Alias Jimmy Valentine (1928 film)

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Alias Jimmy Valentine (1928) is an American crime drama directed by Jack Conway. It stars William Haines as Jimmy Valentine, Leila Hyams as Rose Lane, Lionel Barrymore as Detective Doyle, and Karl Dane as Swede. The film uses talking scenes along with a synchronized musical score, made with both sound-on-disc and sound-on-film technology.

The movie is based on the 1909 play Alias Jimmy Valentine by Paul Armstrong, which in turn was based on an O. Henry story. The play was very popular in touring companies and on Broadway, and there had been two earlier film versions (1915 and 1920). MGM’s Alias Jimmy Valentine was their first partially talking picture. It was finished as a silent film, then, at Irving Thalberg’s request, Barrymore and Haines returned to record sound for the last two reels. Because of sound recording, some scenes were shot at night to reduce noise, and actor Haines recalled the difficult, nearly airtight conditions of working with early sound.

Plot in simple terms:
- Jimmy Valentine is a clever safecracker who plans a big bank robbery with his dimwitted partner Swede and a criminal named Avery.
- He meets Rose Lane, the bank president’s daughter, and falls in love. He decides to reform and uses the alias Lee Randall to start a new life in Rose’s town.
- He becomes a trusted bank employee, even as Detective Doyle begins to suspect that Randall might really be Valentine.
- When a young girl is accidentally locked inside the bank vault, Jimmy must choose between staying in his new life or using his old skills to save her. He chooses to save the girl, cracking the vault and risking exposure.
- Doyle, seeing Jimmy’s change of heart, decides not to arrest him and lets him go. He also destroys evidence linking Randall to Valentine.
- Jimmy and Rose stay together, with the truth of his past known only to them and Doyle. Jimmy earns his redemption through love and sacrifice.

Music and legacy:
- The film features songs such as Love Dreams and Think Of Me Thinking Of You. An older song named Jimmy Valentine (from 1910) was associated with the film but does not appear in the film’s soundtrack.
- The full film is now lost. A silent French abridged version (about four reels) exists in private hands. Some soundtrack elements survive on Vitaphone disks.

In short, Alias Jimmy Valentine tells a tale of crime, love, and redemption, showing that a man can change for the better when he chooses a honest life over his past.