Suspended Alibi
5.6 /10 1 Votes5.6
Story by Kenneth R. Hayles Duration Language English | 5.4/10 IMDb Genre Crime, Drama Producer Robert Dunbar Country United Kingdom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Release date February 1957 (UK) Based on original story by Kenneth R. Hayles (as Kenneth Hayles) Writer Robert Dunbar (additional scenes and dialogue), Kenneth R. Hayles (story), Alfred Shaughnessy (additional scenes and dialogue) Initial release February 1957 (United Kingdom) Screenplay Alfred Shaughnessy, Kenneth R. Hayles, Robert Dunbar Cast (Lynn Pearson), (Paul Pearson), (Inspector Kayes), (Diana), (Waller), (Sandy Thorpe) Similar movies Your Witness (1950) |
Suspended Alibi is a 1957 black and white British crime film directed by Alfred Shaughnessy and starring Patrick Holt, Honor Blackman and Lloyd Lamble. The film was produced by Robert Dunbar for Act Films Ltd. It was reissued in the U.S. as Suspected Alibi.
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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"; while Britmovie called the film an "efficient thriller...undemanding yet fanciful b-movie crime drama crisply directed by Alfred Shaughnessy"; and TV Guide noted "an okay crime drama that passes the time pleasantly."
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."
References
Suspended Alibi WikipediaSuspended Alibi IMDb Suspended Alibi themoviedb.org