Suspended Alibi

Suspended Alibi is a 1957 black and white British crime film directed by Alfred Shaughnessy and starring Patrick Holt, Honor Blackman and Lloyd Lamble.[1][2] The film was produced by Robert Dunbar for Act Films Ltd.[3] It was reissued in the United States as Suspected Alibi.

Suspended Alibi
British quad poster
Directed byAlfred Shaughnessy
Produced byRobert Dunbar
Written by
  • Kenneth R. Hayles (as Kenneth Hayles)
  • Robert Dunbar (additional scenes and dialogue)
  • Alfred Shaughnessy (additional scenes and dialogue)
Based onoriginal story by Kenneth R. Hayles (as Kenneth Hayles)
Starring
CinematographyPeter Hennessy
Edited byRobert Jordan Hill (as Robert Hill)
Production
company
Act Films Ltd
Distributed byJ. Arthur Rank (UK)
Release date
February 1957 (UK)
Running time
64 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Paul Pearson's alibi for seeing his mistress Diana is with his friend, but when this friend is found murdered, Pearson is arrested for the crime, condemned by his own alibi and sentenced to hang. Fortunately, his story is believed by Sandy Thorpe, a diligent crime reporter, who helps to fight Pearson's case.

Cast

Critical reception

The Stop Button wrote, "the movie opens with a neat trick – Holt’s creeping through the opening credits with a gun drawn only for a curtain to pull and reveal he’s playing cowboy and Indian with his son (in England?) – and I hope a better film stole it because it’s a reasonably deft move. But as far as film noir goes – bad film noir – the incompetent direction disqualifies Suspended Alibi. Even from the label";[4] while Britmovie called the film an "efficient thriller...undemanding yet fanciful b-movie crime drama crisply directed by Alfred Shaughnessy";[5] and TV Guide noted "an okay crime drama that passes the time pleasantly."[6]

Film historians Steve Chibnall and Brian McFarlane praise it as "much faster, more frantically and densely plotted than most 'B' movies. The familiar race-against-the-clock to save the condemned man produces some well-sustained tension, and, if the ending is never in serious doubt, Shaughnessy's brisk storytelling and Robert Hill's editing sustain interest in the crowded narrative."[7]

References
  1. "Suspended Alibi". BFI. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012.
  2. Snow Leopard (1 February 1957). "Suspended Alibi (1957)". IMDb.
  3. Action! Fifty Years in the Life of a Union. Published: 1983 (UK). Publisher: ACTT. ISBN 0 9508993 0 5. ACT Films Limited - Ralph Bond p81 (producer listed as Robert Dunbar)
  4. "Suspended Alibi (1956, Alfred Shaughnessy)". The Stop Button.
  5. "Suspended Alibi".
  6. "Suspended Alibi". TV Guide.
  7. Steve Chibnall & Brian McFarlane, The British 'B' Film, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2009, p. 108.
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