Alias Mary Smith (1932)

Although made on the budget of three bucks this is a very decent crime drama. "Mary Smith" (Blanche Mehaffey) has her purse snatched and this brings her to the attention of both the police and playboy Buddy (John Darrow) who takes a liking to her.

For some reason Mary is a bit reluctant to give her details. All is revealed when a lawyer is found dead and Mary was the last person to see him alive.

Suspicion falls on her when her real name is revealed to be Joan, the dead lawyer having prosecuted her brother who ended up in the chair...

The actors, on the whole, made the most of the non-existent budget, some of the dialogue is snappy. The leads make for a reasonable but unexciting couple. A neat bit of early forensic science (CSI 1932) helped prove the real murderer.