Somewhere in the Night

Appealing mystery tells the story of a World War II vet (John Hodiak) who suffers a terrible injury somewhere in the Pacific theater of operations, gains a new, surgically reconstructed face and loses his memory. Will he, somewhere in the night, find out who he really is?

Okay, let me amend and adjust that endorsement. I didn't recognize John Hodiak at all, although author Eddie Muller tells us he was a fairly well established star in the mid-40s on Muller's entertaining and informative commentary track. A quick internet search of his name disgorged a number of movies I've seen that Hodiak has been in, including a couple I like a lot. Hodiak plays a weary soldier in the good Battle of the Bulge movie `Battleground,' and he's one of the washed aboard survivors in Alfred Hitchcock's `Lifeboat.' Hodiak, about 30 when SOMEWHERE IN THE NIGHT was made was square shouldered, jut jawed, and seemed to favor a trim Clark Gable moustache. In appearance he was something of a cross between Don Ameche and Martin Landau, I guess, with a voice that reminded me of George Raft. I'm writing this in detail because, if this is Hodiak laying it out as a lead star, I'm certain to disremember him the next time around. SITN is future Oscar-winning director Joseph L. Mankiewicz's first feature, so maybe that explains why he allowed his male lead to play it so... tense for the duration. It doesn't help much that Mankiewicz cast 19-year-old newcomer Nancy Guild opposite Hodiak as the female lead. Hodiak, stiff as shoe leather, doesn't have nearly enough in his own cache of charisma to wipe the deer-in-the-headlights look off Guild's face, much less pump a cubic ounce of air into a scene. Confirming a couple of mistily formed suspicions, Muller tells us Guild was hired by Fox to be their Lauren Bacall. Doe-eyed sultresses were big back then, at least Bacall was, and Guild was certainly pretty enough to roll the dice on. Unfortunately she's more animated in her publicity stills than she is when the cameras are rolling, the shadows looming and the cigarette smoke curling. Guild's scenes alone with Hodiak are about as exciting as watching two people read a telephone directory to each other.

The leads are pretty awful and the plot, after the army medic unwraps the bandages from Hodiak's reconstructed face, is serpentine and confusing as heck. But the dialogue is snappy, Mankiewicz was a great writer, and the supporting cast is simply wonderful. Austrian actor Fritz Kortner plays an unscrupulous fortune-teller named Anzelmo and steals every scene he's in. Of course, he's not in any scenes with Lloyd Nolan, who plays a wise-cracking police detective and steals every scene he's in. Throw the always reliable Richard Conte into the mix as a night club owner, plus Harry Morgan, Margo Woode (if Conte and Woode had been cast in the leads this one would have been a certified classic,) Sheldon Leonard, et alia, and you have an incredibly strong and entertaining line-up. If SOMEWHERE IN THE NIGHT succeeds, and it does, it's because of the great script and over-competent supporting cast. Hodiak is stiff and a little detached, while poor Nancy Guild... well, as Muller says somewhere, she does try awfully hard. The plot's impossible to follow, the dialogue sparkles, and Kortner, Nolan, Conte, and the rest more than make up for the weak leads. A reasonably strong recommendation for this enjoyable flick.

An interesting, off-the-beaten-track film noir about an amnesiac soldier, recently discharged from the Marines, who returns to civilian life to rediscover his own past. Actor John Hodiak (who bears an uncanny resemblance to Val Kilmer...) plays his role with a sleepy-yet-cool reserve -- for a guy who thinks he's just an average joe, he sure seems to handle himself well when things start getting weird and dangerous in his old hometown of LA. Lee Strasberg (later of the Actor's Studio) delivers a compelling though flawed script... The first half of the film has an odd, stylish charm -- the flip, tough-guy rhetoric of the genre is tempered with a hefty dose of absurdism and playfulness. There are some great sequences and fun, zippy dialogue, although the prologue is far superior to the action part of the film. The second half lumbers along, and while it becomes clumsy, it's still entertaining and definitely a notch above many B-grade efforts of the same era. One particular treat is an extended role for Lloyd Nolan, who plays a too-cool, insouciant police detective -- his introduction is a real hoot, where he effortlessly steals the scene and leaves the audience wanting more... Lots more. You might not have heard of this film before -- I sure hadn't -- but it's definitely worth checking out!

Movie: *** DVD Transfer: *** Extras: ***1/2

A mystery with film noir elements, "Somewhere in the Night" tells the story of an amnesiac WWII veteran (John Hodiak) who sets out to recover his prewar identity, only to learn that he once may have been involved in a crime that culminated in an unsolved murder. Yet despite this intriguing premise, the film never really jells because the script is both confusing and overlong, and because Joseph L. Mankiewicz's direction lacks the proper pacing and control, which causes the suspense to dissipate before the somewhat obvious climax (this was only his second directorial effort, following "Dragonwyck"). It's a pity, really, because there are so many things about this movie that do work: Norbert Brodine's brooding cinematography is superb; the costumes, set decorations, and art direction are particularly stylish; and there are wonderful performances from Richard Conte, Margo Woode, and especially Lloyd Nolan as a smooth detective and Josephine Hutchison, who makes her single scene in the movie a standout. The two romantic leads, John Hodiak and Nancy Guild, give acceptable performances but would have benefited greatly from tighter direction.

Like the movie itself, Fox Home Video's presentation of this somewhat obscure noir is lacking. Although the video contrast is generally commendable, there are several scenes in which the graininess of the transfer is distracting, and there are one or two sequences in which the film is plagued by vertical lines of video noise (especially during the opening credits). The sound, however, is crisp and clear throughout. The extras include a commentary track (which I did not play), the Original Theatrical Trailer, and the trailers for three other Fox noirs, including "The Street With No Name", and the soon-to-be released "Where the Sidewalk Ends" and "No Way Out". Although I can't in all good conscience give "Somewhere in the Night" an enthusiastic recommendation, I can tell you that despite its faults I enjoyed watching it, and that if you're a film noir or mystery buff ... or a Mankiewicz completist ... there's a good chance you will find something here to like as well.