Alias French Gertie
- April 11, 1930 (1930-04-11) (United States)[3]
Alias French Gertie is an American pre-Code crime film directed by George Archainbaud from a screenplay by Wallace Smith, based upon the unproduced play The Chatterbox by Bayard Veiller. The film stars Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyon, who were making their first on-screen appearance together.[3] A copy of this film survives in the Library of Congress.[4]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ad/Alias_French_Gertie_lobby_card.jpg/220px-Alias_French_Gertie_lobby_card.jpg)
Plot
French Gertie is a jewel thief posing as French maid named Marie, and she plans to rob the safe of her employer. However, on the night of the robbery, a thief named Jimmy appears, also intending to empty the safe. Jimmy opens the safe and the two agree to divide the contents evenly. However, when the police arrive, Jimmy hides Gertie and is arrested, later admitting to perpetrating the crime alone.
After serving a year-long prison sentence, Jimmy is reunited with Gertie, and they form a crime partnership. After several bank robberies, Marie and Jimmy agree that after one last haul, they will turn straight. Marie, along with her friends and neighbors Mr. and Mrs. Matson, persuade Jimmy to invest his $30,000 savings in Matson's business. However, the Matsons are also crooks who have stolen Jimmy's life's savings.
After Jimmy determines to return to safecracking, planning to begin with Marie's former employers, Marie hatches a plot to encourage him to turn straight. When Detective Kelcey agrees to allow them to remain free if they will turn straight, they agree.
Cast
- Bebe Daniels as Marie
- Ben Lyon as Jimmy
- Robert Emmett O'Connor as Kelcey
- John Ince as Mr. Matson
- Daisy Belmore as Mrs. Matson
- Betty Pierce as Nellie
- Nella Walker as Morton's Wife
Production
Alias French Gertie is the first film to feature both Daniels and Lyon. They were married a short time later in June 1930, and they remained married until Daniels' death in 1971.[3][5]
The film was a remake of the 1925 FBO silent film Smooth as Satin, starring Evelyn Brent and Bruce Gordon and directed by Ralph Ince.[6]
Reception
In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Mordaunt Hall wrote: "[T]his film has not been handled with the subtlety and smoothness it deserves. Nevertheless, up to a certain point, it is a production that holds the interest, but what should have been the main idea is sacrificed for a more obvious turn of events. ... This might have been a more engrossing piece of work had the climax been kept to the uncovering of the evil doings of the Matsons, instead of carrying on the story to another attempt at stealing."[7]
References
- ^ "Alias French Gertie: Technical Details". theiapolis.com. Retrieved June 23, 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Alias French Gertie, Credits". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on June 23, 2014. Retrieved June 23, 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f "Alias French Gertie: Detail View". American Film Institute. Archived from the original on June 23, 2014. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
- ^ Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress page 4, c. 1978 by The American Film Institute
- ^ Donnelley, Paul (2003). Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries. Music Sales Group. p. 191. ISBN 0-711-99512-5.
- ^ Jewell, Richard B.; Harbin, Vernon (1982). The RKO Story. New York: Arlington House. p. 26. ISBN 0-517-546566.
- ^ Hall, Mordaunt (April 14, 1930). "The Screen: Safe Crackers". The New York Times. p. 24.
External links
- Alias French Gertie at, imdb.com
- Film Synopsis at AllMovie
- v
- t
- e
- As Man Made Her (1917)
- The Iron Ring (1917)
- The Brand of Satan (1917)
- Yankee Pluck (1917)
- A Maid of Belgium (1917)
- Diamonds and Pearls (1917)
- The Awakening (1917)
- The Divine Sacrifice (1918)
- The Love Cheat (1919)
- A Damsel in Distress (1919)
- In Walked Mary (1920)
- The Shadow of Rosalie Byrnes (1920)
- What Women Want (1920)
- Marooned Hearts (1920)
- The Wonderful Chance (1920)
- The Pleasure Seekers (1920)
- The Miracle of Manhattan (1921)
- A Man of Stone (1921)
- Clay Dollars (1921)
- The Girl from Nowhere (1921)
- Handcuffs or Kisses (1921)
- Under Oath (1922)
- Evidence (1922)
- The Power of a Lie (1922)
- One Week of Love (1922)
- The Midnight Guest (1923)
- Cordelia the Magnificent (1923)
- The Common Law (1923)
- The Shadow of the Desert (1924)
- The Storm Daughter (1924)
- The Plunderer (1924)
- For Sale (1924)
- Single Wives (1924)
- Christine of the Hungry Heart (1924)
- The Mirage (1924)
- Enticement (1925)
- Scarlet Saint (1925)
- The Necessary Evil (1925)
- What Fools Men (1925)
- Puppets (1926)
- Men of Steel (1926)
- The Silent Lover (1926)
- Easy Pickings (1927)
- Night Life (1927)
- The Grain of Dust (1928)
- The Man in Hobbles (1928)
- Bachelor's Paradise (1928)
- A Woman Against the World (1928)
- Ladies of the Night Club (1928)
- The Tragedy of Youth (1928)
- George Washington Cohen (1928)
- Two Men and a Maid (1929)
- The College Coquette (1929)
- Broadway Scandals (1929)
- Alias French Gertie (1930)
- Framed (1930)
- Shooting Straight (1930)
- The Silver Horde (1930)
- The Lady Refuses (1931)
- Three Who Loved (1931)
- Thirteen Women (1932)
- The Lost Squadron (1932)
- The Penguin Pool Murder (1932)
- Men of Chance (1932)
- State's Attorney (1932)
- After Tonight (1933)
- The Big Brain (1933)
- Murder on the Blackboard (1934)
- Keep 'Em Rolling (1934)
- Thunder in the Night (1935)
- Hideaway Girl (1936)
- My Marriage (1936)
- The Return of Sophie Lang (1936)
- Clarence
- Hotel Haywire (1937)
- Blonde Trouble (1937)
- Thrill of a Lifetime (1937)
- Campus Confessions (1938)
- Her Jungle Love (1938)
- Thanks for the Memory (1938)
- Night Work (1939)
- Some Like It Hot (1939)
- Boy Trouble (1939)
- Comin' Round the Mountain (1940)
- Opened by Mistake (1940)
- Untamed (1940)
- Flying with Music (1942)
- False Colors (1943)
- The Kansan (1943)
- The Woman of the Town (1943)
- Hoppy Serves a Writ (1943)
- Texas Masquerade (1944)
- Mystery Man (1944)
- The Big Bonanza (1944)
- Alaska (1944)
- Girls of the Big House (1945)
- The Devil's Playground (1946)
- Dangerous Venture (1947)
- Fool's Gold (1947)
- Hoppy's Holiday (1947)
- King of the Wild Horses (1947)
- The Marauders (1947)
- The Millerson Case (1947)
- Unexpected Guest (1947)
- Borrowed Trouble (1948)
- The Dead Don't Dream (1948)
- Silent Conflict (1948)
- Sinister Journey (1948)
- False Paradise (1948)
- Strange Gamble (1948)
- Border Treasure (1950)
- Hunt the Man Down (1951)
- The Old West (1952)
- Night Stage to Galveston (1952)
- Apache Country (1952)
- Barbed Wire (1952)
- Wagon Team (1952)
- Blue Canadian Rockies (1952)
- Pack Train (1953)
- Saginaw Trail (1953)
- Goldtown Ghost Riders (1953)
- On Top of Old Smoky (1953)
- Last of the Pony Riders (1953)
- Winning of the West (1953)