L'Alibi (1937)
Directed by Pierre Chenal

Film Review

L'Alibi is one of two very popular film noir thrillers made by the French film director Pierre Chenal in the 1930s.  The other, Le Dernier tournant (1939), was the first film adaptation of the novel The Postman Always Rings Twice.  From a stylistic point of view, both films are rather good examples of early film noir.  Deep focus, high contrast black-and-white photography, confined shadowy sets - all the familiar noir techniques are used to create a sense of mystery, menace and mayhem.

Where L'Alibi falls down is its weak script.  The characters are simplistic caricatures, and the plot lacks originality and depth.  The silly happy ending tagged on at the end of the film jars painfully with the sombre mood which preceded it.  On the plus side, there is a great cast which includes some of the most celebrated screen actors of the 1930s - Louis Jouvet, Erich von Stroheim, Albert Préjean and Jany Holt.   Jouvet is particularly memorable as a tenacious cop who seems prepared to sacrifice any principles to get his man - the kind of dark, morally ambiguous role which the actor plays so well.

Film Synopsis

Professor Winckler is a distinguished master of the occult sciences and telepathy.  Whilst he is performing his famous mind-reading act at a Parisian nightclub, he is surprised to see his most hated enemy, an American named Gordon, sitting in the audience.  Winckler has never forgiven Gordon for having an affair with his wife, so after the show he follows him and shoots him dead.  To furnish himself with a cast-iron alibi, he then bribes Hélène, a young woman who works in the nightclub, to swear to the police that she was with him at the time Gordon met his death.  The convenient alibi does not fool Superintendent Calas, who, certain that Winckler is the killer, sets out to prove his guilt.  Meanwhile, Hélène is having second thoughts about sticking to her story, but Winckler piles on the pressure to ensure his alibi sticks.  A young police inspector and colleague of Calas, André Laurent gains the confidence of Hélène and is sure she will retract the alibi.  Despite pressure from Calas, the young woman resists, knowing what will surely befall her if she were to betray a dangerous and cunning man like Winckler...