L'assassino sul tetto

An alcoholic, out of work newspaper reporter is given another chance in "Appointment with a Shadow," from 1957, starring George Nader, Joanna Moore, Brian Keith, and Virginia Field.

Nader plays Paul Baxter, whose girlfriend Penny (Moore) is a reporter as well. After he is dropped off at her place by her brother, Lt. Spencer (Keith) and sobered up, she tells him she has the inside scoop on a story. It's his if he can stay sober for the entire day.

Penny's brother is a police detective and has agreed to allow Paul in on the arrest of a wanted criminal (Frank DeKova). He will then scoop all the crime reporters and get a newspaper job. Her brother thinks she's crazy and doesn't think she should bother with Paul, but she insists that she loves him and can't give up on him.

Paul manages to stay sober for the day. Penny calls him with the information about the stakeout and arrest. Unfortunately, once Paul gets to the scene, something goes terribly wrong. He's the only one who knows how wrong it went, and no one will believe him.

While the film deals realistically with an alcoholic's struggle to refrain from taking a drink, it doesn't really deal realistically with the illness. Still, it's an involving story, if a little too pat, directed by actor Richard Carlson.

George Nader was an attractive man who had a decent career in television and later did films in Europe. He never reached stardom in the U..S. because Universal outed him to Confidential magazine so the publication wouldn't out Rock Hudson. He was a good type for noir and detective stories - he played Ellery Queen on television as well as two other TV series.