Dual Alibi (1947) User Reviews

The duality of death.

[hitchcockthelegend · 8/10 · 20 October 2013]

Dual Alibi is directed by Alfred Travers who also collectively adapts the screenplay with Stephen Clarkson and Vivienne Ades from a story written by Renalt Capes. It stars Herbert Lom, Phyllis Dixey, Terence De Marney and Ronald Frankau. Music is by Stanley Black and cinematography by James Wilson.

Top French trapeze artists, the de Lisle twins (Lom), are hired by a British promoter to go work in Blackpool in the North West of England. Whilst in Blackpool one of the twins falls for an aspiring singer, causing tremors in the brother's relationship. But when news comes through that they have won the French lottery, the brothers unite in their good fortune. However, good fortune is not to last as their world comes crashing down in a ball of treachery, greed, the misfortunes of fate and murder!

Moody monochrome, flashback structure, kilter circus atmosphere, femme fatale and a haunting musical score, welcome to the world of under seen British noir. The low budget is barely noticed as Travers and Wilson skilfully move the film at a good pace whilst draping it in shadows and murk, and the trick photography accomplishment that brings two Herbert Lom's together on screen brilliantly belies that this is a poverty row production.

Lom is excellent in the dual role, giving each twin its own characteristic so the audience is never out of the loop. Yet he also deftly manages to ascertain a deep emotional bond between the two men, so when the darkness comes (the ending for instance is miserably non conformist) we feel the slap of film noir's hand. Around Lom are effective performances from Marney as the repugnant Mike Bergin and Dixey who slinks about with conviction as smouldering fatale Gloria Gregg (AKA: Penny).

Highly recommended for anyone interested in British film noir. 8/10

A Circus Noir

[boblipton · 6/10 · 10 June 2019]

Herbert Lom plays twins in this movie. Also acrobats. Also a murderer.

Hired by Ronald Frankau to perform their two-act at Blackpool, the twin-acrobat act is a sensation. When publicist Terence de Marney discovers they have won the grand prize of a million francs in the French national lottery, he sets his girlfriend, Phyllis Dixey, to make up to one of the twins and steals the lottery ticket. When they discover this, they track him down and one of them murders the thief, while the other is performing solo, providing an alibi for the other. But which is it?

It's a gimmick mystery, with a strong noir element: sleazy setting, sleazy characters and some clever camera, provided by split-screen camerawork, and enough character differentiation to offer some good acting. The acrobatic work is offered in long shots, so that the Cromwell Brothers could do the work. This was their only movie appearance.

Herbert Lom, best remembered now for his appearances as Commissioner Dreyfus in the Pink Panther franchise, was born in 1917 and christened Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchacevich ze Schluderpacheru. He made his first movie in 1937 in Czechoslovakie. By 1942 he was in Great Britain, where he played Napoleon, villains in crime dramas, and his favorite role, in THE LADYKILLERS. He appeared in almost a hundred movies, and his last performance was in 2007 on TV's AGATHA CHRISTIE'S MARPLE series. He died a couple of weeks after his 95th birthday.

Ample proof that Herbert Lom was a heck of an actor.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 24 May 2021]

In "Dual Alibi", the British actor, Herbert Lom, plays dual roles--the identical French twins, Georges and Jules. And, he's excellent in both parts and the movie is quite the thriller.

When the story begins, one of the de Lisle twins (Lom) has fallen on hard times and is notices by his old boss at the circus. Now this part is a bit muddled...and based on the story that follows there is no way the boss wouldn't have remembered the man immediately....but somehow it was written as if the old boss could barely remember him. In the story, there is ample reason to believe he's remember the de Lisles until the day he died!

The story that follows is a long flashback, showing what led from the de Lisles being among the best trapeze acts in the world to this. It begins with them signing a huge contract with the owner of the circus. Georges is all business but Jules is a bit less so. So, after a crook in the circus learns that Jules has won 1,000,000 fr in a lottery, instead of telling Jules, he has his slimy girlfriend cozy up to Jules...with the hope that they can steal the ticket and cash it in themselves. What's next? Well, it would spoil the film to say more!

