Naked Alibi

This is top-notch noir. The queen of the femme fatales, Gloria Grahame is perfectly cast in this sleazefest. Even the miscast Gene Barry (Bat Masterson, War of the Worlds) as a really bad guy is very good in the film as well. It was amusing to see Chuck Conners (The Rifleman, The Big Country) as a cop; a role he was well-suited for. He was a much better actor than baseball player.

The story is pretty good with one exception; why would you hold on to a gun that killed a cop if you were wealthy? The escalation of violence and the gruff Sterling Hayden (perfectly cast) harassing the suspect from the beginning of the film without let-up is perfectly logical, although not legally sound. The film is in the top echelon of this genre; don't miss it.

This is worth watching because Gloria Grahame is in it. But otherwise it is a rather disappointing noir. Gene Barry certainly manages to be very menacing and volatile as the bad guy. Sterling Hayden is rather wooden as the tough cop. But Gloria Grahame, though she is not particularly good at shimmying when she sings, keeps our attention with her pouty lip, her doubtful look, her slumbering voice, her worldly-wise fragility, and all those other qualities too numerous to mention which are irresistible about her. So consider this 'a minor Gloria Grahame picture' and it is at least able to entertain, if not to enthrall.

If you were ever curious to see what a tough black & white thriller about a rogue cop produced by Ross Hunter would look like, look no further.

At first resembling a gritty noir about police brutality like 'Where the Sidewalk Ends', with Sterling Hayden in full pycho-cop mode. But if the plot is really going the way it seems, the next hour is going to be awfully predictable. So... but don't let me spoil it for you.

The three main characters all shape up reasonably satisfactorily, while much of the fun is in trying to anticipate what improbable new developments the writers are going to dream up as they work towards a suitably dramatic climax.

Two great film noir actors - Sterling Hayden and Gloria Grahame - star in this movie. Hayden is excellent as a tough cop bound-and-determined to get a killer than has been turned free (Gene Barry).

Barry is very good as the criminal who falsely claims "police brutality." In that respect, this movie was ahead of its day as that term became widely used two decades later.

Overall, this a good film noir that's a bit different from the normal fare, but certainly not different when it comes to great noir photography and good suspense.

Where is the DVD of this film? (In fact, where was the VHS, in the first place?)

The title "Naked Alibi" is a very strange one, as back in the day you'd never see naked people in mainstream Hollywood films and there is nothing naked whatsoever in the movie. Don't let that stop you from watching it, as it's an excellent and gritty film noir story.

When the film begins, police captain Joe Conroy (Sterling Hayden) is investigating a case where a lieutenant was brutally murdered. He thinks Al Willis (Gene Barry) is responsible--after all, he's a HUGE hot-head and he had a grudge against this dead cop. Soon, two more cops are brutally murdered and Willis appears to be the likely suspect. But, when Conroy is fired for police brutality, he's determined to follow Willis into Mexico and prove he's a psycho killer. However, he's no longer a cop and has no jurisdiction...and Willis has a gang waiting for him. All Conroy has is a dame (Gloria Graham) and her kid!

The film works well because Sterling Hayden (as usual) is excellent in these sorts of tough-guy roles. Additionally, Barry is very good as a scum-bag and the script keeps you on edge. Not a great film but certainly a good one worth your time.