joe il rosso (1936)

in a noble family in the throes of agitation over the disappearance of a precious painting by murillo, it happens by surprise, but actually called by one of his nieces, an 'uncle of america'. he is none other than a gangster, who begins to investigate on his own, thus discovering several flaws and various tricks along with so many dishonesties concealed by the coat of arms of the family. through the investigations, he discovers where the famous stolen painting is hidden, which then, on expert opinion, turns out to be only a very skilfully executed copy. the noble family obviously accuses the uncle of not being the thief, but the one who replaced the original with the copy: the clever gangster manages to demonstrate with irrefutable evidence that he had been an ancestor who, some fifty years before, had sold the authentic murillo to safeguard his honor as a gentleman.