Appointment with a Shadow is a 1957 American CinemaScope crime film noir directed by Richard Carlson and starring George Nader, Joanna Moore, Brian Keith and Virginia Field.

Plot
Alcoholic Paul Baxter has ruined his career as a reporter. After passing out in a bar, he is taken home by his friend, police lieutenant Spencer. Spencer’s sister Penny is romantically involved with Baxter.

Penny has a tip on a story that could change Baxter’s life, but she will reveal it only on the condition that Paul can last 24 hours without drinking alcohol. Hung over and shaking, Paul takes the challenge.

Paul must be sober and alert for the expected arrival of the fugitive criminal Dutch Hayden at a restaurant. Spencer has information that Hayden has undergone plastic surgery to alter his appearance and is about to leave the country. Paul arrives at the restaurant in time but in rough shape, as an accident causes his clothing to be soaked in liquor. Hayden arrives with his stripper girlfriend Flo Knapp, but just as Spencer’s men shoot him dead, Paul spots the real Hayden, whose face has not been changed; the lie was part of a setup.

Paul tries to persuade Spencer and Penny that Hayden is alive, but they disbelieve him because he was drunk. Flo takes Paul captive at gunpoint. Spencer eventually realizes that Paul was right all along.