Alibi Racket (1935)

Wow! Such a good movie.

Redundant and unnecessary.

Great Film overall

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The second "Crime Does Not Pay" series starts off clever enough, but I have to question several details here that are too unconvincing to believe. Edward Morris plays a dual role, similar looking brothers who haven't seen each other in years yet are reunited when one of them is brought in on murder charges. Everything seems tight, but as inspector Al Bridge explains, there's always something wrong in the obvious false alibis criminals use to protect themselves. Everything was going along just fine, but when the inevitable flashback occurs, credibility literally flies out the window. Still, this shows off a dozen or so minor players in bigger parts for a change, and if it had not been for that one flaw of strange timing, I would have fallen hook, line and sinker. Details needed to be ironed out on the final script that never are, and that's where this comes off as the crime that could have paid had the script writer not underestimated the intelligence of the viewers.

During the 1930s and 40s, MGM made a string of "Crime Does Not Pay" shorts--all of which illustrate excellent police work and serve to convince viewers that crooks ultimately WILL get caught. It's interesting, but these films usually showed a lot more realistic police procedures than the regular movies at the various studios (many full-length films portrayed the cops as idiots). In addition, they tell great stories that even when seen today are quite satisfying.The film is told through a flashback. The story begins with a mobster being killed--and the most logical killer is a fellow mobster. However, this suspect has a seemingly air-tight alibi--one in which it appears he went to great lengths to establish where he was and when. But, thanks to nice work by the police, they are able to prove exactly how the guy was able to be at one place while killing another at a different location. Very enjoyable and well-written.

A Crime Does Not Pay Series No. 2. A notorious gangster is murdered and the police believe that another gangster, Leo Rinelli, committed the murder. However, there is no hard evidence of this and worse yet, from the police's point of view, is that Rinelli has a cast iron alibi. He was at the movies and can prove it because he was called away to take a telephone call. The police delve deeper and come up with an interesting albeit old hat resolution to the problem. The short is filled with stalwart character actors whose faces will be familiar if not their names. Edward Norris as Rinelli does a great job and it's surprising that he didn't have an even more illustrious career, although he did dozens of movies.