Police Chief Joe Conroy (Sterling Hayden) is convinced that a man named Al Willis (Gene Barry) is a cop killer But Conroy's police methods cross the line and he's removed from his position. Still convinced he's right, Conroy starts to tail Willis on his own, even on an out of town trip to the Mexican border. Is Conroy right or is Willis a wrongly blamed man?
Naked Alibi has to be one of the most disappointing films I've ever seen. A film noir with Sterling Hayden, Gloria Grahame, a cop killer, a seedy border bar, wonderful Universal production values (including some extremely nice cinematography), and just about every other noir trope you could name - what could go wrong?. Sadly, the movie fails consistently throughout the entire 85 minute runtime. Why? I'll list my two biggest issues:
First, the writing is horrible. The film relies on a series of coincidences that boggle the imagination. The logical hoops Naked Alibi asks the viewer to jump through are far too numerous. It's contrived nonsense. Also, I wrote that the film includes just about every noir trope you could mention. Well, that's another issue I have with the writing. We've seen almost everything the movie has to offer. There are no surprises. For example, I love Gloria Grahame, but here she plays essentially the same role we've seen her play before. There's nothing new. Another example would be the ending. Dictionaries should cite Naked Alibi's finale as the definition of cliched - complete with Conroy walking off into the night. Ugh. I realize that by 1954 it was difficult to come up with completely original ideas for these movies, but this is color-by-numbers film noir and it's lazy.
Second, I have some major issues with the acting. I admit that I'm not much of a Gene Barry fan. In fact, I pretty much dislike him in most everything I've seen. His performances never feel real to me. He's always "acting". Here, he's terrible. He's so wrong for the role. His overacting is such a huge distraction it was almost comical. For example, anytime he shoots a gun, he does that thing kids do - sort of jab the gun forward each time they "fire". I could just imagine Barry muttering "pew pew pew" with each unrealistic pull of the trigger. To be fair to Barry, Hayden is almost as bad in Naked Alibi. If Barry is overacting, Hayden is underacting. He undersells just about everything.
Overall, I had high hopes for this one and it failed to deliver. I should probably rate it lower, but Grahame saves Naked Alibi from being a complete disaster. Her dancehall number is worth a point on its own.
4/10.
Naked Alibi has to be one of the most disappointing films I've ever seen. A film noir with Sterling Hayden, Gloria Grahame, a cop killer, a seedy border bar, wonderful Universal production values (including some extremely nice cinematography), and just about every other noir trope you could name - what could go wrong?. Sadly, the movie fails consistently throughout the entire 85 minute runtime. Why? I'll list my two biggest issues:
First, the writing is horrible. The film relies on a series of coincidences that boggle the imagination. The logical hoops Naked Alibi asks the viewer to jump through are far too numerous. It's contrived nonsense. Also, I wrote that the film includes just about every noir trope you could mention. Well, that's another issue I have with the writing. We've seen almost everything the movie has to offer. There are no surprises. For example, I love Gloria Grahame, but here she plays essentially the same role we've seen her play before. There's nothing new. Another example would be the ending. Dictionaries should cite Naked Alibi's finale as the definition of cliched - complete with Conroy walking off into the night. Ugh. I realize that by 1954 it was difficult to come up with completely original ideas for these movies, but this is color-by-numbers film noir and it's lazy.
Second, I have some major issues with the acting. I admit that I'm not much of a Gene Barry fan. In fact, I pretty much dislike him in most everything I've seen. His performances never feel real to me. He's always "acting". Here, he's terrible. He's so wrong for the role. His overacting is such a huge distraction it was almost comical. For example, anytime he shoots a gun, he does that thing kids do - sort of jab the gun forward each time they "fire". I could just imagine Barry muttering "pew pew pew" with each unrealistic pull of the trigger. To be fair to Barry, Hayden is almost as bad in Naked Alibi. If Barry is overacting, Hayden is underacting. He undersells just about everything.
Overall, I had high hopes for this one and it failed to deliver. I should probably rate it lower, but Grahame saves Naked Alibi from being a complete disaster. Her dancehall number is worth a point on its own.
4/10.