The 1954 Naked Alibi centers on some shabby police work which turns out not to be so shabby. Chief Joe Conroy (Sterling Hayden) strongly believes that Gene Barry‘s Al is the murderer of three police officers. However, Al is a family man who—no, wait. In truth Al is a neurotic louse, cheating on his wife with urban Marianna (Gloria Grahame). But does this make him a murderer?
Director Jerry Hopper‘s potboiler is a fierce ferret of a movie, adapted from a story called “Cry Copper.” It leaps from reasonable, anti-injustice compassion to a pro-justice bubbling swirl. There is scary agitation from Barry. Grahame, in yet another film noir, is mesmerizing because of her demotic beauty and voice, not her acting.
