“Alias Mary Smith” (1932)

Alias Mary Smith

Brief Description:

A young woman on a mission to prove a gangster’s involvement in a murder, spends time with a playboy who has a passion for boozy nights.

(from Tubi)

Date: 1932

Genre: American mystery crime

Running time: 52 minutes 

Cast: 

Blanche Mehaffey (Joan)

John Darrow (Buddy)

Raymond Hatton (Scoop)

Edmund Breese (Father)

Myrtle Stedman (Mother)

Gwen Lee (Blossom)

Henry B. Walthall (Attwell)

Alec B. Francis (Lawyer)

Matthew Betz (Snowy)

Jack Grey (Kearney)

Harry Strang (Yeager)

Ben Hall (Jake)

Lionel Backus (Hood)

Jack Cheatham (Cop)

George Chesebro (Mac)

Director: E. Mason Hopper

Production company: Mayfair Pictures

Wikipedia page

Watch on YouTube 

(watched on Tubi)

Setting/Aesthetic/Feel: 3/5

I've never noticed before if 1930s films are less better produced than 1940s or ’50s, but I felt like this one was pretty lame. Some parts felt overkill and melodramatic—and I like melodrama, generally. However, I enjoyed the very 1930s costumes and feel. It was very American. ;)

Characters: 3/5

Everybody was always biting at everyone else, except for Joan and Buddy. They barely even acted friendly, if they were friendly at all. I don’t love the blonde streetwise sarcastic character, unless she’s well done, so Blossom wasn’t my type. Scoop, Yeager, etc., were irritating; Snowy was at least interesting, though. And Buddy’s parents were okay. I wasn’t a fan of Buddy, either. I suppose we’re just to hope he reforms after. 

Plot: 3/5

I don’t know, I just wasn’t a fan. It was so simple, so low-stakes, somehow. I liked the bit about lemon juice for the fingerprints, but otherwise, everything was kinda lame… so much so I forget it all. 

Romance: 3/5

So Buddy & Joan were okay as a couple, I guess, but I was not a fan of Buddy. He’s not respectful or respectable. But his parents were kinda cute. 

Content: 3/5 (medium)

Kissing & canoodling between Joan & Buddy; drinking; language; Blossom says Buddy “has a bad case of wandering hands” and refuses to sit by him. Blossom dresses in her room while an officer waits outside and calls out if he can fasten snaps; he gets excited and she tells him to fasten one on his mouth. Blossom packs Joan’s trunk in her dressing gown and is caught—and photographed—with her shoulders and legs bared. Asked where he was last night, the butler hesitates and says he was playing ping-pong with the maid next door; the detective laughs and says, “I’ve heard it called everything but ping-pong.” 

Violence: 5/5 (low)

Man murdered off screen. 

Overall: 3/5

Meh. Doubt I’ll watch it again. There’re better films with the premise of “sister tries to get revenge/justice for wrongfully executed/jailed brother”—such as “The Bridge of Sighs” and “Conspiracy.”