With having seen actor Sterling Hayden mentioned in a number of posts on various IMDb boards for the last few months,I was thrilled,when a DVD seller revealed that he had recently tracked down a near forgotten Hayden Film Noir,which led to me getting ready to see an alibi undress.
The plot:
Attempting to beat a confession out of him, Chief Joe Conroy and his fellow police officers find out that due to a strong alibi and a lack of evidence,that Al Willis must be freed from his cell.Shortly after Willis is freed,two of the officers that beat him up are killed.
Suspecting Willis,Conroy goes to interrogate Willis,but is caught in a photo threatening him,which leads to Conroy getting fired from the force.Trusting his instincts,Conroy decides to go above the law and secretly follow Willis.Quickly finding out that Willis has suddenly decided to stay in a different town for a few days,Conroy decides to follow Willis on his "travels" in the hope of being able to finally undress his alibi.
View on the film:
For the opening 30 minutes,the screenplay by Lawrence Roman, J. Robert Bren and Gladys Atwater offers a tantalising glimpse that the movie may give the characters a real moral ambiguity,thanks to Conroy acting more like a real gangster than Willis ever does.Disappointingly ,once Conroy and Willis head to a new town,the writers give up on any criss-crossing morals,and instead give them each clear moral lines,which whilst they lead to a nice,downbeat Film Noir ending,do lead to the movie really struggling to build any tension.
Matching Jerry Hooper's rather stilted directing, Hayden gives an unexpected stoic performance as Conroy,with Hayden giving Conroy a calmness when the character should have a real thirst for Willis blood.Keeping the character away from any hint of being straight-lace, Gene Barry gives a very good maniacal, smirking performance as Willis,with Barry showing Willis increasing desperation to keep his alibi naked.
The plot:
Attempting to beat a confession out of him, Chief Joe Conroy and his fellow police officers find out that due to a strong alibi and a lack of evidence,that Al Willis must be freed from his cell.Shortly after Willis is freed,two of the officers that beat him up are killed.
Suspecting Willis,Conroy goes to interrogate Willis,but is caught in a photo threatening him,which leads to Conroy getting fired from the force.Trusting his instincts,Conroy decides to go above the law and secretly follow Willis.Quickly finding out that Willis has suddenly decided to stay in a different town for a few days,Conroy decides to follow Willis on his "travels" in the hope of being able to finally undress his alibi.
View on the film:
For the opening 30 minutes,the screenplay by Lawrence Roman, J. Robert Bren and Gladys Atwater offers a tantalising glimpse that the movie may give the characters a real moral ambiguity,thanks to Conroy acting more like a real gangster than Willis ever does.Disappointingly ,once Conroy and Willis head to a new town,the writers give up on any criss-crossing morals,and instead give them each clear moral lines,which whilst they lead to a nice,downbeat Film Noir ending,do lead to the movie really struggling to build any tension.
Matching Jerry Hooper's rather stilted directing, Hayden gives an unexpected stoic performance as Conroy,with Hayden giving Conroy a calmness when the character should have a real thirst for Willis blood.Keeping the character away from any hint of being straight-lace, Gene Barry gives a very good maniacal, smirking performance as Willis,with Barry showing Willis increasing desperation to keep his alibi naked.