Teuflisches Alibi (1957)

Teuflisches Alibi: Directed by Joseph Losey. With Michael Redgrave, Ann Todd, Leo McKern, Paul Daneman. The day before a young man is to be executed for killing his girlfriend, his alcoholic father shows up to try to prove his innocence.

“Rather hysterical but engrossing and very well-acted melodrama (particularly by Michael Redgrave, a BAFTA nominee, and Leo McKern), ostensibly a murder mystery but with a manifest position against capital punishment.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eInterestingly, the culprit is known from the very beginning but, saddled with an alcoholic hero, one is never sure whether heu0026#39;ll be able to prove his sonu0026#39;s innocence of murder; the denouement, then, is terrific – as unexpected as it is ironic. Loseyu0026#39;s expressionist style (aided by Freddie Francisu0026#39;s chiaroscuro cinematography) is in full sway here: actually, according to film critic Gerard Legrand – writing in u0026quot;The Movieu0026quot; – this was the film were the director really came into his own; I canu0026#39;t vouch for that myself since I have yet to watch three important films he made earlier i.e. THE PROWLER (1951) and M (1951), both Hollywood productions, and THE SLEEPING TIGER (1954), Loseyu0026#39;s first effort following his relocation to Britain.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eItu0026#39;s undeniably a powerful film though relatively verbose (it was adapted from a play by Emlyn Williams); like I said, Losey drives his actors to fever pitch and he has chosen a most capable cast – including Ann Todd, Alec McCowen, Peter Cushing, Reneeu0026#39; Houston, Lois Maxwell, Joan Plowright, Peter Copley and Richard Wordsworth! The only false note throughout, perhaps, is to be found in the score by Tristram Cary – which is so over-the-top that, at times, it even drowns out the dialogue!”