The bottom line is that this is a very well written dark suspense film...one that makes you cheer for a killer and wish him the best! Yes, that IS unusual! Combine this with excellent acting and direction, and you have one of the better British suspense films of the era.

Reminds me another feature very similar with the same actor !!

[searchanddestroy-1 · 29 March 2012]

I watched this one and was dead sure I had seen it before. Pretty sure at one hundred percent. Same atmosphere among a circus little world, starring Herbert Lom in both films, and also a crime drama topic, with our lead as the bad guy.

The other film was actually DARK TOWER, shot in 1943, where Lom played a sort of evil hypnotist who wanted a young trapezist woman to be under his bad influence. A very good noir from UK too. And no user seem to have seen both. Or maybe they did not notice that further.

So, I do. There are here two very similar features. And, I repeat, with the same actor playing very similar characters.

Worth watching for both of them.

An unhappy lottery win

[AAdaSC · 7/10 · 4 July 2017]

Herbert Lom recounts his tale in flashback as to how he has ended up scraping a living by sandwich boarding. He was once part of a headlining trapeze act in a circus owned by Ronald Frankau (Barney) performing in sunny Blackpool. His partner was his twin and his tale is one of tragedy. What happened to the twin?

This film ends on a downbeat note but it is still entertaining thanks to the cast of villains and the central aspect of distinguishing the twins from one another. It is crucial to the plot and keeps you watching. Lom is very good in this dual role and the twins use their similarity to their advantage in a novel twist to a murder charge. I think justice was done.

Phyllis Dexter (Penny) as the bad girl doesn't do any stripping. She should have, though, given that was her real-life business!

Darkly mature

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 21 August 2020]

A familiar-feeling but interesting slice of human psyche, DUAL ALIBI is a circus-set psychological drama about a pair of twin brothers who end up falling for the same girl and getting scammed out of a lottery ticket at the same time. Although the conclusion is somewhat inevitable, the journey there generally works thanks to the excellent casting of Herbert Lom in the central role(s), alongside plenty of surprisingly decent split screen work to produce the duplicate effect. Lom plays a pair of feuding trapeze artist twins who end up having the traditional fight scene and arguments, while the mistaken identity twist at the end is pretty obvious by now, but it's all handled well in a darkly mature way.

A thriller that keeps you thinking.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 21 June 2020]

Boris Karloff in "The Black Room"; Bette Davis in "A Stolen Life"/"Dead Ringer"; Olivia de Havilland in "The Dark Mirror"; Jeremy Irons in "Dead Ringer". Playing twins for talented actors is always a challenge because there are so many dimensions to each character you can create. For Herbert Lom, one of the unsung gems of the British cinema, his career was much more than Chief Inspector Dreyfeuss in "The Pink Panther" films; He was also "The Phantom of the Opera", and was the British lead of the original cast of "The King and I". Here, he gives probably his most complex performance as two brothers, part of a circus act, so similar in many ways that it is difficult to tell them apart, and their closeness is only challenged by a woman (Phyllis Dixey) who will bring their lives to a crash, and ultimately destruct them in a way the audience will be shocked to fathom.

This is the type of melodrama where you know that it will end with some sort of twist that has one of them dead, both of them dead or by some miracle none of them dead, but always guessing which one it will be who ends up destroying themselves or who will end up in triumph. The story is told through an intriguing flashback, and even as it ended, I wasn't sure which one I was watching. That is no matter because the story unfolds in a way that is totally intriguing and filled with darkness. Lom delivers a performance so vivid that even with the somewhat confusing angle of knowing which brother you are seeing, you are kept gripped to the screen knowing that at any minute the intelligent script will take the plot into directions you couldn't imagine it choosing to go to. I have to mark Lom's performance as one of the greatest acting jobs of the 1940's, and coming out of it, once again I was reminded how I have come to consider him the Anthony Hopkins of the golden age of cinema, always giving you a surprise with whatever twist or shock came your way.

