Photo-induced in-plane alignments of nematic liquid crystal (LC) molecules, 5CB, have been investigated in the cell with alternate self-assembly films of polyelectrolyte and low-molecular weight dyes on the gold electrodes using the attenuated total reflection (ATR) measurement method. Reflectivities due to the excitations of the surface plasmon polariton (SPP) were observed in the ATR properties of the LC cell. In-plane switching of LC molecules adjacent to the aligning layer was evaluated from the ATR curves by means of irradiation of the linearly polarized visible light to the LC cell. It was also estimated that the re-orientation of the LC molecules occurred within about 130 nm from the surface of the aligning layer on the prism by the irradiation of the polarized light.