NAKED ALIBI: Sterling Hayden & Gloria Grahame sizzle in this underrated film noir

[@notvalidcharacters]

"Boyfriend of the channel"?? REALLY? SMH

[@frederickcombs8661]

Gloria grahame she had that special sultry something that was just palpable on the screen. She steals plenty of the scenes that she's in but she generously gives a lot for all the other people in the scene to work with. Clearly one of the best supporting actresses has of the period. One of my favorite lines she ever said in a movie, and I don't remember the movie, was "I've met plenty of hard-boiled people in my life, but you, you're 20 minutes!"

[@CinemaCities1978]

what a great line! I also heard her line delivery in my head whenI read it.

[@WilldoAldone]

I have to agree about Sterling Hayden. Even when he doesnt speak, his eyes shows what he's thinking. I like every film he's been in, even when his charactor is a little bland, like the cop he plays in Suddenly with Frank Sinatra. He is so darn believable. A man's man.

[@maureentuohy8672]

Oh, man! Right up my alley! Love these films.

[@CinemaCities1978]

I agree about Holden. I really like him, but there's an urban edge that's missing from his Joe. He seems plucked out of the cornfields. Actually, he's from a town a few miles away from where I live, and up until about 20 years ago, it was still a very small town with a main street and cornfields 😀 We've talked about how we both love Hodiak, and I also get the same feeling of tragic loss and what-ifs about both him and Garfield. And yes! You absolutely must watch 'Saturday's Children.' It's such a sweet and charming little film. I love it so much!

[@elaineteeter9485]

I saw this picture years ago and enjoyed it so much. Thanks for presenting to us now. I've always loved Gloria Grahame, especially in "In A Lonely Place," with Humphrey Bogart.

[@CinemaCities1978]

She's so good in that film, it's one of my favorite GG performances. But, she is really good in everything. I just lover her as an actress.

[@RanBlakePiano]

@@CinemaCities1978this is fascinating !

[@Dpb-236]

l'm korean, I like Sterling Hayden, john garfield, Robert Ryan thanks to you.

[@vitordragon]

I always say that Mr. Hayden was a better actor than he thought about himself. Even though he didn´t like his acting, he did make good movies... and Naked Alibi is among them. As a fan of his work and life, I enjoyed the video very much. Thanks a lot.

[@CinemaCities1978]

You're welcome. Naked Alibi has always been one of my favorite Hayden films and I'm happy you enjoyed the video.

[@vitordragon]

@@CinemaCities1978 Best wishes and thank you.

[@eileenhetherington3704]

He thought of acting as work. Didn't enjoy it. He acted to finance his love of boats and sailing. That was his true passion.

[@vitordragon]

@@eileenhetherington3704 Yes! And I´d love to have sailed with him just to hear his stories about sea and life.

[@TrustJesusToday]

Terrific. Hayden in westerns... it's almost a sub-genre. Johnny Guitar, Top Gun, Shotgun. Unusual horse operas.

[@CinemaCities1978]

Yes, he's so so good in westerns. I personally love him in Johnny Guitar. The speech he makes to Vienna stops my heart every time.

[@gordonely6911]

@@CinemaCities1978 Johnny Guitar #1. The Magnificent Seven #2 ❤

[@nikdagr33k]

Sterling Hayden... Master of the short tie. Gloria Grahame what a doll! Madam Cities thanks for pulling my coat to Crime Wave also. I love Noir and I ain't run my peepers over that one till tonite...

[@CinemaCities1978]

I think you'll really enjoy Crime Wave! Hayden is like a bull with a badge in a china shop.

[@MrNurserob]

Watching Gloria Grahame in her roles as the early 1950s moved into the mid part of that decade, I sometimes think it might be better if I didn’t know about her loss of function in her upper lip from cosmetic procedures. Though I feel for her that she ever felt she needed to keep pushing the beauty envelope to be pretty enough for her own standards, I don’t think her loss of sensation and movement, along with the cotton/gauze/tissue she reportedly packed under it to give it the shape she wanted, negatively impacted her voice, appearance, or ability to deliver the performance I’ve come to know her for from watching so many of her films. I think the fact that she wasn’t perfect and did have her own personality and problems as a real person is what makes her one of my favorites.

[@robs9237]

56 kisses and a dozen slaps....she's a trooper

[@CinemaCities1978]

Poor Gloria she's always at the mercy of some heavy.

[@jamesallard7223]

Nice! Another one to track down. Thank you so much!

[@Chiller01]

I saw Chuck Conners in there with a high and tight haircut. Sterling Hayden, John Garfield & Robert Mitchum are my favs but that changes on the movie I last saw.

[@CinemaCities1978]

We have a lot of favorites in common! Sterling Hayden shows up in a lot of videos on this channel 😂

[@kimlerner389]

Love your obsession with Sterling Hayden and am right there with you!

[@gorge5412]

Sterling Hayden WAS an unusual, enigmatic man. He wrote an excellent autobiography entitled, "Wanderer." It is well worth the read.

[@CinemaCities1978]

Wanderer is a book I recommend all the time. It's actually been reissued so it's easy find.

