Red-Haired Alibi (1932) / Stolen Jools (1931)

Red-Haired Alibi (1932, B&W): A sweet gal from Ohio gets in over her head when she unwittingly accepts employment from a NYC gangster - and discovers that her job is to stand between him and the electric chair. Lynn sells perfume in the lobby of a Columbus hotel until a handsome customer encourages her to come to New York. There he gives her an astronomical $100 a week to pose as his wife in restaurants and at various events - and to occasionally fib to the police that he was WITH her at times when he really WASN'T. What poor naive Lynn doesn't realize is that he's actually a notorious crook, and that she's been covering for him as he wipes out his rivals with bombs and bullets! Human interest and a surprise twist ending are among the plus points of this suspenseful gangster yarn, which is also historically important as the feature film debut of four-year-old Shirley Temple, then on the eve of Hollywood superstardom. - Tom Weaver

The Stolen Jools (AKA The Slippery Pearls) (1931, B&W): Starring Buster Keaton, Wallace Beery, Edward G. Robinson, Laurel & Hardy, Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Barbara Stanwyck, Our Gang and many more!

• drama