The Naked Alibi (1954)

Directed by Jerry Hopper; produced by Ross Hunter

Al Willis (Gene Barry) is arrested for being drunk and disorderly; a seemingly average citizen, he nonetheless assaults Lieutenant Parks (Casey Adams), the arresting officer, and swears revenge. After Willis is released, Parks is murdered, and two of his associates are later also killed. Chief of Detectives Joe Conroy (Sterling Hayden) is convinced that Willis is to blame and pursues him to such an extent that he is fired. Even so, Conroy continues his hunt, and finds that Willis is not the unassuming family man he seems.

Naked Alibi has a number of positive elements, principal among these being the acting. Hayden is usually good as a tough guy, committed to something, whether it is justice or revenge or a million dollars. Gloria Grahame, as a gangster girl, is also good, though she is given a pretty standard role. It’s Barry who has the best role, and who gives the best performance. He makes the viewer sympathetic for his plight - an ordinary man wrongly pursued by the police for something of which he is innocent - and then turns the sympathy on its head when his real character is revealed.

Unfortunately, the acting is in aid of a mediocre script and story. Willis’s initial arrest is arbitrary and serves the purpose only of getting the tale started. While the actors’ work convinces us that Willis can be leading a double life, the story doesn’t succeed in telling us why he leads it. He seems genuinely pleased with his quiet existence as a baker, husband and father, even taking a small delight in decorating a cake. Yet we learn that Willis is actually a minor criminal mastermind, with murderous tendencies.

Did he take up residence in an anonymous city to evade justice? If so, going so far as to marry and have a family seems not only extreme but time consuming. He must have been years building that disguise, all the while sneaking away to return to another, more criminal setting. Motivation for hiding out is present; for living a whole different reality is not. Nor does his complete transformation of character from one sphere to another ring true.

As well, Hayden’s character is rather unpleasant. Though a fine actor, his criminals often seem to be more sympathetic than his authority figures. When there is no evidence against Willis, Conroy nevertheless hounds him obsessively, at times physically knocking him about. By the end, he is not sorry for his behaviour, nor is the message given that brutality is a bad thing. One sympathises with the cause but not with the character.

The production values are low. Though set in a city - unnamed - with a police force large enough to have captains (one of whom is played by a young Chuck Connors) and a chief of detectives, as well as a separate homicide squad, the few exterior views of the city show what seems no more than a large town; its principal square looks downright suburban with a pleasant park in its centre. The same square conveniently has a bakery and a church, both of which figure prominently in the movie, as neighbours. (It also has a bus station with a sign that reads ‘To the Busses’; apparently, there’s a kissing booth…)

The border town to which Willis resorts - a border town which is actually called Border Town - is equally inexpensive in appearance. The low budget of Naked Alibi is at odds with those of other Hayden movies of the this period.

Though Naked Alibi has some enjoyable aspects, over all it has a cheap, quick look to the sets, and a rushed quality to the script, that negates the quality acting.