"It's a good job someone has the brains in this outfit"

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 7/10 · 22 October 2020]

A fascinating movie telling of acrobatic twins and the trouble that comes when they win a million francs in the Loterie Francaise. The film is anchored by an excellent performance from Herbert Lom as the trapeze artist de Lisle brothers,Jules and Georges, subtly playing each twin as different but similar. Lom is helped by the superb cinematography from James Wilson that makes you believe there really are two Loms onscreen together. Full marks to the actor for sustaining the two roles perfectly.

There are good actors in support, particularly Terence de Marney as the greedy Mike Bergen and Ronald Frankau as the compassionate circus owner Vincent Barney. Unfortunately Phyllis Dixey as the dissembling lover was a bit bland. Her femme should have been more fatale. The director Alfred Travers does an excellent job maintaining suspense and drama mixed with a melancholy air leading to the inevitable sombre ending, set in darkness and rain.

A good film in a surprisingly darker vein than was usual for British films of the late 1940's. An early example perhaps of Brit noir.

Fine and unusual mystery drama

[houndspirit · 10/10 · 26 September 2006]

The film is a wonderful portrayal of a dark triangle involving identical twins who form an elegant acrobatic circus act and eventually seek revenge on an unfaithful women. They plan a "perfect crime" on which the film turns. I have not seen the film in about 50 years. It used to show up on local TV quite frequently in the 50's but seems to have disappeared and unjustly so. I only hope it still exists? If it is available I do urge it's viewing.

Lom plays the dual role of the twin brothers and this , in itself , is cleverly handled. The O'Henry like ending is affecting and again gives the film a further degree of individuality.

Herbert Lom memorable in dual role

[warony · 10/10 · 25 March 2007]

I remember seeing this film some forty years ago. I was still at school and found it curiously absorbing. In fact I could'not stop telling everybody about it for days afterwards. I recall the film creating an atmosphere at once dark and foreboding. There was an understated menace in the air much as in the opening pages of a story by H.P. Lovecraft. The plot was relatively straight forward but with a delicious twist at the end that has been likened to a tale by O. Henry. What carries the film is the sublime performance of Herbert Lom. Now there was an actor who played the archetypal smooth villain of his day. In fact I cannot think of any other actor who so consummately conveyed villainy with such effective "European" sophistication and grace. A role portrayed to perfection in "The Ringer" with Donald Wolfit, "the Golden Salamander" and later, "Northwest Passage" with Kenny More and Lauren Bacall. Shades of Conrad Veidt of an earlier generation. Herbert Lom was a busy actor who appeared in numerous film and theatre productions during the fifties and sixties. Few will remember that he took the lead role when "The King and I" first came to London at Drury Lane (I think) and that he was the natural choice for the Harry Lime role in the radio version of "The Third Man" (circa, 1951). His brooding "European" looks and deep and accented speech were instantly recognised by the audiences of his day and although never a major top-of-the-bill star, was a respected member of any cast (e.g. "and with Herbert Lom as Napoleon") and by todays standards would be considered an A-list celebrity.

Dark, gripping and memorable melodrama

[wilvram · 10/10 · 5 May 2011]

Like one or two others here, I recall seeing this on TV years ago. It certainly made an impression and watching it again recently reminded me why it did.

The story never falters from the start and there's neither an extraneous scene nor wasted word of dialogue. The word 'noir' is often used inaccurately on IMDb and elsewhere these days to describe a run of the mill crime movie that happened to be shot in black and white, but this film is the real thing. Not a single scene takes place in daylight, and the often oppressive ambiance is caught in the opening shot as a bedraggled group of unemployed men are made up as clowns to go out in the pouring rain with sandwich boards to promote Vincent Barney's circus. The kindly Barney recognises one of the de Lisles, identical twins and trapeze artists who used to be his star attraction and who now recounts his fall from grace.

