He Walked By Night

C. O. DeRiemer

at 12:31 pm

“This is a true story. It is known to the Police Department of one of our largest cities as the most difficult homicide case in its experience, principally because of the diabolical cleverness, intelligence and cunning of a completely unknown killer…”

Shortly after WWII in Los Angeles, an off-duty policeman on his way home, late at night, stops a well-dressed young man on a deserted street he spotted loitering in front of an electronics store. He asks what the young man was doing and requests some identification. The young man says he was walking home. Since he says he forgot his wallet, he asks if the policeman would be satisfied with his discharge papers. The policeman says yes. The young man smiles, reaches under his jacket, pulls out a pistol and carefully shoots the policeman three times at point blank range.

He Walked By Night is the story of Roy Martin (Richard Basehart) an asocial, smart killer who is brilliant with electronics, thinks ahead, prepares for emergencies and doesn’t mind killing. It’s also the story of the Los Angeles’ police department’s step-by-step search for this killer who has no record and seems always to be ahead of the cops. The search is led by Sergeant Marty Brennan (Scott Brady), a man who saw his partner gunned down and paralyzed in a shoot-out with Martin and who is grimly and doggedly determined to find him.

Just another Forties’ police procedural? Not exactly. While it is burdened with one of those Reed Hadley voice-over narrations, carefully modulated and as phony as a Hollywood producer’s handshake, the movie is exceptional in several ways.

First, the combination of Anthony Mann, the primary but uncredited director, and John Alton, the photographer. They have created a solid noir look which has two distinctive characteristics. As one fan of Mann has pointed out, much of the film is framed by doorways, window frames and the corners of walls. There’s also consistent use of dark foregrounds with brightly lit things happening in the background. And, of course, there’s lots of low camera angles and venetian blinds to peer through.

Second, the exceptional set pieces. Just a few include 1) Morgan in his apartment probing with tweezers into a wound to remove a bullet. It’s sweating, excruciating work and Basehart, shown only from the upper-chest, does a remarkable job. 2) The victims of Morgan’s robberies gather together to look at a series of slides and gradually build up of a visual sketch of the unknown killer. 3) The last 15 minutes of the film which take place in the huge underground drainage system of Los Angeles. The cops are closing in on Morgan and he’s trying to escape through the dark, dripping concrete tunnels. It’s a threatening place of echoing footsteps, water running, the beams from flashlights getting closer and closer, an attempt by Morgan to get out through a manhole and a final shootout. Sound familiar? Carol Reed in The Third Man may have done it better, but Mann evidently did it first.

Third, Richard Basehart. He was a solid actor, never better than being a believable nice guy and then turning into something more sinister.

He Walked By Night is a well-made, unpretentious Forties movie, part noir, part procedural. The MGM DVD presentation looks and sounds very good. I understand there are other public domain versions which are terrible. There are no extras.
Rating: 4 / 5

Tani

at 1:49 pm

It’s not the best film noir I’ve ever seen and is too short, but it’s still a good film and has some great sequences. The MGM DVD blows ALL other versions away. Avoid the grey market releases and buy this. It looks stunning and the artwork is nice too.
Rating: 4 / 5