Author Damon Runyon's amusingly stylized tales of the sidewalks of Broadway have paid off in big film musicals (Guys and Dolls,1955) as well as vehicles for Bob Hope The Lemon Drop Kid, 1951) and Shirley Temple (Little Miss Marker, 1934). Following soon after Frank Capra's Damon Runyon adaptation Lady for a Day (1933) is the obscure Midnight Alibi (1934). It was the final First National-Warner Brothers contract assignment for both director Alan Crosland (of the talkie landmark The Jazz Singer, 1927) and famed silent star Richard Barthelmess. Framed for the murder of a rival, streetwise gambler Lance McGowan (Barthelmess) discovers that the victim's sister Joan (Ann Dvorak) is the woman he loves. When the murder occurred Lance was hiding out in the apartment of 'The Old Lady' (Helen Lowell). Lance reminds the sentimental woman of her old beau, which triggers a quaint flashback to the 1880s. Barthelmess is seen as the young lover (with a tiny mustache) and beautiful Helen Chandler (the star of Dracula, 1932) the youthful 'Old Lady.' Even with the fanciful Runyon dialogue, the soft-spoken Barthelmess was considered a bad fit as a Manhattan tough guy. Curiously, the filming of Midnight Alibi made news in the murder trial of one Nellie Madison. Neighbors did not report the five loud gunshots that killed Madison's husband because they were accustomed to the racket from night shoots at Warners' Burbank lot, just over the fence.

By Glenn Erickson