[@vintagehighlights]

Like your website. I must tell you, you said Gloria Grahame played in "The Big Knife". She played in "The Big Heat". Just a reminder

[@CinemaCities1978]

Yeah I misspoke…I think in the Hollywood Babylon video I flip flopped it again and called the The Knife the Big Heat.

[@lindanorris2455]

GENE BARRY IS ABSOLUTLEY BONE CHILLING.

[@rittdalton8749]

One wonders if the restaurant scene where Al buys dinner for Joe took any inspiration from 1947's "Kiss Of Death" where Richard Widmark's Tommy Udo does the same thing for Victor Mature's Nick Bianco. "Enjoy your dinner..." Both seem to have the same "buttering up" motive. I recently purchased "Naked Alibi" mostly on your recommendation, Cinema Cities! Thanks very much. Wonderful addition to my noir library!

[@CinemaCities1978]

That's a really good observation! I think filmmakers, artists in general, are always, consciously or unconsciously, borrowing from each other, so it's not beyond the realm of possibility especially considering how big a hit Kiss of Death was. I'm really glad you liked Naked Alibi. It is the best kind of upper-tier B noir, and I really love both Sterling Hayden and Gloria Graham's performances.

[@neilcoligan8621]

You are becoming the Dorothy Parker of Film Noir commentary.

[@CinemaCities1978]

I'll take that compliment. Thank you!

[@GevinShaw]

Just watched Naked Alibi again but I must have seen this at Muller's festival in 2012; I have such a memory of that bus pulling into Border City that I thought was much older. The arc of Grahame's character in this says so much about so many of her characters: she goes from crawling across the floor to get away from Willis's slaps to standing and staring him in the eye as he slaps her. So … better? I can't get over the idea that Conroy is right … this time. How many regular guys has he railroaded and brutalized over his career who he turned out to be wrong about?

[@CinemaCities1978]

I'm sure Conroy was wrong a lot more times than he was right.

[@stephenanthonythomas3533]

Thx for this! Your suggestions are always spot on!!!

[@CinemaCities1978]

I understand that you may have your own ideas about the king of film noir but like I said for me it's Hayden😂 If you want to know more about NAKED ALIBI's star Sterling Hayden and his amazing life and career check out my video STERLING HAYDEN: HOLLYWOOD'S RADICAL REBEL ⬇ kzbin.info/www/bejne/opjUf4t6nL-EhaM

[@bagsogee]

If Serling Hading is the boyfriend of the channel then Gloria Graham must be the girlfriend of the channel.

[@CinemaCities1978]

that makes sense 😀

[@markmiddaugh9359]

My favorite? Sterling Hayden...he is fantastic.

[@alastairpollock7740]

Great recommendation. I really enjoyed this one. Thanks for the hard work on the channel.

[@CinemaCities1978]

you're welcome and thank you for watching!

[@dearbrad1996]

I hate to praise KZbin shows but I have to write what a great job you've done here. You have switched me on to movies which I would usually ignore with a sneer. A first class effort. Four stars 🤩

[@CinemaCities1978]

That's so great to hear! I hope I can keep making content that inspires you to watch more!

[@anitarichmond8930]

Man,anytime I find a channel featuring classic cinema, I get excited that’s my jam 🎦

[@Kjt853]

The little boy in the film, Billy Chapin, went on to appear with another noir hero, Robert Mitchum, in the now-recognized masterpiece “Night of the Hunter.” Some consider “Hunter” film noir, but frankly I think that’s stretching it. Its rural setting and characters seem almost antithetical to the genre. Granted, the extraordinary cinematography of Stanley Cortez might strike one as noir-ish, but director Charles Laughton was attempting to make the film look like a silent film, even utilizing an “iris” in one sequence. Love your commentaries, btw.

[@Deepurplerain]

Great title first of all,never heard of it, Sterling Guitare, i'm in, Gloria velvet eyes, i'm in, Russell Metty too !! i'm in, discovered Gene Barry in China Gate lately, many reasons for being hooked on this one thanks.

[@CinemaCities1978]

i'm glad you're sold on this one,. It's a pretty solid and highly entertaining B class noir.

[@lindamattioli7943]

You have a great speaking voice

[@CinemaCities1978]

Thank you!!!!!! 😊

[@soda989]

thank you please continue

[@aliceperry3448]

Thanks so much for turning me on to this flick. An excellent flick. I love your posts on undiscovered gems (Pushover was another one).

[@glw2088]

I don't watch a lot of old movies but these seem more violent than I thought old movies would be.

[@CinemaCities1978]

this one is pretty violent. not by our modern standards of course, but it's got a lot of shocking moments. Some might think it's tame but I think that's like comparing apples to oranges when you consider the time period it was made in

[@raylenenielsen5943]

Yes, but for me the thing that makes them enjoyable to watch is there’s no sex or bad language. I can sit back, relax and enjoy without cringing.

[@Eliel7230]

Wow, didn't know about this one. I'll definitely take a look see at this movie. Thanks for posting. 😁

[@CinemaCities1978]

I hope you get a chance to check it out. It's one of my favorites.

