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He Walked by Night

He Walked by Night

1948
Drama, Crime
1h 19m
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Avg Percentile 54.07% from 199 total ratings

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(199)
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Rated 18 Jan 2007
84
81st
A decent detective thriller gets elevated by its superb sewer chase ending. The inspiration for "Dragnet", which shows in the narration and the attention to police work. It's unusual how much it focuses on the police, actually, and it works both for and against the movie. Some of the stuff isn't that interesting (although I'm sure it was in 1948), on the other hand the fact that there's no half-assed attempt to explain the killer's psychology is kind of refreshing.
Rated 04 Mar 2007
3
38th
Very solid and entertaining noir. Don't really have much to say about it, other than that. Oh, yeah - nice sewer chase that predates The Third Man.
Rated 25 May 2009
30
7th
There's a few scenes with a certain strange and quiet nerve here, but this film is fucking humdrum, flimsy propaganda concealed behind a simple, presumably "true" crime story; an assertive focus on the EFFICACIOUS police procedures - a masculin, authorative voice over woodenly dance along with the pretty images - and a one-sided depiction of a merciless, infernal bad guy does not taste very good. But the elegant cinematography and majestic lighting give an otherwise shitty film some class.
Rated 22 Dec 2011
68
24th
The narrator gets really annoying in this movie because his lines are badly written. There are some good moments like the scene in the sewers but there are numerous better Film Noirs out there to watch.
Rated 15 Oct 2013
60
51st
Slow first half and a much better second half, but I still don't understand how the villain could be both so smart and so stupid at the same time.
Rated 22 May 2020
4
74th
It's very easy to appreciate this film's punchy brevity and finesse, but perhaps this is also a missed opportunity. Its documentarian capture of Los Angeles is fascinating, and John Alton's dramatic shades are dazzling, and together they cohere into a unique docudrama which dwells on detail at the expense of psychology, glossing over the hint that not all war veterans and public servants are angels. Still, it's something of a formal masterpiece, and Basehart's mug is about as mean as I've seen.
Rated 23 Aug 2020
75
82nd
In some ways a paint-by-numbers noir film, but in other important ways an innovative precursor to the police procedural. It's simple but in being so it is very effective at capturing the realities of police work (in particular that of homicide detectives). The scenes in the storm water drains are impressively constructed and predate (only just) the very well known sewer scenes in 'The Third Man' (released a year later). The narration does at times sound like a public service announcement.
Rated 27 Aug 2020
50
35th
The narration is bad, the plot is just okay, and the sewer chase is good. It just doesn't really stand out in any way.
Rated 05 Nov 2011
80
61st
Another fine performance from Richard Basehart. This is a very minimalist noir, no femmes fatales, no complex psychology just a criminal and a tightly scripted manhunt. More twists and turns might have made this better but the leanness does have a certain appeal and there's no denying that the ending is great.
Rated 30 Apr 2012
60
52nd
Uneven. The first 45 minutes is a rather plodding police procedural, done in pseudo-documentary style and complete with one of the most pompous and overbearing voiceovers I've ever heard. Then, out of nowhere, just as I was about to fall asleep out of boredom, it suddenly turns into an incredibly taut thriller. Very odd. It's a credit to Baseheart's acting that, despite the non-existent development of his character, he can elicit such sympathy towards the end.
Rated 14 May 2017
80
77th
I'd be more tempted to call this a docudrama than a "movie". A bit uneven as the film does bog down a bit in the hunt for clues in the early stages and the voiceover verges on propaganda. Personally found the operational tools of 1948 were interesting in contrast to "today". The perceived slowness of the first half just may be an intended effect showing the grinding grunt work required to get that breakthrough moment when the criminal is at last ID'd.
Rated 07 Nov 2019
75
26th
Viewed November 5, 2019.
Rated 24 Apr 2021
65
51st
The documentary narration dates it horribly and stifles the noir atmosphere, but there’s still an engaging crime story here that follows the police process in a refreshingly credible manner, and delivers a satisfying chase finale through the L.A. sewers. Basehart gives a strong, icy turn in his first starring role.
Rated 04 Oct 2021
60
89th
The realistic crime fighter became almost its own genre in 1948, and He Walked by Night (1948) is another one that falls in that category. Not among the most essential, but it does try to create its own silent investigation atmosphere and works nicely as a serious killer hunt.
Rated 12 May 2022
90
87th
This realistic police procedural shot mostly in real LA locations is based on a real case. It's a good little crime flick elevated to minor masterpiece status by an incredible climactic chase and gunfight in the sewers featuring beautiful cinematography by John Alton and innovative sound design. Jack Webb has a small role and his discussions with the film's technical advisor lead to the creation of "Dragnet".

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