Alibi is a 1929 film directed by Roland West, starring Chester Morris and Eleanore Griffith.
Chick Williams (Morris) is a gangster who has just been sprung from prison. Chick insist that he was framed. Among the people who believe him is his girlfriend Joan Manning (Griffith), daughter of police captain Pete Manning, who is enraged at the idea of his daughter dating an ex-con. Joan thinks the local cops are corrupt, and has rejected the attentions of her suitor, clean-cut cop Tommy Glennon. When the cops try to pin the murder of a security guard during a warehouse robbery on Chick, Joan says that he was with her watching a show at a theater—and also that they are married.
What Joan doesn't know is that Chick actually is guilty of the robbery and murder, having ducked out of the theater during an intermission. The police continue to investigate Chick, inserting into his social one Danny McGann, who goes undercover as drunken stockbroker "Billy Morgan" and gains Chick's confidence.
Tropes:
- Alcohol Hic: Danny does this when undercover at the nightclub as "Billy" the drunken reprobate.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Joan rejects squeaky-clean Tommy and instead falls for Chick the ex-con, although at least part of the reason is her disgust at how the police in the town operate.
- Deadpan Snarker: Daisy, Buck's girlfriend, says almost nothing but snappy one-liners.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: Danny has an extended death scene in Tommy's arms after the cops burst in to the back room seconds too late.
- Dirty Coward: When Tommy pulls out a gun and says he's going to murder Chick, the formerly tough-guy gangster breaks down, getting on his hands and knees and begging and pleading, as well as offering to give up Joan.
- Extra! Extra! Read All About It!: From the newsboys hawking special editions with "GUNMAN ESCAPES" headlines after Chick escapes from the nightclub.
- Fainting: Chick faints after Tommy pretends to shoot him with blanks.
- Fanservice: Several scenes featuring the leg-kicking chorus girls at Buck's nightclub. Toots the chorus girl falls in love with "Billy".
- Go Out with a Smile: Danny dies listening to music only he can hear after Tommy promises to get Chick.
- Hand of Death: Just such a hand reaches out of a taxicab to shoot O'Brien the security guard In the Back. We don't find out until later that it was Chick.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Joan falls for Chick's act hook, line, and sinker.
- I'm Cold... So Cold...: Danny says "it's getting hard to see" right before he croaks.
- Informed Flaw: Joan says the police in the town are all corrupt and somehow seems to think sending officers in undercover to investigate crimes is an underhanded technique. But aside from a scene where they use some questionable methods to get a name out of a lowlife on who shot a cop, something that's a highly personal matter to the police, they're generally shown to be decent and honest if hard-nosed men.
- The Infiltration: Danny assumes the identity of "Billy Morgan", supposedly a stockbroker but actually a sloppy drunk. He worms his way into Chick's inner circle.
- In the Back: How Chick shoots the security guard and how Chick shoots Danny, after Toots barrels into the room at the worst possible time, and distracts Danny. Danny, who crumples to the floor but is still alive, sneers "You're a great guy, aren't you, when it comes to shooting a guy in the back."
- Love Triangle: Joan, Tommy the adoring cop, and Chick the dashing criminal.
- Off-into-the-Distance Ending: Ends with Tommy putting his arm around Joan and walking away.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Danny manages to keep the gangsters in the dark about his identity as a cop by appearing to be a drunken fool all of the time.
- One-Word Title: Alibi
- Roof Hopping: How Tommy meets his end, not quite being able to do this. He escapes from Buck's apartment, dashes to the roof, and leaps over the gap to the next building, but not quite far enough. He loses his balance and falls backwards off the building to his death.
- Slap-Slap-Kiss: Buck and Daisy's relationship is this.
- Title Drop: After Joan tells her story a frustrated Pete says "They've got the perfect alibi."
- '20s Bob Haircut: Joan and Daisy both have fluffy ones.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: In her attempt to phone Tommy, Joan uses the same phone number that Billy did, revealing that he'd used one that leads to a phone tree used by the police to avoid suspicion. This clues in Chick and company to the fact Billy is an undercover cop, which leads to his death.
- Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: More due to
Values Dissonance today as the word 'chick' became associated more with describing women, but even so, Chick is an odd name for a man. It's not a nickname either as it's on his paperwork when he leaves jail. - Wide-Eyed Idealist: Joan in an odd, morality-flipped way. She seems to think Chick is an innocent man who deserves a second chance and all cops are corrupt, despite only one real scene in the movie showing any signs of corruption from them.
