Teresa Reviews “The Unbreakable Alibi” (1983)

Teresa reviews “The Unbreakable Alibi” (1983) and finds it a charming episode about an unscrupulous woman and a dim, wealthy man.

Fidelity to text: 2 1/2 thieves

Major character rewrites, a made-up-from-whole-canvas subplot, and sudden death when previously no one died.

Quality of movie on its own: 4 thieves

Everything tied together, including seemingly superfluous plot threads in the opening.

Read more of Teresa’s Agatha Christie movie reviews at Peschel Press.

Also, follow Teresa’s discussion of these movies on her podcast.

You may wonder why Tommy and Tuppence are so concerned about railway timetables (they constantly consult their A.B.C. railway guides), hotel receipts, and chatting up waiters, concierges, and hotel chambermaids, when they normally don’t bother with the minutiae of police work. They rely on intuition.

One tidbit the story included that the episode didn’t (a mistake) is Tuppence collecting an assortment of ladies’ photographs not connected to the case to complement their picture of Una Drake when questioning waiters and servants. The additional photos are needed so when they quiz waiters, they can be sure they’re not leading them to a false conclusion about which young lady they waited upon.

The reason they’re deeply concerned about breaking an alibi is because this story parodies another once highly-regarded, now-forgotten mystery writer. Freeman Wills Croft was a railway engineer turned mystery writer. His carefully-plotted mysteries (Raymond Chandler was a fan) turned on meticulously planned crimes with equally meticulously planned alibis. His detective, Inspector French, methodically pursued every possible lead to its bitter end. To solve the crime, he spent a lot of time on trains, pursuing his A.B.C. guide to verify schedules and matching them up with theater ticket stubs and hotel reservation guestbooks. He interviewed every single person who might have come into contact with the criminal, using his pocket lineup of photos to ensure he didn’t misidentify someone.

Alibi-based police procedurals involving timetables were immensely popular. Readers were familiar with how train travel worked so they could solve the crime along with the detective. They eventually fell out of favor but were still well enough known for Monty Python’s Flying Circus to parody them on their sketch comedy show (1969-1974).

Today’s police procedurals don’t rely as much on breaking alibis. They prefer cutting-edge forensics. Your alibi can be rock-solid, but if your DNA puts you on the scene, you’d better have a darn good lawyer.

A lawyer is something Una Drake turns out to need. She got a major personality transplant for the episode, turning her into a more interesting character. She’s a sporting girl from Australia, working for an artist’s magazine called Pen and Palette. When Mr. Montgomery Jones meets her, he’s smitten. He’s not very bright but he’s bright enough to know that if he wants her, he has to win a bet.

She claims she can be in two places at once. Can he figure out how she did it? If so, he can claim what he wants: her marrying him. If he can’t, she can claim what she wants: for him to quit pestering her. There may be another, underlying reason for her wage. In the short story, Una is game for anything. In the film, she’s a compulsive gambler. She gambles so much that she’s in serious hock to various bookies. Montgomery Jones isn’t just addled with love over her. He’s rich and probably stupid enough to give her money so why not bet on a sure thing? In addition to leaving her alone, he might still pay off a debt or two.

By the end of the show, you’ll be thinking that if Montgomery Jones marries Una, he’ll be in a match made in hell. She’ll despise him, and he’ll end up bankrupt.

He’s not very bright so even though he’s bright enough to ask Blunt’s Brilliant Detective Agency for help. After they crack the case and he wins the bet, one wonders if he’ll still want to marry Una. Maybe he will, after he pays her legal fees and she finishes a stint at Wandsworth Prison.

The other major personality transplant is Peter le Marchant. He transforms from a pleasant, but innocuous man about town to a smarmy, sleazy import/export businessman with a strong interest in art and money. When Tommy and Tuppence question him about his dinner at the Savoy with Una, he immediately attempts to seduce her.

Tommy is not amused, although you could say that le Marchant has an excuse. He doesn’t know they’re married, since Tuppence is disguised as Miss Robinson, confidential secretary to Tommy’s Mr. Blunt. He’s also being interviewed in what looks like his home office, with his bedroom conveniently in the next room, so why wait to start the seduction process?

Alas for Tommy and Tuppence. It’s obvious that Una was in London with le Marchant. Too many people who know her saw her dine with le Marchant, and are willing to swear to it.

Tommy and Tuppence head off to Torquay (Agatha’s home!) and discover to their dismay that Una was there too. Too many people, including the railway dining car waiter, and the hotel’s staff saw her, spoke to her, and remembered her. How could they not? She made a point of being noticed, just like she had in London.

How could she be in two places at once? Here’s where intuition finally comes into play, rescuing them from boring, plodding, methodical policework. The phrase “astral bodies” gives Tuppence the possible answer. She cables Australia to confirm her suspicion. In the meantime, Una digs her hole deeper.

Adding the subplot of art thieves was a nice touch. It turned a rather silly story into something more serious. It was subtle too. Peter le Marchant is in the import/export business. He likes art and it’s obvious he has the morals of an alley cat. Una Drake works for an art magazine, she’s got connections to galleries and art museums, and she’s a compulsive gambler in hock up to her eyeballs. Could they be related to the stolen art that Tommy reads about in the newspaper?

They could indeed.

Una’s no brighter than Montgomery Jones. She isn’t just a gambler and a participant in art theft. She’s in love with le Marchant, despite knowing what kind of a man he is. So we see another reason behind the bet. Getting rid of pesky, always-around Montgomery Jones doesn’t merely get him out of the way. She’s preventing a possible witness from causing trouble later on.

Armed with her own suspicions, Tuppence interviews Una in her flat. Una, nerves completely gone to pieces, becomes suspicious of this nice lady journalist. She confirms her suspicions, follows Tuppence and confronts our duo in their office. She’s armed and dangerous and desperate than ever. She no longer cares about her London alibi: it’s fake! It’s fake! She was in Torquay and everyone knows it! It’s at that point, as Una’s waving the gun around, Montgomery Jones arrives with Una’s twin sister, Vera.

Vera went to Torquay, while Una stayed in London. Simple, really. What’s not simple is that Una also killed Peter le Marchant the night before. She claims it was an accident and perhaps it was. A good lawyer, well-paid by Montgomery Jones, might save her from an extended stay in Wandsworth. Yep, the man Una dislikes might be the one who’ll save her. But he still shouldn’t marry her.

Read more of Teresa’s Agatha Christie movie reviews at Peschel Press.

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