He Walked by Night (1948)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Alfred L. Werker

Writers:

Crane Wilbur (story)
Crane Wilbur (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

9 August 1949 (Sweden)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Savage! ... Searing! ... True!

Plot:

This film-noir piece, told in semi-documentary style, follows police on the hunt for a resourceful criminal who shoots and kills a cop.

Plot Keywords:

Police | Criminal | Electronics | Murderer | Murder

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Richard Basehart	...	Roy Martin / Roy Morgan
Scott Brady	...	Sgt. Marty Brennan
Roy Roberts	...	Capt. Breen
Whit Bissell	...	Paul Reeves
James Cardwell	...	Sgt. Chuck Jones (as Jimmy Cardwell)
Jack Webb	...	Lee

Also Known As:

The L.A. Investigator (USA) (working title)
Twenty-Nine Clues (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

79 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Norway:16 (1952) | Finland:K-16 | Germany:12 | USA:Approved (PCA #13565) | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Central Avenue, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Bryan Foy Productions

Trivia:

This film served as something of a template for "Dragnet," which debuted on radio the following year, right down to the "this is the city" style opening narration, and the fact that a disclaimer appears at the beginning informing the audience that the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Goofs:

Continuity: After examining the bullet casings, Lee tells Capt. Breen that the same gun was used to shoot Officer Rawlins and Detective Jones. But Roy actually used a revolver to kill Rawlins and a .45 automatic to shoot Jones.

Quotes:

Narrator: And so the tedious quest went on. Sergeant Brennan wore out his shoes and his patience going from police station to police station, checking photos until his eyes were blurry, for policework is not all glamor and excitement and glory. There are days and days of routine...

Movie Connections:

Featured in Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

Fascinating to look at

HE WALKED BY NIGHT (1948) has such a raw, bare-bones feel to it, a real "you are there" aura. A cheerless loner (Cold as an ice bomb Richard Basehart) kills a policeman. The search of the killer begins. This little B-film has so many unforgetable scenes, they drive in one after the other. (The police picking up every vagrant in the city searching for the cop killer, the look on the targeted cop's wife's face when she gets the bad news) My favorite scene is one that does not move the plot along, but creates such an uncomfortable mood. In it, Basehart tries to fish a bullet out of his arm at his sink as his dog yaps and whines in the background.

Well worth catching.