[@michaelcollins237]

Duryea and Hayden

[@TheloniousCube]

Another great recommendation! Just ordered a copy! Note the supporting cast - the actor who plays the cop that gets shot is also in possibly the best Twilight Zone episode and in the original Music Man film among other roles. I saw Chuck Connors in there, too! I can hardly wait!

[@CinemaCities1978]

It's a fun and seedy tale. I hope you enjoy it!

[@tectorgorch8698]

Max Showalter. I always thought of him as a sitcom second banana when I was a kid but he shows up all over the place.

[@TheloniousCube]

@@tectorgorch8698 Yes! Really a jack-of-all-trades. Is he related to the comedian Showalter?

[@tectorgorch8698]

dunno.@@TheloniousCube

[@bb1111116]

Thanks for the tip about “Naked Alibi”. Oh and by the way, my king of noir? In the lineup of great actors in the genre, for me it’s Bogart all the way.

[@PhilBaird1]

Love Bogey but Mitchum steals the crown for me. Sterling is close though.

[@tonyclifton265]

gloria grahame.. hubba hubba!

[@davewalter1216]

Maybe Sterling Hayden was the King of Noir, but Dan Duryea was certainly the Knave. I really enjoyed 'Naked Alibi' but was too mesmerised by Gloria - although this must have been after she started fooling around with plastic surgery on her upper lip, which did look weird.

[@CinemaCities1978]

yeah, she was stuffing cotton in her top lip at that point.

[@TheloniousCube]

And Robert Ryan is the Dark Prince!

[@BlueBaron3339]

Gloria Grahame was the BEST example of a woman every man wants, but no man is going to bring home to meet the folks 😂

[@EleanorSmith-ho6bh]

what a doll

[@tyrport]

Gloria Grahame stole scenes in every film she was in.

[@CinemaCities1978]

Yes she did!

[@jackwalker1822]

I just simply love her! She lights up the screen in every scene she is in.

[@Hard_Boiled_Entertainment]

It's just so unfair what happens to her in the end! It's NOT FAIR! 😢

[@CinemaCities1978]

I know! I wanted them to have a happy ending!!!! But, it's noir...there are no happy endings 😭

[@Hard_Boiled_Entertainment]

@@CinemaCities1978 Naturally. But some are happier than others, albeit somewhat. Sometimes Phillip Marlowe does get the girl (The Big Sleep and Murder My Sweet), amid all the insanity around them.

[@WilmerCook]

I like Gloria Graham, lips and the way she loose!

[@WilmerCook]

That was lisp not loose! Tablet keeps changing what I write

[@AnthonyAcriaradiocomix]

Just found your terrific channel of essays. But, as much as I like Sterling, and think he didn't deserve the Godfather coda, and its bloody squibs, as Larry Olivier Told him, by the way, but if there is a king of Noir, it must be my beloved anti star, Robert Mitchem. As A Boy i tried to turn the man from the night of the hunter into my own comic strip version of Superman, shows what i know. As when i w as a kid, i adored Noir and its paperback equal books dolls painted by McGinnis and Meese, as even then I thought that this was a close to the truth as Hollywood and middelbrow America would ever get.

[@PhilBaird1]

As great a piece of film making as The Godfather was, I'm still uncomfortable with it. Sterling's bloody scene perhaps encapsulates it. A legend of noir bowing out to a young cowardly assassin. I didn't like that. It didn't seem right. Nor did the film as a whole.

[@tectorgorch8698]

You had me at STERLING HAYDEN, and hey, Mitchum and Ryan and (fill in the blank) never wrote a great big fat seafaring novel and a greater big gat memoir.

[@murrvvmurr]

Sterling Hayden is basically IRL Pacey😂

[@peterriccio9767]

Who sang for Gloria?

[@phillipmarlowe0525]

I liked Sterling in Asphalt Jungle and Gloria in the big heat. I was surprised to hear of her personal life and the disgusting things she did if true.

[@acastrohowell]

Is this the movie?!

[@johnpritchard5410]

make it, or shut up about it....

[@Thejoshrandall]

3:45 "the big knife"??

[@magarac99]

Border City?? Jerry Hopper??

[@bobsanders9114]

Great channel but once again - DOUBLECHECK YOUR WORK. 3:45 The Big HEAT, not The Big Knife (Clifford Odets) - or The Big Night - or whatever you said, which was mistaken. I used to have a channel - I played everything for myself AND asked someone to check it for me before I uploaded anything. It's just a safer way to avoid dumb errors.

[@CinemaCities1978]

I'm on my own in life and with this channel so I do the best I can. Honestly, sometimes I misspeak, sometimes I have typos. Do they embarrass me when I see them after the fact? Yes, absolutely. Does it embarrass me when people call them out? Yes, absolutely. It's cool you had someone to double check your videos, not everyone has that.

[@EDDIELANE]

it looks like she was really getting hit. :(

[@CinemaCities1978]

I agree!

[@seymourskinner2533]

Just not a fan of sterling Hayden 🤷🏻