SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES - Richard Basehart stars as a fugitive cop killer in the gritty 1948 Film Noir entry "He Walked by Night"
SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES – One of the fun reasons for checking out Film Noir titles from the 1940s and 1950s is learning about their storied history and discovering their interesting casts. And being an LA resident for most of my life, checking out what the city looked like back then is also fun. “He Walked By Night” is a classic Noir piece from 1948 that stars Richard Basehart (Admiral Nelson in the “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea” series, Adam in “The Twilight Zone’s “Probe 7, Over and Out” episode and many other titles) as Army veteran Roy Martin who has been making a good living refurbishing military-grade electronics and selling them to Paul Reeves (Whit Bissell), who runs an electronics rental company. But Roy has a psychotic streak and when he kills a cop who is shadowing him one night, LAPD launches a citywide manhunt led by Sgt. Marty Brennan (Scott Brady). Brennan reports to Captain Breen (Roy Roberts) whose staff includes Lee Whitey (Jack Webb, making his film debut). It is said that Webb’s “Dragnet” radio series was inspired by this film, which was directed in a semi-documentary style by Alfred L. Werker (with an uncredited assist by Anthony Mann), written by John C. Higgins and Crane Wilbur, based on a true story, and shot by the great Noir cameraman John Alton. Martin is a genius at staying out of sight and he uses the extensive LA storm drains as frequent getaways. Apparently the use of those same storm drains inspired Warners for the giant ant film, “Them” six years later, and perhaps a European version in “The Third Man” the following year. Stay safe.