE BAT and THE BAT WHISPERS, brings a snappy pace and an interesting eye to the material; cinematographer Ray June is extremely expressive in his camerawork. But the real star here is probably art director William Cameron Menzies, a filmmaker who is probably best known today as the director of the original INVADERS FROM MARS. His sets and backdrops are memorable throughout.

Even so, ALIBI is probably best left to hardcore gangster fans who are interested in the development of the genre--and who will find much to compare with PUBLIC ENEMY and LITTLE CESAER. ALIBI simply has held up as well as one would wish.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer