loloandpete Review of The Perfect Alibi

The Perfect Alibi (1930)

Of some interest but over talky and of its time

[6/10 · 13 April 2022]

Directed by Basil Dean and based on a play entitled The Fourth Wall by A A Milne, famous of course for Winnie the Pooh. It also marked the film debut of Jack Hawkins, but you'd have to be eagle eyed to spot him as a household servant. The problem with it is, it is more or less a stage play photographed for the screen and oustays its welcome in terms of running time. The story is simple and could easily be wrapped up in an hour but here it is 90 minutes with way too much dialogue and some mannered acting that is difficult to take seriously in this day and age. British film making in 1930 wasn't yet on a par with American production. Frank Lawton and Dorothy Boyd as the young romantics and amateur 'detectives' of the piece, are rather mannered and affected and Robert Lorraine as one of the bad guys, is intermittently good but can't help but over act on occasion. His partner in crime, Warwick Ward gives an interesting performance in that we see the guilty conscience of a murderer. There is an interesting idea of the police being a father and son team with the father (Tom Reynolds) being a local Constable and the son (David Hawthorn) being a Scotland Yard Sergeant. My main reasons for tuning in were Nigel Bruce and C Aubrey Smith but the former, simply billed as Major is given far too little to do and the latter is effective and brings his usual gravitas but is polished off far too early. Of the remaining cast, Ellis Jeffreys and Audrey Carten do a lot with a little.