Suspended Alibi – 1957 | 64 mins | Crime | B&W

Plot Synopsis

Undemanding yet fanciful b-movie crime drama crisply directed by Alfred Shaughnessy and produced by the film union ACT’s production subsidiary. This efficient thriller was adapted from a story by regular second-feature screenwriter Kenneth Hayles and centres around the well-worn plot of a man framed for murder and facing execution. The strong cast features Patrick Holt as a journalist accused of best friend, Honor Blackman as his loyal wife, Valentine Dyall as the plodding police inspector and Andrew Keir as a dogged crime reporter.

Journalist Paul Pearson (Patrick Holt) seems the epitome of middle-class married life with a loving wife, Lynn (Honor Blackman), young son named Bobby, steady job and a nice suburban home. However, Paul is having a clandestine affair with Diana (Naomi Chance). He finally decides to break it off with his mistress and uses his poker-playing wartime friend Bill Forrest to help him establish an alibi. The following morning, Paul’s quiet Sunday morning is shattered by the arrival of Inspector Kayes (Valentine Dyall), who announces that Bill was fatally stabbed last night.

The circumstantial evidence begins to mount up as his son’s knife was discovered at the scene, a busybody neighbour revealed his affair to the police, and the real killer also murders Diana so Pearson has nobody to provide an alibi. Paul is subsequently arrested for the crime, found guilty and sentenced to hang. The only person that can save him from the gallows is crime reporter Sandy Thorpe (Andrew Keir).