Director Alfred Travers did not enjoy a high profile, making few films, mostly obscure second features, but he clearly knew what he was doing here. By comparison, for example, the renowned Terence Fisher's 'noirs' for Hammer in the early 1950s are heavy-handed and soporific. Apart from Travers' skill in keeping the story moving, the circus atmosphere is conjured brilliantly through the judicious choice of background music, particularly Stanley Black's haunting trapeze theme, since the budget apparently didn't stretch to featuring any actual circus acts apart from the twins' high-flying act and brief glimpses of a horse and an elephant. Not least he gets some excellent performances too. Herbert Lom is superb as the twins, bringing out their subtle differences, and with the aid of James Wilson's masterly trick photography, all the more remarkable on such a poverty row production, it's easy to suspend disbelief. The talented and popular comedian of radio and concert parties Ronald Frankau, making a rare screen appearance, brings charm, authority, and a sense of fun to his portrayal of the avuncular and sympathetic Barney. Terence de Marney is convincing as the repellent and ruthless Mike Bergin, whilst playing his accomplice, Penny, is 'Britain's First Lady of Striptease' Phyllis Dixey. She doesn't do a bad job; but this was only her second and last film appearance. Her striptease act must have been of a very genteel variety, in fact according to one aficionado 'her girls did the stripping while she gave the audience the occasional "flash"! She was portrayed by Lesley-Anne Down in an excellent TV biopic THE ONE AND ONLY PHYLLIS DIXIE, broadcast in November 1978.

DUAL ALIBI concludes with a twist ending as unforced and logical as it is uncompromising, and should definitely be a candidate for DVD release by one of those companies specialising in forgotten classic British films!

Excellent film, heartily recommend it

[janettwinkle · 10/10 · 12 April 2008]

This was a fine example of a British film, well acted and directed, an excellent storyline and no slip ups or confusion as sometimes arises in plots like this. Herbert Lom gives a spellbinding performance as the twins, and the rest of the cast are marvellous too. Everyone gives 100% and we enjoyed it very much. It should have got some awards. Please do watch it, if you get the chance. you wont be disappointed. A fine cast of actors doing a brilliant job with a first class director. Superb. I had not been aware of this director before and as he wrote the script too, (oh yes, I forgot to say excellent script) he has excelled himself. Why no proper recognition ? I had not even heard of this film before. It was shown at a quarter to three in the morning! The photography was well done and the matching was excellent too. This film should be acknowledged as a classic British film.

Excellent movie with unusual ending

[BruceE-2 · 10/10 · 18 October 1999]

I saw this movie in England when it first came out and it has stayed with me ever since. It is an unusual mystery about which twin actually committed murder. The ending is a surprise and the acting of two parts by Herbert Lom made him one of my favourite actors long before he became well known in the Pink Panther series.

Brilliant Film!

[wm-idpr · 10/10 · 7 November 1999]

A story of a twin trapeze act who fall out over a winning lottery ticket and a girl. A wonderful story and cast with an unusual and unpredictable end. This is my favourite film of all time and the brilliant Herbert Lom gives his best performance to date as Jules and Georges. I definitely recommend it.10/10

Herbert Lom in a dual role

[blanche-2 · 8/10 · 19 December 2021]

Truly magnificent performance by Herbert Lom as twins in "Dual Alibi" from 1947.

I always thought Herbert Lom reminded me of Yul Brynner as far as his strong, commanding presence. I just learned he was the original star of King and I in London. So I wasn't far off.

In the beginning of the film, one of the de Lisle twins is noticed by his old boss at the circus, and it's obvious he's down on his luck. Finally he recognizes him and remembers the twins' story. (This is ridiculous since as the story unfolds you'll see there's no way he doesn't know exactly who this guy is.)

The de Lisle twin tells his story in flashback. The de Lisles, George and Jules, had a popular and successful trapeze act. George is frugal and business-like, Jules is always having money problems. Together they own a ticket to the national lottery. The letter arrives at an old address, where it is opened by a the slimy Mike Bergen.

Bergen convinces his girlfriend to make a big play for Jules and get the ticket away from him. What follows is tragedy.

