L'alibi dell'ultima ora

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.

Interestingly, the culprit is known from the very beginning but, saddled with an alcoholic hero, one is never sure whether he'll be able to prove his son's innocence of murder; the denouement, then, is terrific - as unexpected as it is ironic. Losey's expressionist style (aided by Freddie Francis's chiaroscuro cinematography) is in full sway here: actually, according to film critic Gerard Legrand - writing in "The Movie" - this was the film were the director really came into his own; I can'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), Losey's first effort following his relocation to Britain.

It'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, Renee' 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!

Time has no pity, no sympathy, no joy and no sorrow. It's passage denotes the brevity in which the living inhabit the earth. In TIME WITHOUT PITY, a young man is dong time in prison for a murder he did not commit. A correctional institution is about to put a stop to that young man's time at the behest of the State. A father caught between the daunting task of fighting the system for more time, and forgetting time altogether at the bottom of a whisky glass. A broken woman mourning the loss of time never spent with one who's out of time. Every character in this drama is lost somewhere in their own guilt ridden space and time, but director Losey makes sure his audience is always aware, littering the screen with watches and clocks ticking like a giant timebomb about to explode as the desperately pathetic father searches for a clue to disable the alarm. Lost in an alcoholic haze that is almost dreamlike in it's ability to paralyze action, he clumsily attempts to win back for his son the time he let slip away. Is it too late? An incredibly edgy, self-aware film, TIME WITHOUT PITY clearly states its objection to the State as executioner. From the opening scene, we know the son did not commit the murder, but neither the State, "You must keep your visit short . . . we don't want to upset the prisoner," the Church, "He's given himself over to more compassionate hands," or the anti-capital punishment advocates, "We're not interested in whether young Graham is innocent or guilty," seem to have a specific interest in the individual. To make matters worse, young Graham himself has given up hope and when his father pleads, "don't give up," he asks, "What difference would it have made if you had died when you were my age?" And this question gets to the core of the film; it's resonance heavily influencing the final pivotal scene.

Some time ago, Alec Graham was sentenced to die following the death of his girlfriend. Amazingly enough, Alec's father, David (Michael Redgrave), never learns about this until it seems too late as he's been in in-patient treatment for his alcoholism. He manages to make it to Britain the day before the boy's to be executed. Considering that David is a drunk and was never there for Alec, there's no surprise when the young man wants nothing to do with him nor his promises to help him. During the duration of the film, David reinvestigates the case. Could he possibly help? And, can David stay sober long enough to be of some use?

There is a big problem with the film...it seems pretty obvious who is the real killer and it should be to everyone. This guy is super-angry and very explosive all the time, you wonder why he wasn't considered a prime suspect or, perhaps, he knows more than he's telling. It defies common sense...which makes for a more mediocre film. Too bad...it could have easily been better...though the ending was pretty good.

This Emlyn Williams play about the relentless search for truth intertwines craftily in and out of the lives of some very imperfect human beings and builds to a surprising but inevitable ending.

Redgrave, McKern, Todd, Plowright, Maxwell, Daneman and the rest of the cast all do well to bring this gritty black and white puzzle into focus. The son played by Alec McGowen was a bit over-the-top at times but then his character's madness required that.

It's not a masterpiece...but I don't expect there are too many of those around. But what it does provide in dramatic tension elicits interest and compassion from the viewer until the very end.

The Tristram Cary music must be cited here for its unflinching power to shake us up and take notice of the action on the screen. If there is any masterful work here it is the music.

The only qualm was the less-than-satisfying editing which tended to bring the down the tension-building instead of heightening it.

Yes, it was a low-budget movie...it's a cop-out to say that in view of the fine acting of the magnificent cast which redeemed it many times over.

I'd recommend this to fans of film-noir, classic thrillers, mysteries and the British cinema.

Jenny Cole is killed and her drunken boyfriend Alec Graham is set to hang for it. His attorney Jeremy Clayton (Peter Cushing) picks up his recovering alcoholic father David Graham (Michael Redgrave) from the airport. He had been away in rehab in Canada. He has less than 24 hours to clear his son's name and stop the execution.

I like the mystery premise but I would give the man more time. It's a little too convenient to give him less than a day to solve a case which probably lasted months if not years. It's too little time to solve the case in a believable way. It would also help to not show Robert Stanford's face in the opening. That takes away from a possible compelling mystery. I do like the progression of the plot and its final conclusion. The acting is great although Leo McKern goes overboard sometimes. This is terrific.