Red Haired Alibi

Rarely-seen B-Movie melodrama which introduced Shirley Temple to feature films.

"Lynn" (Merna Kennedy) is fed up with her mundane life and looking for a job in New York. Luckily, she alights on the dodgy "Travers" (Theodore von Eltz) who offers her an opportunity. All she has to do is be seen with him. She looks great, is well paid and housed and for a moment or two, there is even the threat of a romance on the horizon. Gradually, though, she begins to realise that he is an out-and-out wrong 'un and when another mobster is gunned down and he goes into hiding, she flees. Good fortune is again on her side when she re-encounters "Shelton" (Grant Withers) who is in need of a nanny for his daughter "Gloria" (Shirley Temple). This romance does blossom but has she seen the last of her erstwhile boss? The stories - there are essentially two, here - are nothing much to write home about, but I did rather like the ending and Kennedy has a certain chemistry with the camera that easily enables her to out-act her male counterparts. Temple is also a natural in front of the lens, and though she doesn't really feature very often, she does bring a little charm to this otherwise watchable, but rather by-the-numbers, romantic thriller.

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