Main Cast: Tom Selleck, Paulina Porizkova, William Daniels, James Farentino, Hurd Hatfield
Release Year: 1989
Country: US
Run Time: 95 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
A frustrated writer helps save a woman being railroaded by the law -- or is she? -- in this comic mystery with romantic overtones. Phil Blackwood (Tom Selleck) is a best-selling mystery novelist who has run into a bad case of writer's block. Hoping to find inspiration for his next book, Phil goes to the city courthouse and witnesses the arraignment of Nina Ionescu (Paulina Porizkova), a beautiful Romanian immigrant who is accused of killing a man with a pair of scissors. For Phil, it's love at first sight, and after sneaking into jail disguised as a priest, he makes her an offer. Phil offers to let her stay at his house, and he provides her with an alibi -- she can claim that she couldn't have committed the crime, because she was with him at the time of the attack. Nina agrees, but after Phil encounters a handful of dangerous foreign agents, Nina's acrobatic parents, and a highly suspicious district attorney, he begins to wonder if Nina might have committed the murder after all. Her Alibi also features William Daniels as Sam, and James Farentino as Frank Polito; the song "Falling In Love" was written and recorded for the film by Randy Newman. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Ronald Guttman - "Lucy" Camanescu; Patrick Wayne - Gary Blackwood; Victor Argo - Avram; Tess Harper - Sally Blackwood; Nat Benchley - Prosecutor; Joan Copeland - Audrey; Joann Havrilla - Woman at Lecture; Austin Hay - Oliver; Liliana Komorowska - Laura; Bobo Lewis - Rose; William Shaw - Clown; Vivienne Shub - Cocktail Lady; Bill Smitrovich - Lt. Farrell; Mark Stolzenberg - Clown; Lucia Vincent - Cocktail Lady; Jane Welch - Millie; Ossie Davis; John Russell - Clown; Corazon Adams - Consuela; Leonard Auclair - Jack the Author; William Aylward - Greg; John Badila - Defender; Marlene Bryan - Laurie; Barbara Caruso - Nina's Mother; Brian Costantini - Cop; T.J. Edwards - Defender; Joseph Eubanks - Cocktail Man; Norman Fitz - Judge; Allen Fitzpatrick - Federal Agent; Kathleen Goldpaugh - Cocktail Lady; Bill Grimmett - Cop; Dick Harrington - Henry the Neighbor; Alan Mixon - Nina's Father; Lisa Nicholas - Waitress; Sara E. Pfaff - Heather Blackwood; Dick Rizzo - Knife Clerk; Trevor Soponis - Tony Blackwood; Ted Sutton - Cop; Pankaj Talwar - Dr. Singh; Benson W. Terry - FX; Hank de Luca - Ian the Editor; Joey Perillo - Clown; David Chandler - Eugene Mason
Credit
Stephen Walker - Art Director, Daniel Franklin - Associate Producer, Ann Roth - Costume Designer, Bruce Beresford - Director, Anne Goursaud - Editor, Georges Delerue - Composer (Music Score), Marie Carter - Makeup, Henry Bumstead - Production Designer, Daniel Franklin - Production Designer, Freddie Francis - Cinematographer, Keith Barish - Producer, Martin Elfand - Producer, James W. Payne - Set Designer, David Simmons - Special Effects, Chuck Jeffreys - Stunts, Ron Rondell - Stunts, Charlie Peters - Screenwriter
Selleck plays Phil Blackwood, an American mysterynovelist who comes across a dazzling Romanianmurder suspect named Nina (Porizkova) when she is arraigned in the courtroom he's visiting. Instantly falling for her, Blackwood poses as a Roman Catholicpriest in order to meet her while she is held pending her continued arraignment. With the help of his friend, Sam (Daniels), Blackwood invents an alibi for Nina to secure her release.
Nina then takes up residence with Blackwood, serving as the inspiration for a novel that will decide the fate of his and Sam's careers in writing and publishing, all while evading operatives from communist Romania.
Although it was Porizkova's best-known film appearance, her role as Nina in Her Alibi earned her a 1990Golden Raspberry nomination for Worst Actress.
