The Third Alibi

Laurence Payne is unhappily married to Patricia Danton. He's also carrying on an affair with her half-sister, Jane Griffiths. Jane coyly tells him she's enceinte. So he asks Miss Danton for a divorce. She refuses.

Well, this is a problem. He works out an elaborate murder scheme with Miss Griffiths, involving a tape recorder and exact timetables. It's a perfect scheme, except that Miss Danton is listening behind a door. As a result, when Miss Griffiths is murdered, all the rest of the evidence points to him.... except for one crucial piece.

It's a sick and twisted and very amusing murder mystery, with John Arnatt as one of those stolid, slow-talking and hardworking police inspectors. More like an expanded episode of THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK SHOW than anything else, it's a beautifully constructed, cheap little thriller.

An interesting murder mystery that plays havoc with a conventional narrative, THE THIRD ALIBI is one of those intriguing, long-forgotten British thrillers that's well worth a watch for modern audiences. The plot involves the thorough scoundrel Laurence Payne and his efforts to do away with his lovely but ailing wife, played by the eternal Patricia Dainton, so that he can be with lover Jane Griffiths.

There's a neat preamble to the central murder as the characters go through rehearsals; the COLUMBO writers would be proud of the painstaking attention to detail here. In the second half, things become more confused when they don't go exactly to plan, and the film becomes both unpredictable and appealing. My only real complaint is with the moral code of the time which means that certain plot events are easily guessable and quite contrived.

The film was made by the short-lived Eternal Films, who seemed to routinely employ the workmanlike Montgomery Tully as director. They mostly put out low rent crime films although they also dabbled in horror (THE HOUSE IN MARSH ROAD) and comedies (THE CUCKOO PATROL). Dainton gives a fine, fragile performance in this movie, and Griffiths (TREAD SOFTLY STRANGER) does well as the third party involved. Watch out for cameos from singer Cleo Laine and the one and only Dudley Moore, the latter uncredited, but you can see him playing the piano in one scene.

The British film industry made hundreds of thrillers in the 1950s but very few are memorable,but this is definitely one.I have just seen this again after some years.I consider it the perfect murder mystery for a number of reasons.Firstly every detail of the plot has a crucial impact in the climax,not least the hit and run accident.Every piece of the plot falls neatly into place.Patricia Dainton is able to use the details of the conspiracy to her advantage.The plot itself is uncomplicated and the story very well written.Well worth viewing when contemporary films have faded from view.Can be viewed on TV again for the first time in years.

What a clever little mystery this is, it is incredible how many of these forgotten gems are out there. I would have imagined this was made as a low budget b movie, but it is fully deserving of praise. Very good performances all round, Laurence Payne and Jane Griffiths are both very good, but it's the performance of Patricia Dainton that stole the show in her final on screen performance, a truly natural beauty, she plays a very soft, frail and dutiful wife, who possesses more then is shown on the surface. I love how complex the plot is, it is full of knots, twists and turns, it's a film you watch and have no idea which way it's going to go, you are guessing until the very (shock) end. It features a small cameo for Cleo Laine.

The plot is so good it could quite easily be remade into some cosy modern day mystery. It starts fairly slowly, and you could be forgiven for losing interest, but it's one of those that if you stick with you will totally get caught up in, the ending is so good too. I love a good mystery and this ticks all the boxes.

I'm glad I found it, 8/10

For all its obviousness and downright silliness this was great fun to watch.

A perfect little gem. Lively pacing. Never waned.

The downtrodden wife, played brilliantly by Patricia Dainton, is now my hero, a somewhat amoral one as it turns out. Mind you all the main characters easily slipped into dubious behaviour.

It's only 65 minutes long, goes well with a cuppa and a biscuit.