This is a very dark film with good performances and wonderful trapeze work. Lom is fantastic. Phyllis Dixey plays the femme fatale girlfriend, and Terence de Marney is the thief behind the scheme. The trick photography is fantastic.

Excellent film, well worth seeing.

A shocking circus drama on the trapeze with Herbert Lom outstanding in double leads

[clanciai · 10/10 · 2 December 2020]

Herbert Lom as a pathetic sandwich man emerges from the rain together with a bunch of bums in a similar situation, the circus director comes out and finds them a sorry lot and tell them to get fixed up with some clown paint. They do so, and when they are at it the circus director recognizes Herbert Lom as a former star acrobat of his, and the sad, indeed the devastating tragedy unfolds. They were two, and they were twins, doing a fabulous act on the trapeze, and for the finale of the act one of them had to take a great risk, and they always tossed a coin about whom it would be. They manage well, until a lottery ticket and a woman importune. The main problem is that the woman has a male partner, who is the villain in the play. He gets his punishment, but she does not, and her finally getting into hysterics (for the second time) is not a settlement enough for her, and you have to leave the film with the trauma of deep injustice weighing heavily on your mind, as you would hope it would weigh on hers, which it probably did, for the rest of her life... It's a terrible tragedy, as the innocents are mortally damaged beyond repair, while the scoundrels are not punished enough... One reviewer noted that this was the real thing of a noir, and it truly is. It couldn't be more noir nor more true as a noir. The dark doom is hanging irrevocably over the drama from beginning to end, and although there is one survivor, no happy end could possible be pasted to this one, and one can only imagine the dwindling spiral of his remaining pathetic life going further down the drain to reach no bottom.... To this must be added the great credit of the music by Stanley Black, which makes every scene at the circus extra mesmerizing, and it should also be noted as a further plus to the film, making it even more remarkable and unique, the fantastic cinematography in shooting the trapeze acrobatics scenes. No doubt this must have influenced Carol Reed in his film "Trapeze" with Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis eight years later.

Grim Fairy Tale

[GManfred · 19 January 2012]

"Dual Alibi" is a good crime story with a twist; the protagonist(s) are identical twins. It appears to be a British attempt at the noir genre and the mood is dark and humorless, reminiscent of the 'Twilight Zone' TV show.

As I said, the story is good and is somewhat predictable throughout. Herbert Lom stars in the dual role, a high-wire circus act from the continent. One of the twins gets snookered by a con-man agent and his girlfriend and there is a falling-out, with predictable results. I was not as enthralled with the picture as most other reviewers but I appreciated the irony of the plot and the acting of Lom, who carries the picture.

Nice work turned in by the two chiselers, Terence De Marney and Phyllis Dixey, who has only 2 films to her credit. This movie is so old I was unable to readily spot Sebastian Cabot, who in hindsight looked very young and slimmer than I remembered. He had a speaking part which lasted a few minutes, plenty of time to recognize him. If you are interested in "Dual Alibi" you should know that it is hard to come by nowadays - and it's good, but not great, in my estimation.

exceptional thriller

[myriamlenys · 9/10 · 23 February 2020]

A pair of identical twins perform daring feats on the circus trapeze. During a friendly business discussion with the manager, one of them gets offered a lottery ticket. This will turn out to be the winning ticket to a huge prize. However, the official letter announcing the win gets intercepted by two grifters who cook up a nasty little scheme...

"Dual Alibi" is an exceptionally well-plotted and atmospheric thriller - I suppose it's best described as a noir thriller ? - set in the world of the circus. It tells a dark story about two brothers, one of whom falls in love with a beautiful woman, not realizing that the said woman is a venal and deceitful creature working hand in glove with an equally despicable partner. Both brothers are tricked and manipulated with masterful ease - at one point they even turn upon each other - until they discover the full extent of their betrayal. Now it's the twins, formerly model citizens of blameless repute, who are about to resort to crime...

Herbert Lom (who was, at that time, a very handsome man with a great deal of charisma) gives an impressive dual performance. He succeeds in giving both twins slightly different personalities : one of them is the more coolly observant and rational, the other one is the more impulsive and romantic. The special effects used to create the "twin" phenomenon are superb. As a viewer you really believe that you are watching two separate individuals.

