Two Letter Alibi

This is an entertaining, if somewhat dated ‘Whodunnit ?’ thriller from 1962 though we know pretty soon who did not do it – which makes it all the more fun to watch!

When Charles Hilary (Peter Williams) visits his wife Louise (Ursula Howells), from who he’s been living separated for some time, in yet another attempt to beg her for a divorce he is met with the usual distain. Not only has Louise turned bitter and resentful over time, she also blames her serious drinking problem on hubby Charles – who apparently introduced her to ‘devil drink’ many moons ago. After a hefty argument in which Charles accuses her of being unreasonable and selfish, Louise points out that after their marriage he let her down in more ways than just one, which in turn has made her deeply disillusioned. A string of lovers and countless bottles of booze seem to order of the day for her.
Pointing out that he has a right to move on to be with his new love, attractive TV-presenter Kathy Forrester (Petra Davies), Louise turns even more spiteful and replies that he has to murder her first, for she will never grant him this wish!

Several hours later, just as Charles is on his way to a weekend break with suitcase in hand the police come knocking on his door. His wife Louise has been found murdered – shot with the very pistol that belongs to Charles and which he left in her place for self-protection. The odds sure don’t look good for Charles, and when a secret witness points him out at an identity parade his fate seems sealed. Only Kathy knows and feels (a woman’s instinct no doubt) that her beloved cannot possibly be the killer (though judging from the apparent age different he could easily be her father!).

She frantically tries to prove his innocence by taking the investigation into her own hands so to speak. Just when she stumbles across a discovery that might reveal the true murderer, Charles – who in the meantime has been taken to hospital under suspicion of a re-occurring Malaria attack – does the silly thing of escaping from under the noses of police… complete in this underwear in which he runs along some London streets pretending to be a jogger! The goon! Having managed to phone Kathy from a public phone box, she comes to fetch him in her car and the pair hatch a plan to get Charles out of London and into hiding. Unfortunately the plan doesn’t go as smoothly as planned and Kathy’s ‘famous’ face is recognised by a petrol station attendant and several others. In short, Charles is forced to go on the run again, this time through the countryside (thankfully, his beloved had the brains to bring some clothes for him). However, when he gets discovered due to unfortunate circumstances he finds himself back in the slammer – and this time things look bleaker for him than ever before! In a desperate attempt to save Charles from the noose she asks an old friend, a retired police chief, for help…

Two Letter Alibi features an screenplay by Roger Marshall, whose credits would go on to include The Sweeney and The Gentle Touch.