He Walked By Night

 

 

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Roy Martin (Richard Basehart) is as cold as an ice pick and as ruthless as teflon. Martin is a burglar, an extortionist, and worst of all, he's a cop killer.
Alfred Werker's HE WALKED BY NIGHT is a taut, moody police procedural. Some have called it a film noir, but it lacks certain key elements to merit that brand. In noir the cops are usually as corrupt as the bad guys. HWBN lacks that moral ambiguity. We never doubt that Martin is evil and the cops are good. Noirs also delight in probing the psyche of the protagonist. HWBN keeps it lead character at arm's length. Martin is a creature of the shadows and the sewers, half emerging into the light only long enough to extort or kill. There's not a shot in this movie that is taken from his point of view. Even when the scene includes only Martin and his dog we're kept at a distance. We're detached observers rather than participants. HWBN wants to exterminate rather than examine and explain. Evil can't be understood by the good, but it can be eliminated.
I wouldn't pick at this point if MGM didn't call HE WALKED BY NIGHT "this film noir classic" on the dvd jacket. The difference between HWBN and film noir is as great as the difference between Faulkner and Hemingway, and fans of the genre shouldn't be misled.
If you looking for comparisons, DRAGNET is a lot more appropriate. Jack Webb has a small role in here, and it was while working on this movie he met the LAPD technical advisor who helped him develop Dragnet for radio (it debuted shortly after the movie opened.) As it goes in most police procedurals, the bad guy is too clever by half and the good guys can prevail only after a painstaking investigation and a slow accumulation of evidence.
What HWBN does share with film noir is a gritty, alienating, urban setting and evocative light-and-shadow photography. Los Angeles is presented here as cold and lifeless, filled with anonymous cottages and enormous storm tunnels.
That said, HE WALKED BY NIGHT is a wonderful movie. Basehart is icily effective as the loner killer. The semi-documentary feeling and naturalistic acting styles employed are just right for the subject matter. If you don't find yourself running out of the room every time an old Dragnet or a newer CSI comes on, you might just enjoy this one.

Roy Martin (Richard Basehart) is as cold as an ice pick and as ruthless as teflon. Martin is a burglar, an extortionist, and worst of all, he's a cop killer.
Alfred Werker's HE WALKED BY NIGHT is a taut, moody police procedural. Some have called it a film noir, but it lacks certain key elements to merit that brand. In noir the cops are usually as corrupt as the bad guys. HWBN lacks that moral ambiguity. We never doubt that Martin is evil and the cops are good. Noirs also delight in probing the psyche of the protagonist. HWBN keeps it lead character at arm's length. Martin is a creature of the shadows and the sewers, half emerging into the light only long enough to extort or kill. There's not a shot in this movie that is taken from his point of view. Even when the scene includes only Martin and his dog we're kept at a distance. We're detached observers rather than participants. HWBN wants to exterminate rather than examine and explain. Evil can't be understood by the good, but it can be eliminated.
I wouldn't pick at this point if MGM didn't call HE WALKED BY NIGHT "this film noir classic" on the dvd jacket. The difference between HWBN and film noir is as great as the difference between Faulkner and Hemingway, and fans of the genre shouldn't be misled.
If you looking for comparisons, DRAGNET is a lot more appropriate. Jack Webb has a small role in here, and it was while working on this movie he met the LAPD technical advisor who helped him develop Dragnet for radio (it debuted shortly after the movie opened.) As it goes in most police procedurals, the bad guy is too clever by half and the good guys can prevail only after a painstaking investigation and a slow accumulation of evidence.
What HWBN does share with film noir is a gritty, alienating, urban setting and evocative light-and-shadow photography. Los Angeles is presented here as cold and lifeless, filled with anonymous cottages and enormous storm tunnels.
That said, HE WALKED BY NIGHT is a wonderful movie. Basehart is icily effective as the loner killer. The semi-documentary feeling and naturalistic acting styles employed are just right for the subject matter. If you don't find yourself running out of the room every time an old Dragnet or a newer CSI comes on, you might just enjoy this one.

