Naked Alibi

Plot

Ross Hunter hadn't yet completely graduated to glossy, star-studded soap operas when he produced the taut crime meller Naked Alibi. Chief of detectives Joseph E. Conroy (Sterling Hayden) is busted after failing to prove that "solid citizen" Al Willis (Gene Barry) is a maniacal cop-killer. Despite his lack of authority, Conroy puts so much heat on Willis that the latter skips town with his floozy lady friend Marianna (Gloria Grahame). Conroy follows the two fugitives to a wide-open border town, then slowly and methodically maps out the villain's doom. Essentially a cat-and-mouse game for most of its running time, Naked Alibi slowly but surely builds up to a nailbiting rooftop-chase climax. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Review

A lesser entry in the film noir world, Naked Alibi could have been a much better film. The basic set-up -- cop killer goes free due to lack of evidence and obsessed detective is determined he be brought to justice -- is solid, but it's presented in an unconvincing, pedestrian manner. There's the potential for some classic noir psychological underpinnings about the good and bad in every man, as the suspect is initially quite likeable and the detective not so; but again, this idea isn't carried out in an interesting way. Lacking any true psychological depth, the result of this is to make the viewer care for the villain and become impatient with the hero. When their personalities reverse later, it therefore doesn't ring true. Plot twists are also quite unconvincing, and characters act in an uncharacteristic manner at the drop of a hat. Jerry Hopper's direction is fairly mundane, although Russell Metty provides him with some solid cinematography that bumps up the atmosphere substantially. Alibi has a very good cast in Sterling Hayden, Gloria Grahame and Gene Barry, but the flaws in the screenplay keep them from doing their best work. The actors make Alibi worth a glance, but on the whole it's only so-so. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi

Cast

• Sterling Hayden - Chief Joe Conroy
• Gloria Grahame - Marianna
• Gene Barry - Al Willis
• Marcia Henderson - Helen Willis
• Casey Adams - Det. Lt. Parks

Billy Chapin - Petey; Chuck Connors - Capt. Owen Kincaide; Stuart Randall - Chief A.S. Babcock; Don Garrett - Tony; Richard Beach - Felix; Tol Avery - Irish; Fay Roope - Commissioner F.J. O'Day; Joseph Mell - Otto Stoltz; John Day - Sgt. Jenkins; Paul Levitt - Gerald Frazier; Frank Wilcox - Goodwin; Bud Wolfe - Lt. Fitzpatrick; Dan Haggerty - Matt Matthews

Credit

Kenny Williams - Choreography, Rosemary Odell - Costume Designer, Jerry Hopper - Director, Al Clark - Editor, George Mitchell - Composer (Music Score), Hans Salter - Composer (Music Score), Herman Stein - Composer (Music Score), James Dempsey - Composer (Music Score), Alexander Golitzen - Production Designer, Emrich H. Nicholson - Production Designer, Russell Metty - Cinematographer, Ross Hunter - Producer, Gladys Atwater - Screen Story, J. Robert Bren - Screen Story, Lawrence Roman - Screenwriter, Robert Breen - Short Story Author

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