Suspended Alibi (1957)

The first half of this movie was quite good with an intriguing plot and good characters. But the second half strained credibility. The evidences didn't fully work for me. And the ending was rushed. The acting was good. Andrew Kier was unrecognizable from his later roles as Professor Quatermass. Overall it's still an enjoyable viewing.

This is an entertaining thriller but as has been mentioned in another review there are flaws in the plot.The most glaring of these is when the killer goes to see the mistress.It is rather unclear why he would do this.Was he out to kill her or was he just trying to see if anything she might say would lead to him.The film never really gets round this.then at the climax he goes away before the execution.It is not clear why he does this.It would have made more sense to wait for the following day.Also for a man trying to cause as little fuss as possible taking away more than the permitted amount of sterling was bound to lead to trouble

"Suspended Alibi" is a fairly interesting mystery with some moments of suspense, and some interesting characters, but it is pulled down by relying too heavily on implausible developments.The beginning is interesting, and creates lots of possibilities. A married editor (Patrick Holt) is having an affair with a female reporter, and has been using an old army friend as an alibi, telling his wife that he is with the friend while he really visits his girlfriend. But one night his army friend turns up murdered, and suspicion naturally rests on the editor.The story that follows has some moments of good suspense, as the editor tries to clear himself in the face of strong skepticism about his alibi. The editor's wife, his nosy neighbors, and some of his loyal employees from his publication also get involved. The main problem is that too much of what develops is based on coincidence or on other unlikely plot elements, and it keeps this from being a really good mystery. (This comment won't give away anything by mentioning specifics - if you see it, you can decide for yourself how plausible it all is.)The story still has some good moments, and many mystery/suspense fans will still find it worth watching. Once you are involved, you will probably want to stay until the end to find out what happens.

Suspended Alibi is a quite acceptable murder mystery. The story is of a newspaper editor whose attempts to prove an alibi for a murder are made more difficult by his infidelity. His situation is further complicated when his mistress is also murdered. After being convicted, he is saved by some unlikely evidence, in the form of a propelling pencil. The film is better than average because of some of its more creative film techniques (fast fades and close ups), and by the fact that the mystery is solved, but there is no final resolution.