The circus scenes are impressive, with many a daring act and breath-taking stunt. I'm not, by temperament, a great lover of the circus, but viewers who like the subject will probably feel like they've died and gone to heaven...

The ending seems to suffer from an overdose of the "Crime doesn't pay !" sentiment, which - who knows ? - may have been added in order to appease the censors. Apart from that, a memorable and captivating movie with some VERY clever twists and turns.

Herbert Lom, the cast and production nail this excellent film.

[ouzman-1 · 10/10 · 15 March 2021]

There is nothing NOT to like. Watch this and wonder why HL wasn't given any praise for his character portrayal in this superb BRITISH film noir? Us the audience were spell bound by this triumph of a film. This is A list from an A list artist. How it has become largely forgotten beggars belief. A classic, in the true sense. The BFI should promote this at every turn. I would love to watch this on the big screen post-COVID. ;--)

Excellent Continental-Style Circus Melodrama

[richardchatten · 9/10 · 8 July 2017]

A typically offbeat British National production produced by the ill-fated Louis H. Jackson (the company went bankrupt the following year) and directed by the mysterious Alfred Travers with a plot that feels like a silent continental melodrama. James Wilson's low keyed photography suits the drab, sordid nature of the story as well as enhancing the believable interaction throughout the film of twin brothers both played by Herbert Lom; achieved with the aid of nimble use of a stand-in, skillful editing and the occasional unostentatious use of trick photography.

Lom's compelling portrayal of two identical but distinct twin brothers made him a star. Terence de Marney is such a skunk as he gets away with shameless daylight robbery (which the law predictably proves complacently powerless to redress) that I felt even the drastic reprisal taken against him let him off lightly. Holes can doubtless be picked in the plot, but it delivers powerful drama right up to the (very) bitter end.

interesting film noir with on of the best twin roles

[seglora · 14 February 2016]

This is a very fine and interesting film noir — among the better films of post-war British cinema. The story with twin trapeze artists might be a bit far-fetched in some aspects, but the opening of the film is brilliant, as is the ending. The photography is in beautiful dark tones and the music accompanying the trapeze acts is excellent. Herbert Lom is convincing in the role of both twins. I think the merit of his subtle performance lies above all in not exaggerating too much the difference in character between the two twins. Extreme characterization is normally a much easier option for an actor or actress when one thinks of other famous stars playing twins, such as Bettie Davis, who did this twice in "Stolen Life" and "Dead Ringer", or Olivia de Havilland in "The Dark Mirror". This is an excellent British film noir which deserves to be much better-known. Apart from this, I have not seen any more films by Alfred Travers, who seems to be a totally forgotten director. Astonishingly, hardly anything seems to be known about his life and career (apart from the titles of the films he directed), not even the date of his death. This must surely have happened, as the only scant detail available about this director is that he was born in 1906, in Constantinople.

A dark post-war jewel of English filmmaking

[ddcamera · 9/10 · 27 January 2023]

This 1947 thriller, truly a film noir, was expertly directed by Albert Trasker, who, in a long career, never did anything better than this. The background music--the first film score by Englishman Stanley Black (né Solomon Schwartz) then leader of the BBC Dance orchestra, mixes dance hall tunes, circus band music, and a beautiful waltz tune, all used to create moments of real suspense. Marius Goring, one the screen's best villains, is ideal as both twin brothers, who go from Paris to London from one cheap tour, theatre, or hall to another The sleaze of second rate English and French entertainment and the people who made it so, has never been captured with more realism.

Trick Photography

[PlasticActor · 10/10 · 27 January 2022]

1947 was well done and better than many modern pieces where one actor plays two people. I was lucky to have been able to catch the dying days of circus before video games etc. Live entertainment was King and the weaving of the circus life into this plot is perfect for Herbert Lom. I am so used to seeing him in comedy - - is a real joy. When was Lom separated from Charles Boyer... at birth?