You can't possibly begin a discussion about gritty crime dramas without mentioning He Walked by Night, basically the grand-daddy of police procedurals and an obvious inspiration for the classic Dragnet radio and television series (with the radio series beginning a mere four months after this film's release). Sometimes classified as film noir, He Walked by Night is especially noteworthy for its impressive cinematography (thanks to John Alton) and its semi-documentary-style presentation. You would never know by looking at it that the film was produced for an independent Poverty Row studio (Eagle-Lion), but one must note that the direction owes more to an uncredited Anthony Mann than it does to Alfred L. Werker.

The story is only concerned with the crimes, the criminal, the pursuit, and the capture. None of the cops is given much of a personality (ironically, Jack Webb - in a secondary role as a forensics expert - is probably the most personable fellow in the entire film), but that's what makes this style of film so effective. The L.A. cops who work to track down a man who killed one of their own really represent cops everywhere, straight-laced, fully committed public servants concerned only with doing their jobs and getting bad guys off the streets. No matter how close an individual detective may be to the case, he goes by the book and puts together the puzzle pieces using the latest forensic technology (including, in this case, the equivalent of an Identikit) and investigative techniques. Contrast this with the unrealistic cop films of today, which invariably give us a renegade cop who doesn't play by the rules, routinely beats information out of possible informants, and generally makes a mockery of true police work.

The story (based on the real-life story of Erwin "Machine Gun" Walker) features Richard Basehart as Roy Martin, an intelligent burglar turned killer who seems to outsmart LAPD at every turn following his murder of a policeman who caught him trying to break into an electronics store. Captain Breen (Roy Roberts) immediately throws down a dragnet of the area, but the killer is too smart to fall into the trap. Starting with almost nothing, the cops go to work putting the facts together and seeing where they lead. They get a break when the killer is linked to an electronics supplier, but they manage to let him slip through their fingers (and permanently injuring yet another cop in the process). Like any criminal with half a brain, Martin changes his M.O. and uses the city's underground drain pipes to make quick escapes, leaving the authorities baffled. In realistic fashion, it takes a lot of tedious investigation, forensic evidence, and legwork to break the case - which is really the whole point of the story.

Basehart is superb as the slippery Roy Martin, and the scene wherein he removes a bullet from his own abdomen is a riveting moment which propels the film onto a higher plane. Martin's not quite the genius the cops make him out to be, for they have only themselves to blame for not catching him much sooner than they do, but Basehart deserves plenty of kudos for making He Walked By Night such a dramatic thriller. With its innate aura of realism, impressive cinematography and camera work, and solid cast, He Walked By Night is a timeless film of immense influence, putting to shame the unrealistic, rebel with a badge films that increasingly pass for crime dramas today.

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2.0 out of 5 stars Storm Drain Troopers
He Walked by Night is okay, but it isn't classic film noir.

If you want to see how Jack Webb's TV show Dragnet developed its style, this police procedural is the blueprint... Read more

Published on May 31 2004 by Found Highways

5.0 out of 5 stars Often misunderstood.
In response to Jammmer's (from Wyoming) review, let me begin by saying that the prerequisite for liking this movie has nothing to do with "Dragnet. Read more

Published on Mar 25 2004 by yarborough

3.0 out of 5 stars LA Crime, 40s Style
Well--some reviewers consider "He Walked By Night" a masterpiece--at least one other reviewer called it "pathetic". Read more

Published on Feb 21 2004 by peterfromkanata

2.0 out of 5 stars LA Propaganda? Dead on Arrival?
This reviewer bought this 'docu-melodrama' based on these reviews, not knowing the prerequisite to enjoy this "masterpiece of American cinema" is to regard Jack Webb's "Dragnet"... Read more

Published on Feb 1 2004 by jammer

5.0 out of 5 stars MGM digs up gold!
I think mostly everything that needs to be said about this particular film noir classic has been said before, in other previous reviews. Read more

Published on Dec 16 2003 by Gate67

3.0 out of 5 stars very intreging.
it holds my interest to the utmost

Published on Oct 7 1999 by curtis wade

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